New floor vs refurbishing old timber floor in Victorian flat

6 months ago

We are in the process of redoing the floor in our open plan living room / kitchen and had initially planned to do engineered wood over the old underlay, but having now ripped up the underlay too we can see the old floor boards underneath (see photo). Just debating if we should consider trying to refurbish the old wooden floor instead but we are in a flat and there doesn’t appear to be anything underneath the boards, just the joists and the plasterboard of the downstairs ceiling. So we are worried about the noise transmission, currently it’s acceptable but you can hear if the downstairs neighbours are having a party for example. Wondering if anyone has a similar situation and could advise? We also have an issue with the floor being very uneven, classic old building, so laying the new floor will require some levelling and is currently going to cost us in the region of £10k. Does anyone know rough costs for restoring an old floor (roughly 38 square meters)?

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Comments (4)

minnie101
6 months ago
last modified: 6 months ago
We had our bedroom floor done 3 years, it’s about 27sqm. It only cost c1k but we didn’t need sound insulation. The guy was an antique furniture restorer who started refurbishing floors as a sideline and i suspect he seriously undercharged us..We also didn’t need much in terms of repair work, all boards were sound and only 1 had been replaced at some point in its lifetime, you may also find holes where central heating has been installed or gaps under skirting etc

i think you need to consider whether you’d be happy with all the dents as pine is such a soft wood. We hung new curtains days after the floor being done and the ladder (sat on a towel) created dents. We put furniture pads under everything but have had no need to move the furniture since but i suspect it has big dents everywhere! It's fine for us jn a bedroom but not sure if i could cope in a living space
Jonathan
6 months ago
Restoring the old floor is the cheapest option but it’s undesirable because they will hear you and this is why many lease agreement prohibit remove floor coverings. Another option is to have the old floor up, add insulation as an acoustic barrier then relay the origins floor.

Personally I would insulate then overboard the existing floor then add a floating floor or a luxury vinyl tile
Sonia
6 months ago
Problem with original floorboards is they are usually pine and get dented and scratched very easily. I had the downstairs floorboards sanded and varnished, but with 2 dogs the floor got very scratched and it looked a mess very quickly. They were also very draughty. In the end we temporarily covered them with laminate but it has fared very well and still looks smart. I had read that wooden flooring between flats can be very noisy for the people below so not a good option.
C Harrison
5 months ago
Your lease may prohibit you from having hard floors when you live above someone else. If you can hear your downstairs neighbours below then they will certainly hear you, and with bare floorboards will probably hear every footstep and all your conversations. You can buy soundproofing material, and putting that between the floorboards and final floor covering will make life easier for everyone!

New floor vs refurbishing old timber floor in Victorian flat

Comments (4)

minnie101

Jonathan

Sonia

C Harrison

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