This is the beauty of loose lay vinyl, it doesn't hurt the wood floor. When selling the house you explain this to any prospective buyer. Win, win.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
This is the beauty of loose lay vinyl, it doesn't hurt the wood floor. When selling the house you explain this to any prospective buyer. Win, win.

What's going to sell your house faster and at a better price:

A. Uhh...there's hardwood under that vinyl but you'll have to pull it all up and refinish it. (Buyers can't even see it to see the condition).

B. "OOOOOOOOHHHHH HONEY, look at these BEAUTIFUL floors and all refinished!" "Let's put in an offer tonight!"

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
We need to make ready for retirement in five years. Will be selling home at some point, and yet we need to enjoy hosting small gatherings for those five years or more.

For resale value, NOTHING beats a nice oak plank, real hardwood floor. If you're gonna live there for 20 years and hate it, I can see the logic of **gulp** covering it in carpet or vinyl.

When we bought our present house (and actually the previous one as well), we hired a hardwood refinishing company to sand down to the wood and refinish, before we even moved a stick of furniture into the house.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

What's going to sell your house faster and at a better price:

A. Uhh...there's hardwood under that vinyl but you'll have to pull it all up and refinish it. (Buyers can't even see it to see the condition).

B. "OOOOOOOOHHHHH HONEY, look at these BEAUTIFUL floors and all refinished!" "Let's put in an offer tonight!"

Under "A" you need to add: provide detailed pictures of the existing wood flooring just prior and during the vinyl installation, being sure to show the worst scratches, water damage, and worn areas, as well as the best, so the buyer KNOWS what they are getting.

Under "B" your conversation to HONEY might also go like: "look at those worn, scratched, dated looking, narrow strip floors, that looks like they were refinished years ago and now need it again. Let's factor in ripping that old stuff out and replacing it with _______ what we really want. The blank being medium width wood, wide plank wood, porcelain, marble, granite, LVT/P, carpet, etc.

If the cause of the damage is still around (dog, apparently) and you're thinking about selling in 5ish years, why put money into interim fixes?

Aren't you likely need to redo the floor yet again when selling in 5 years?

My suggestions would either 1) just live with it as - maybe put some rugs down - and save the refinishing budget till you need to have it done right before it goes on the market, or 2) change to LVT/LVP with a thick enough layer to be dog-nail resilient and hope it lasts.

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Originally posted by arcwelder:

quote:

Originally posted by 12GA:
Understand that even after sanding, stains and deep scratches will still be evident after refinishing.

Have you seen the floor?

No? Then how can you say this?

A solid hardwood floor has to be badly damaged for it not to sand out, from wear to steep temp changes, lots of wet/dry.

A lot will sand out, particularly from a new floor. 20 years is still pretty new for a 3/4 oak floor.

I would recommend refinish, and the time to stay off the floors isn't as bad as you'd think. Any floor company worth its salt today is "dustless." Shop around, get eyes on from pros.

Honestly anytime I open a thread related to home construction/repair/renovation/improvement I'm just blown away by the leaps to conclusions.

Only you can comment and opine without seeing the floor?

Thank you for the many comments and concerns.

We have a dog for about the next five years. She does not scratch the floor, like the previous dog. Only 55 pounds.

My heart tells me, as the poll results show, that hardwood refinishing is the correct approach.

quote:

Originally posted by 12GA:

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder:

quote:

Originally posted by 12GA:
Understand that even after sanding, stains and deep scratches will still be evident after refinishing.

Have you seen the floor?

No? Then how can you say this?

A solid hardwood floor has to be badly damaged for it not to sand out, from wear to steep temp changes, lots of wet/dry.

A lot will sand out, particularly from a new floor. 20 years is still pretty new for a 3/4 oak floor.

I would recommend refinish, and the time to stay off the floors isn't as bad as you'd think. Any floor company worth its salt today is "dustless." Shop around, get eyes on from pros.

Honestly anytime I open a thread related to home construction/repair/renovation/improvement I'm just blown away by the leaps to conclusions.

Only you can comment and opine without seeing the floor?

No. Talk is cheap. Take note:

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder:
Shop around, get eyes on from pros.

For a guy around since 2002, you ought to know I don't dick around with my advice regarding home renovation and construction. 20 years is a blip in the life of a full thickness hardwood, the abuse has to be quite severe to be unsalvageable. The best course is to go to the people who will do the work, first.

My 55 y/o Floors were so bad I put carpet over them. Leaks from plants, pet damage, scars, gouges, you name it. When the carpet wore out, had them refinished and now it's the first thing people notice when they walk in the door. Did a custom color. IIRC it was Special or Dark Walnut with a bit of Ebony and Cherry mixed in.

Cost was pretty much exact same for carpet or hardwood, only difference was for the stairs, they were higher.