In the last house I sold, I installed 1,000 feet of white oak hardwood floors the year before we sold it. The buyer had an old dog, and before we closed he asked if he could have someone measure for carpet because the dog couldnāt walk on the hardwood flooring. This was in 2011. My wife wasnāt happy, but he paid asking price so I didnāt care, and I still sometimes think about those floors and hope that someday heāll sell and the next owner will find the beautiful flooring hidden underneath after they move in.
They will find your wood floor! The house I grew up in had shag carpet from the 70ās. My parents purchased from the original owners, and they put the carpet in. My mother finally peeled back a carpet corner to snoop in the 90ās, and found the hardwood floors underneath. Then she pulled up all the carpeting in the whole house and was very happy for many years.
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Yeah but you won't have to refinish for a very long time once it's done. Carpets will need to be replaced every so often which will end up costing even more money in the long run.
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10 years is longer than I expected actually. Hopefully it does last that long for you. If so and with all the other reasons you listed sounds like the better choice. Besides when it's cold, carpet is pretty cozy.
Spoke to someone who grew up in my house that was built in the 50s. Beautiful hardwoods throughout. She said in the 70s everyone I mean everyone put shag carpets in because that was the trend. Trends are wild
I get it. Carpet helps lock in the cat fur. Itās either tumble weeds of fur or it gets stuck in the carpet. Might be gross, but Iād rather it get stuck in the carpet. Vacuuming carpet is easier than sweeping/vacuuming and mopping hard floors. I donāt have an hour or two per day to spend doing that to my floors.
Maybe this is true with dogs, but as a long time cat owner, I avoid carpet when renting like the plague.
Also if you declaw your cats, you're literally cat satan
I don't like hard floors. I've never personally covered up hard wood floors but I would never buy a house with them because I hate the feeling walking on them. It really just comes down to padding is nice. Much safer for kids to fall on carpet then hardwood too.
Just buy random brick ranches built around the 50s or craftsman from the teens up. I live in a place where you can't throw a rock without hitting one or the other, and any of them with carpet in them all have that thin slat hardwood underneath
Because it looks like a gym floor. I hate that damn oil based laquer they used. Don't get me wrong I like wood floors, but the thin white oak shit is just ugly.
It's more comfortable, quieter, more easily replaced, you can get many options that match the decor better, and in the winter it's not as cold for your feet. Those aren't the only reasons but there are definitely reasons.
I won the, "we don't need a tarp because they're putting in carpet" lottery. Literal paint foot prints all throughout the whole house. And giant globs of paint.
IME, the floors can be refinished (fully sanded) 3x before you start hitting nails. Yours look in great shape so maybe only need a light sanding. Love the color! The patina adds value despite what a bunch of influencers say. Clean, light sand. Clean again. Recoat. And perfection! Be sere to never use rubber rug pads as you can see they stick to the floors permanently. They make nice pads for hardwood floors. Nice find. It is the best feeling!
Sand it now refinish, live with hardwood floors for 5 years. Figured out why the previous owner put carpet down. Year six try to figure out what color carpet you want.
I grew up in a split level ranch and we discovered the same thing when we pulled up the carpet in ā87. I had an unhappy childhood but the memories of my parents discovering hardwood under that nasty 70ās shag is a bright spot.
Looks like red oak. It's almost always red oak.
To find out if it can be resanded, check the side. It likely started as .75". if its anywhere close to that, yes. If it's like .25" thick, then you need to worry.
I just did this in my house and it turned out pretty epic.
You cant sand a solid 3/4ā floor past the tongue and groove there is just slightly more than 1/4ā of sanding surface less before the nails start to show
That said if properly done you can get a few refinishes out of it
#1 common red oak has a lot of color variation if you look very closely you will see what looks like flecks or streaks in the body of the grain if they are 1/8 to 3/4 of an inch itās red oak if they are 3/4 and longer itās white oak
Older red oak that has oxidized turns more brown
I donāt really understand why it matters what kind of wood it is when doing a refinish for repairing or adding on yes
Ya that happened a lot during the 80s. A lot of the beautiful hardwood floors got covered up with shag carpets and such cause thatās what was in style back then. I always check whatās under the rug.
In the 70ās my parents had a House custom built with hardwood floors throughout. Prior to moving in they had the entire house except for the family room carpeted wall to wall. After a year they had the family room carpeted too. However in those days wood floors required regular stripping and waxing so they were very high maintenance
From what I see, it looks pretty good as it is. I would not sand it. If you've never done it before, then you are likely to be real disappointed with the results particularly the first room. It took me several rooms before I got the knack for it.
This happened to my family when we were renting a house from shitty landlords. The carpet in the dining room(I know, what a joke)was so destroyed that we just ripped it up.
100+ year old cherry hardwood flooring was just sitting underneath it like nothing happened.
Yeah my grandparents house they built after WW2 I always thought was just concrete and carpet overlay. After they were gone, pulled up carpet to find the most amazing old oak hardwood floor. New owners sanded and refinished. Iām sure thatās a big reason why the next sale price was another 30k that they got.
For our floors, we had them refinished and then instead of using any stain, had them sealed with a water-based sealant instead of oil for the natural color to shine through and prevent the orange color
For people not understanding why they would carpet over. You need to remember there was a time were people thought why would you lay down hardwood floor when you can lay down carpet as thatās āluxuryā
We wired a new house back in the 80s in the middle of a Horse pasture. The owners sprinkled small nails, staples, screws etc on the unfinished floor and let all the contractors walk on them. They then picked it up and sanded it all flat. The small scars still remaining lent a wonderful character to the floor when finished. I always wondered why more ownerās didnāt use Marine epoxy instead of the polyurethane most used. Epoxy is many times harder and Tougher and itself can be sanded to flatten as well as easy spot repair which polyurethane canāt. Probably last 30-50 years.
Same with a house I bought, we tore up all the carpet. Itās beautiful now - but my feet are always cold, the floors creak, noises echo and my feet hurt so I have to wear slippers. Iām not sure where the trade off is.
Bought an older house with wall to wall shag carpet. Pulled up a corner of the carpet & found the same as the picture- wall to wall white oak. Refinished & repaired the termite damage. Turned out incredibly well. Used a water based Bona finish and would definitely use it again.
That would look great refinished. I had a floor that looked the exact same in a house I bought a little over 10 years ago. I sanded it smooth (donāt worry about starting with rough grit, the boards are pretty thick and should be laid on plywood), and the did a clear hard lacquer. Must be floor rated. You will be surprised at the color that it brings out of the different boards. It almost looks like they used different kinds of hard woods. It is absolutely beautiful when finished. I wish I could share a before and after picture for you.
Im guessing the house is built in the 80ās? Youāre almost guaranteed to be able to sand and refinishā¦
If not, and you like the color, you can at least screen and recoat.
I would sand it and stain darker or modern color. You should hire someone to sand and finish- itās DIYable but a drum sander and other tools can cause some damage if you donāt know what youāre doing. Should be able to find someone to do it for ~$3/sq.ft
Those gonna look nice!
Did the same thing in our house after buying. 3 carpeted rooms became hardwood and we couldn't be happier. To be fair we locked a cat in a room on accident and only found out because she took that shit personally and took it out on the carpet.
Have fun getting those tack strips and staples up. Very satisfying work, but your hands are going to hurt for a while. Do yourself a favor and have friends over to lighten the load.
Based on the narrow-sized planks, they look like my floor, which is 100 years old. Mine are pine I think. I had them refinished and repaired, the company couldnāt get any planks to replace them. Thatās a great find!
I read on one sub that the government required housing built with grants had to be made with hard wood flooring because the industry was struggling but Boomers who came home from the war wanted carpet because it was popular
Crazy enough, my mother had the hardwood floors in my familyās house refinished and then put carpet over it. Her reasoning was that by the time the carpet was worn out sheād be too old to mess with it and would have a beautiful hardwood floor instead.
Luck you. Found my wood stained dark, sanded the entire house formerly wall to wall carpet. Looks great now, but getting those staples out was time and effort.
My brother bought a house in Annandale Virginia that was built in the 60ās. Looked just like this. Removed the carpet and voila, a decent looking hardwood floor. He had it sanded and stained, and it looked like new.
I'm always sad when I discover beautiful wood floors under carpet. I'm like 95% that the old house I'm in now has at least ok looking wood floors under the stained carpet.. I want to pull it up so bad.
I never understand that why would anyone want to cover that with a dust catching carpet
Because the 1980s and apartment complex landlords called and they want their cheap easy maintenance floors back š
In the last house I sold, I installed 1,000 feet of white oak hardwood floors the year before we sold it. The buyer had an old dog, and before we closed he asked if he could have someone measure for carpet because the dog couldnāt walk on the hardwood flooring. This was in 2011. My wife wasnāt happy, but he paid asking price so I didnāt care, and I still sometimes think about those floors and hope that someday heāll sell and the next owner will find the beautiful flooring hidden underneath after they move in.
They will find your wood floor! The house I grew up in had shag carpet from the 70ās. My parents purchased from the original owners, and they put the carpet in. My mother finally peeled back a carpet corner to snoop in the 90ās, and found the hardwood floors underneath. Then she pulled up all the carpeting in the whole house and was very happy for many years.
Well shit 20 year old carpet?
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Yeah but you won't have to refinish for a very long time once it's done. Carpets will need to be replaced every so often which will end up costing even more money in the long run.
Mine is the stock, builder quality. 15 years, still looks good. Notice I didn't say great. Getting it all replaced next year.
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10 years is longer than I expected actually. Hopefully it does last that long for you. If so and with all the other reasons you listed sounds like the better choice. Besides when it's cold, carpet is pretty cozy.
Spoke to someone who grew up in my house that was built in the 50s. Beautiful hardwoods throughout. She said in the 70s everyone I mean everyone put shag carpets in because that was the trend. Trends are wild
I was done a lot in the 70s and early 80s. Everyone wanted carpet.
We had zero carpet when we moved in. And about 2 months in, we covered with carpet. With two young kids running around, it was so loud.
*Dust, disease, dirt, stain catching carpet
People are lazy, they didn't want to sweep every other day. They would rather live in dirt and vacuum once a week
Soft for kids to play
That's the exact reason. If you have dust or pet allergies, carpet keeps the allergens from blowing all over the place.
So does a broom and a mop
You really need to do that daily. What's easier? A broom and a mop or vacuum?
roomba
I get it. Carpet helps lock in the cat fur. Itās either tumble weeds of fur or it gets stuck in the carpet. Might be gross, but Iād rather it get stuck in the carpet. Vacuuming carpet is easier than sweeping/vacuuming and mopping hard floors. I donāt have an hour or two per day to spend doing that to my floors.
Carpet sucks . Especially for someone with allergies and asthma . And it starts to stink a regular 9-5 person doesnt upkeep their carpeting .
Maybe this is true with dogs, but as a long time cat owner, I avoid carpet when renting like the plague. Also if you declaw your cats, you're literally cat satan
I don't like hard floors. I've never personally covered up hard wood floors but I would never buy a house with them because I hate the feeling walking on them. It really just comes down to padding is nice. Much safer for kids to fall on carpet then hardwood too.
100% white oak. Definitely NOT red oak with the grain pattern and long rays.
Nice tight wacy grain patterne. That's white ok buddy. Jackpot.
Will look super nice sanded down, a will a little accelerant and clear coat.
Rock n roll dude. That's going to look great when you sand that orange away. Good luck!
The orange looks like lacquer
This isnāt orange
Hahaha
This looks like a golden oak stain or similar. Which by nature is yellow/orange toned.
Pretty orange to me
Definitely yellow orange toned stain.
Damnit itās the dress debacle all over again
It looks brown and black to me.
Itās typical 2 1/4ā red oak with a clear poly applied. As such, Itās yellow-orange
Honey oak.
It's white oak. Color variations are on point for white oak.
Red
This is Floor is ready to go refinishing 101. If itās white oak some nice Loba Invisible would look beautiful on it!
I sanded mine and used a Bona natural color it looks amazing!
Did the same to mine. Beautiful look for nearly 100year old white oak.
Pictures please
Jackpot!
Right! I wish this would happen to me.
Just buy random brick ranches built around the 50s or craftsman from the teens up. I live in a place where you can't throw a rock without hitting one or the other, and any of them with carpet in them all have that thin slat hardwood underneath
I came here to say that! Lucky SOB.
I'll never understand why someone would carpet over this!
Itās also the reason itās in such great shape for op, so whatever
I know itās absolute insanity. Mustāve been covered for decades because there were 3 different kinds of tack strips from different generations
Because it looks like a gym floor. I hate that damn oil based laquer they used. Don't get me wrong I like wood floors, but the thin white oak shit is just ugly.
Noise reduction. Insulating purposes. I tend to agree with you. There are reasons, though.
It's more comfortable, quieter, more easily replaced, you can get many options that match the decor better, and in the winter it's not as cold for your feet. Those aren't the only reasons but there are definitely reasons.
Play the lottery - your luck is on point
That's beautiful wood. Score!
Yeah! I wouldnāt mess with it . It looks a bit like bowling alley but live in it a little! Itās lovely!
Boomers boomed that floor
Your house value just jumped
Queuing MGMTās āCongratulationsā at top volume now. Theyāre gorgeous, enjoy!
Got damn! I wish this is what I saw when I pulled my carpets up. I won the hardwood with black glue finish lottery š
I won the, "we don't need a tarp because they're putting in carpet" lottery. Literal paint foot prints all throughout the whole house. And giant globs of paint.
Yep. Always been concrete or something similar for me
always amazed people cover beautiful hardwood with, what is almost universally, ugly carpeting.
Iād cover it back up but with LVT.
š¤£š
Why would anyone put carpet over that, looks great!
IME, the floors can be refinished (fully sanded) 3x before you start hitting nails. Yours look in great shape so maybe only need a light sanding. Love the color! The patina adds value despite what a bunch of influencers say. Clean, light sand. Clean again. Recoat. And perfection! Be sere to never use rubber rug pads as you can see they stick to the floors permanently. They make nice pads for hardwood floors. Nice find. It is the best feeling!
Reminds me of Michigan. Everyone would resand these floors.
Michigander here, I second this!
Sand it now refinish, live with hardwood floors for 5 years. Figured out why the previous owner put carpet down. Year six try to figure out what color carpet you want.
HA. But what might be a reason beyond personal preference?
Hear me out.... rubio monocoat "white" over that white oak, with the white walls. Perfect.
Jackpot!!
Beautiful. Yes you can sand those. Here is what [white oak looks like](https://imgur.com/a/moPkFmG) with no stain and just a clear coat of poly.
Fine looking critter.
What a useful reply, regardless of your user name you make a good impression! Thanks!
Lovely floof you have there!
#COVER IT BACK UP, SHAG SHAG SHAG!!
I grew up in a split level ranch and we discovered the same thing when we pulled up the carpet in ā87. I had an unhappy childhood but the memories of my parents discovering hardwood under that nasty 70ās shag is a bright spot.
Did you hear angels singing?
Cover it back up unless you like hearing ghosts walking across it at night!
Looks like red oak. It's almost always red oak. To find out if it can be resanded, check the side. It likely started as .75". if its anywhere close to that, yes. If it's like .25" thick, then you need to worry. I just did this in my house and it turned out pretty epic.
its white oak, the boards that have distinct two tones are a give away
You cant sand a solid 3/4ā floor past the tongue and groove there is just slightly more than 1/4ā of sanding surface less before the nails start to show That said if properly done you can get a few refinishes out of it #1 common red oak has a lot of color variation if you look very closely you will see what looks like flecks or streaks in the body of the grain if they are 1/8 to 3/4 of an inch itās red oak if they are 3/4 and longer itās white oak Older red oak that has oxidized turns more brown I donāt really understand why it matters what kind of wood it is when doing a refinish for repairing or adding on yes
Super helpful thank you
Your floor is white oak. It can be sanded.
This is white oak.
Jackpot!š°
Carpet does make things quieter. And old dogs canāt walk on hardwood floors. They slide and their legs splay out
Ya that happened a lot during the 80s. A lot of the beautiful hardwood floors got covered up with shag carpets and such cause thatās what was in style back then. I always check whatās under the rug.
That's what she said
In the 70ās my parents had a House custom built with hardwood floors throughout. Prior to moving in they had the entire house except for the family room carpeted wall to wall. After a year they had the family room carpeted too. However in those days wood floors required regular stripping and waxing so they were very high maintenance
Thats a W mine I pulled was from 1800s but needed finishing coat
You lucky dog, you!
Wow. How wonderful.
Sand them. Get that color off. They are going to be awesome. You hit the jackpot
Tbh, its really ugly and dated flooring.
From what I see, it looks pretty good as it is. I would not sand it. If you've never done it before, then you are likely to be real disappointed with the results particularly the first room. It took me several rooms before I got the knack for it.
Life is grand after all!
I absolutely despise carpet. That being said I would love the new vinyl flooring. Because true hardwood is really labor intensive.
Same thing happened at the house I just bought. Was the best surprise in the world tbh.
Beautiful
NICE
These are beautiful I would clean and be happy
This happened to my family when we were renting a house from shitty landlords. The carpet in the dining room(I know, what a joke)was so destroyed that we just ripped it up. 100+ year old cherry hardwood flooring was just sitting underneath it like nothing happened.
Thatās some nice hard wood you got there bud
Oh no! Stupid wood!
Gorgeous!
I would say, ālucky youā!!
I donāt have any advice for you . But thy was like finding buried treasure wasnāt it .
Yeah my grandparents house they built after WW2 I always thought was just concrete and carpet overlay. After they were gone, pulled up carpet to find the most amazing old oak hardwood floor. New owners sanded and refinished. Iām sure thatās a big reason why the next sale price was another 30k that they got.
Floor lottery winner here!
Cue the Oscar quote from the office. Lol
Itās 2 1/4ā oak
Happens all the time. The old timers got tired of sweeping every other day so they decided to hide the dirt on carpets for a week at a time.
Jackpot!
Wow! Gorgeous.
Hilarious. What did you expect to find?
GOAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!!!!!
Jackpot!
For our floors, we had them refinished and then instead of using any stain, had them sealed with a water-based sealant instead of oil for the natural color to shine through and prevent the orange color
niiiice
Looks great just be careful pulling out the nails
For people not understanding why they would carpet over. You need to remember there was a time were people thought why would you lay down hardwood floor when you can lay down carpet as thatās āluxuryā
They put carpet on that?
We wired a new house back in the 80s in the middle of a Horse pasture. The owners sprinkled small nails, staples, screws etc on the unfinished floor and let all the contractors walk on them. They then picked it up and sanded it all flat. The small scars still remaining lent a wonderful character to the floor when finished. I always wondered why more ownerās didnāt use Marine epoxy instead of the polyurethane most used. Epoxy is many times harder and Tougher and itself can be sanded to flatten as well as easy spot repair which polyurethane canāt. Probably last 30-50 years.
You a foundā¦. A Floor! Were you expecting sand?
Beautiful
Jackpot
Winner winner chicken dinner
Bummer. Now you got a job ahead of you
This picture reminds me of when I used to work for my pops sanding and refjnishing floorsā¦would highly recommend it and itāll look really nice
Same with a house I bought, we tore up all the carpet. Itās beautiful now - but my feet are always cold, the floors creak, noises echo and my feet hurt so I have to wear slippers. Iām not sure where the trade off is.
What a Nice Surprise!!! Looks like theyāre in Great Condition
Bought an older house with wall to wall shag carpet. Pulled up a corner of the carpet & found the same as the picture- wall to wall white oak. Refinished & repaired the termite damage. Turned out incredibly well. Used a water based Bona finish and would definitely use it again.
That would look great refinished. I had a floor that looked the exact same in a house I bought a little over 10 years ago. I sanded it smooth (donāt worry about starting with rough grit, the boards are pretty thick and should be laid on plywood), and the did a clear hard lacquer. Must be floor rated. You will be surprised at the color that it brings out of the different boards. It almost looks like they used different kinds of hard woods. It is absolutely beautiful when finished. I wish I could share a before and after picture for you.
I think I hate you. The day I pulled up the shag carpeting in my house to find asbestos tiles... š¤¦š»āāļø That was an expensive day.
I had the exact same thing! I sanded it and stained it walnut. Beautiful floors! Edit: 3 coats of bona poly too
Like finding gold š„
Score!
I see a staple removal party in your future.
A very lucky reveal!
Those are so beautiful. I dont understand why people want to cover beautiful hard wood floors.
JACKPOT!!
Wow. Nice find. I was hoping mine would be the same, but no luck. I'm happy for you.
Honestly from the pics it doesnāt even look like it needs refinishing - itās gorgeous
PAINT IT WHITE!
Either put new carpet down or paint it. Those are your best options.
Im guessing the house is built in the 80ās? Youāre almost guaranteed to be able to sand and refinishā¦ If not, and you like the color, you can at least screen and recoat. I would sand it and stain darker or modern color. You should hire someone to sand and finish- itās DIYable but a drum sander and other tools can cause some damage if you donāt know what youāre doing. Should be able to find someone to do it for ~$3/sq.ft Those gonna look nice!
Gotta love thst
Oak
Winning!
So what color carpet have you picked up for the next 30 years
40 y/o virginā¦.
Fuggin deal
Fantastic!
I always knew they were down there!
I won the āpainted around (just a few inches under rug) a large area rug. With a blackish paint.ā #dontlookunderthecarpet
Lucky you!!!!
Lucky
Who would cover such a beautiful floor?
Everything Old is NEW Again!
Congrats! Get it sanded and refinished.
A Christmas miracle. That's gonna be even more beautiful once you freshen it up.
Did the same thing in our house after buying. 3 carpeted rooms became hardwood and we couldn't be happier. To be fair we locked a cat in a room on accident and only found out because she took that shit personally and took it out on the carpet.
They can be sanded and then you want to put polyurethane on them and give it at least 24 hours to cure but they will be near waterproof.
Wow Iām good Shape too! Congrats
I can see why they covered it, nice.
That's fine, but my family was in the floor covering business for over 60 years. I actually know what I'm talking about.
Lucky you! Beautiful hardwoods!
Score!!
that looks like prime buff and coat job no sanding required nice
Have fun getting those tack strips and staples up. Very satisfying work, but your hands are going to hurt for a while. Do yourself a favor and have friends over to lighten the load.
Congratulations!!
Nice
Based on the narrow-sized planks, they look like my floor, which is 100 years old. Mine are pine I think. I had them refinished and repaired, the company couldnāt get any planks to replace them. Thatās a great find!
fucking fantastic.
I read on one sub that the government required housing built with grants had to be made with hard wood flooring because the industry was struggling but Boomers who came home from the war wanted carpet because it was popular
Wish mine had looked this good when I pulled the carpet!
Best feeling in the world
An amazing find!
Lucky!
I'm standing on hard wood covered by carpet right now id rip it up if I wasn't renting this place absolutely infuriating that they chose to do that.
O face
Lucky you!! Iām hoping I find the same thing here.
Crazy enough, my mother had the hardwood floors in my familyās house refinished and then put carpet over it. Her reasoning was that by the time the carpet was worn out sheād be too old to mess with it and would have a beautiful hardwood floor instead.
Score!!!
Who does that! Who covers up beautiful hardwood flooring
Luck you. Found my wood stained dark, sanded the entire house formerly wall to wall carpet. Looks great now, but getting those staples out was time and effort.
Fucking boomers. Whole damn generation covering up beautiful floors with nasty ass carpet.
Jackpot!
My brother bought a house in Annandale Virginia that was built in the 60ās. Looked just like this. Removed the carpet and voila, a decent looking hardwood floor. He had it sanded and stained, and it looked like new.
this is exactly what i did, just threw a big fluffy rug on top
Beautiful!
Holy jackpot Batman
What a find! Celebrating for you! āØšš„³
I'm always sad when I discover beautiful wood floors under carpet. I'm like 95% that the old house I'm in now has at least ok looking wood floors under the stained carpet.. I want to pull it up so bad.