Just purchased an old home built in the 1890's, which was mostly renovated about 15 years ago. My first order of business is tearing out the carpet from the living spaces on the first floor. I pulled up some carpet yesterday to see what I was working with, and found a vinyl tile, an mdf like underlayment, and a plank subfloor over the floor joists. Pictures of the floor hereThe plank subfloor looks to be about ¾" thick tongue and groove and appears as though it was stained and finished at some point in time. I wasn't able to identify what type of wood it is, but I understand a lot of these plank subfloors from that time are softwoods like pine. Also, since there is nothing below the planks, any small gaps or holes lead directly into the cellar or crawl space. Seeing the damaged board in the pictures also makes me speculate that there are likely damaged boards elsewhere.The thought of making this subfloor into the walking surface crossed my mind, but I have mostly decided against it based on the reasons above. Instead I will probably install new hardwood over it. However, before I purchase the hardwood, I just wanted to ask to make sure that I wasn't missing out on a worthwhile restoration project that maybe I'm not seeing.If installing new hardwood, I am also wondering if it is acceptable to leave the mdf underlayment in place as opposed to replacing it with plywood or trying to lay the new floor directly on the plank subfloor. The vinyl tiles peel up easy enough, but they are thin enough that I wouldn't mind leaving those as well. Would there be any potential problems from leaving the existing underlayment and tile behind? I think all in all it would also help with the transition into the tiled kitchen. via /r/DIY https://ift.tt/2uh1xI8
