My husband and I are moving into a house that has carpet in the living room, dining room and hallway. We'd love to rip it up because there are hard wood floors underneath. What are the chances that they're in good enough shape that we don't need to refinish them? I ripped back a piece of carpet in a corner and it looked OK.

Normally there is a reason wood floors are covered with carpet. If there is damage it will likely be in the traffic areas. That doesn't mean it couldn't be repaired but it'll require time and/or money.

You'll never know until the carpet is removed but don't get your hopes up to quickly.

That was my first thought- that they were covered for a reason- I was just hoping that whoever covered them just decided they'd rather have carpet. Lol. I just love hard wood floors. Guess I'm just going to expect to refinish them.

I hope their in good condition, that would be awesome, let me know how it turns out.

I will! We won't know until the 30th at least because that's when we close. I'm excited to see what's underneath though. Hopefully a couple rugs will take care of the problems if there are any.

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Originally Posted by lmangileri

My husband and I are moving into a house that has carpet in the living room, dining room and hallway. We'd love to rip it up because there are hard wood floors underneath. What are the chances that they're in good enough shape that we don't need to refinish them? I ripped back a piece of carpet in a corner and it looked ok.

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If you have time before you move into the house you might want to consider refinishing the floors anyway. Nothing is better than living in a house with great, clean, fresh hardwood floors. My wife and my father talked me into refinishing ours while working on other projects before we moved into the house and it was well worth it. A lot of work, but worth it. Once you're in the house it will be very difficult to refinish them, due to the sanding, dust, and odors from the stain and poly. If you have the time I'd suggest doing the floors. At least in the living areas and your bedroom. Do other rooms as you feel necessary.

Good luck either way!

I have only run into one home where the floor were almost perfect but the tackless stripes along the wall presented some visual flaws. Once you get the carpet to start to detach your can work all the way along one wall into a corner and then rthe same on the next wall. Peel back that big corner and take a look. I'd recommend what kbuchholtz did and go ahead with sanding and refinishing. You get the color and shine of your choosing and it should last 10+ years.

You guys give great advice- we're going to do all kinds of things before we move in and tearing up the carpet is one of those things. That way we get an idea what we're working with before we get all our things moved in. I'll be sure to let you guys know what we find!

I tore up the carpet at my last house, all I had to do was pull up the staples from the underlay. Nothing was wrong, the peeps just liked carpet!

Must be 1 1/2 oak wood? If you want to do additions now is the time as well. Once sanded and refinished it will look great... try to keep it natural or will need to be water-popped and oil base will probably be the recommended. Don't be alarmed if you see black or anything... almost anything can be polished, if really damaged then some patching might be required. Imagine how much the value of your home will go up too... good investment. Best of luck!

just started peeling more of the carpet back last night and the floor looks really good. I think I'm just going to clean it really well and see where we're at. I don't think it needs refinishing at all. The hardwood floors in the bedrooms where there was not carpet need more help than what's in the living room and dining room. It's going to look awesome! I'm exicted =)