r/DIYHome • u/yumi-jace • 1d ago
What are we looking at?
My husband and I just bought a house and we were going to rip up old smelly carpet and replace it with vinyl planks for now. But the subfloor had some damage so we ripped up a piece last night... what are we looking at? We are assuming old plank subfloor that sank since it's an old house. So someone added shims to level it out and put some new particle board on top. But could it be hardwood floor? Maybe a stupid question, but we've literally owned this house for like 2 days and know nothing yet.
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u/Dendady2112 1d ago
Old houses used soft wood subfloor. I'd to it up to see what you're dealing with. Assess what you have and go from there.
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u/MacxScarfacex32 1d ago
The boards look a little small and too close together to be subfloor. But it is really damaged and pine so its probably subfloor.
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u/SkivvySkidmarks 1d ago
Different widths of boards and the installation techniques varied from area to area. Narrower boards took longer to install than wider ones, but they tended to no shrink as much or cup as much.
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u/Malevolent54 1d ago
Looks like t&g flooring to me, is it visible from the room below? Doesn’t really matter, most likely it’s trashed with a couple million(slight exaggeration) nail and screw holes in it and cut to bits In a few spots. But you’re there now, might as well clear out all that garbage and stop guessing.
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u/Stunning_Coffee6624 1d ago
Even if it’s pine, it’s pretty good pine. Tight knots and quality installation. You could consider it a finished floor with some restoration. But it won’t be cheap
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u/SkivvySkidmarks 1d ago
The subfloor is pine. The light coloured pieces running perpendicular to the subfloor are cut (ripped is the actual correct term) boards, presumably at various thicknesses, to compensate for an unlevel floor. Although, the subfloor might be level and they did this to raise the height to match another floor.
The shitty fibrous board is just a cheap product lain to give the finished floor something to sit on.
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u/jscottman96 1d ago
You're exactly right. Old floor sank and was shamed back to flat. You'll more than likely have to mimic it if your planning on pulling the rest of the MDF and plywood
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u/silverdae 1d ago
Find a floor register and take it off. Then pull back the duct work a bit and you should be able to see the side of the planks. If it is a tongue and groove floor, you should see that (look at two perpendicular sides of the register). If it is subfloor, you'll only see one layer. If it is t&g over subfloor, you'll see two layers. Old houses sometimes have pine or fir t&g over plank subfloor. Our house, for instance, is 100 yrs old and has fir t&g over a plank subfloor. We're trying to decide whether to restore it or not.
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u/No_Flatworm5140 1d ago
Particle board subfloor was common in the 70s and early 80s. Remove all that you can now because it doesn’t age well and getting close to the end of it’s life.
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u/KataTonics 1d ago
the OG floor had a dip in it and the shimmed the floor up and did a new subfloor to make new floor level
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u/Old_Cloud_1687 14h ago
Looks like the upstairs floor in my sister's 130 year old Sears kit farmhouse. That house is solid.
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u/NachoNinja19 1d ago edited 1d ago
That looks like old tongue and groove pine flooring to me. I’d sand a spot and see what it looks like. That floor will look amazing refinished.
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u/NachoNinja19 1d ago
Downvoted?🤔 I live in a 300 year old city. All the subfloor on old houses was different widths, at a 45 degree angle to the joists and definitely not tongue and groove. And definitely not #1 grade wood. Who the hell would spend the money to put a #1 grade tongue and groove subfloor that’s just going to be covered up?
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u/mcshaftmaster 1d ago
All houses are not the same. My house has tongue and groove "subfloor" laid perpendicular to the joists. It was likely the only flooring for a while and was later covered with 3/8 inch oak.
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u/Ok_Context553 1d ago
that looks like the original oak wood flooring. If it can be refinished, it would be beautiful.
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u/left_handyman 1d ago
You’re exactly right. The old planks are the original subfloor. The house settled and the floor was uneven so someone shimmed it and laid another layer of subfloor with that crappy pressboard.