Hi -- new poster here. Already love this forum.

We just bought a 1915 Dutch Colonial and took out two rooms-worth of the fugliest shag carpeting you'll ever see in your life. What's underneath it is a narrow-strip hardwood floor with log-cabin corners that I believe to be original to the house (there are two or three places where a strip has been replaced with newer lumber). The floors are far from pristine, but even in their current shape they're a definite improvement on the carpet! Here's a photo of the most damaged part of the floor:



and another picture showing the wood trim and moldings in the room:



Two questions. Can we get away with screening and restaining, or are we in for a full refinish? And should we stick with the light stain and match the moldings, or can we get away with a slightly darker floor?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Not a finish guy here but thats cool looking. I'd say your in for a resand and finish. But those old distressed and reclaimed floors are all the rage. You could leave in some of the gouges and stuff when you finish it so the floor has that old lived in look.

I'd like to see a picture of that when it's done.

Well almost definitely you are going to need to re-sand, especially if you plan on changing the colour. But the area in the close up pic shows a lot of wear and I dont think is a likely candidate for a re-coat even if you kept the original colour.
Trying to look at the pic, I see very little grain to the wood. Is it maple? If so, its gonna be tricky staining it.
Also, the wood appears quite worn, so you need a highly qualified pro for this re-sand.

I agree that a full refinish is in order. You're dealing with a very old floor with who knows what on it. Do not bother attempting to salvage this without sanding down to the raw wood. As to what color to restain the wood floor, you may wish to consult a local architectural historian who can guide you on what color these floors in your area were originally. Most people, when buying very old homes, restore them to the way they were when originally built, except for modernizing the mechanicals ( plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc. )

As Gary says, given the archetectural features of that lovely home, if you are keeping them, then you should try to keep the original colour of the floors and woodwork. That is a beautiful colour on the floor right now, and appears to be the original. Probably not the original finish, but whoever refinished in the past maintained the original colour selection.

Hey... I just read your post. My first house was a dutch colonial with amazing floors.. log cabin corners and a diffrent design in each room... to this day.. one of the coolest floor ive seen and I do this for a living. Mines a duplex with the same multidirectional floors on both sides. How did it turn out???

We're still taking up carpet in the upstairs bedrooms and hallway -- all those pads were glued down, not just tackstripped. We've given up the idea of a DIY and will be going with a professional refinish.

I appreciate all the feedback; I'm glad we didn't just plunge into the project without realizing what we were getting ourselves into.

Smart move!!! Very smart move. Im sure they are going to come out beautiful. Glued carpet... ah.. one of the worst case scenarios.. next is 4 layers of linoleum in the kitchen where the luan was STAPLED every couple of inches...lol