Hello there.

I ripped up the carpet in our newly-bought home (one of two rooms in the house that were carpeted) to find two plates covering part of the board in one.

As you can see from the images, a previous owner had plans to finish the floors. Two colors were removed (light blue and brown) and the floors sanded. It looks like a trial of a brown stain was used, and then thought better of. This brown stain is similar to the hardwood in the rest of the house.

Close to this area is a small nailed-down metal covering, that when I pryed up, concealed a small mis-sized block that is rigidly in place.

My questions:

1. Any guesses as to why the previous re-modeler would abandon the project despite the great effort to remove two paint jobs already? Is it as simple as the trial stain not meeting their expectations? Is there a logistical concern that I have overlooked?

2. Do the metal plates have a purpose that I have not considered? Is it foolish to remove them and install a block that fits?

3. Does the quality of the wood look worth the effort to rescue? At this juncture I do not know if the brown paint on the second room floor is lead-based and so coupled with existing obstacles, I'm tempted to just lay a whole new install.

Many thanks.

John

https://preview.ibb.co/gxcHCp/3919595555476433415.jpg
Floor with plate

https://preview.ibb.co/mNEKQ9/2418231918727761253.jpg
Trial stain detail

https://preview.ibb.co/cWNTJU/2169583054909413853.jpg
Second room painted brown -- note the attempt to sand the paint off, quickly called off

https://preview.ibb.co/gPUayU/7529110197047156611.jpg
Plate pryed up

The area near the patch block should have had some reinforcement. A metal plate makes it strong without going under the floor to make it stronger.I would recommend a new floor over this sub-floor.