I have almost 300 sq ft of red oak flooring. It is the typical 3/4 x 2 1/2 stuff and is from a 50 year old home and has been de-nailed and swept with a metal detector. It still has the finish on one side and I was debating whether I should put it down as-is or run it through a planer first.

I know that once it is down it will need to be sanded, but my thought was that I would have to sand a bunch off and it might be easier to just plane it, and then give it a light sanding to level once it is down. I don't have a planer, but could easily pick up a used one, pop in some new blades and probably sell it for close to what I paid for it.

Would it make any sense at all to plane it now, or should I just lay it and sand it with a drum sander once it is down?
TIA

Rob in Maine

The only reason to plane it would be if there were various thickness boards in there.But since they all started out as 3/4" thick boards, you are better off just laying it down and then sanding it.