Rehab addict does it on occasion (I think I saw her do it in a bath). Please note I am not recommending it because I think it is not anything I would ever do and generally think it is a bad idea if this is really subfloor. I just thought it might help you find an example.

What's under the subfloor? Ventilated crawlspaces are common the Long Beach area. If so, it's going to be quite drafty with the gaps in between the boards.

There's quite a bit of info on DIY cabins that might help you with an interim and removable solution (google "polyurethane OSB"). Or talk to your local flooring shop about inexpensive alternatives to carpet.

You cannot sand the wood that has exposed nails.

True about nails, but you can definitely refinish a subfloor -- I've done it. You can see some befores and afters of red oak flooring in the second half of this blog post. Turned out completely gorgeous, although the contractors sometimes roll their eyes at us historians. :)

This is possible. Is it advisable? No. Why not? Because you will eventually need to cover the planked subfloor at some point in time. The finish you use TODAY (aka. spend money and time applying) could PREVENT you from adding a floor finish in the future. Oooooh nooooo.

A painted subfloor can work in some situations. A "wood finish" over the planks will prevent many flooring options at a later date. For instance, you cannot install hardwood or vinyl planks over FINISHED wood planks (finished in urethane or polyurethane). You would have to sand down all the finish off of the subfloor before installing new hardwood. You can FLOAT most floors over top....but not all.

If you don't have the money to put in the floor that you want, you might want to look at a low-end laminate ($0.79/sf) and live with it for a few years. Once you have the money put together, you can then go ahead and remove the laminate and put down the floor you want.

Or you can lay down some low-grade subfloor material (like OSB) and stain/finish THAT PRODUCT. When it comes to installing a new floor, you simply remove the finished subfloor (OSB or what have you) and you are back to the slatted, raw subfloor you see today.

Both a finished plywood or low-end laminate will offer the same thing: a floor that allows the slatted subfloor to be left ALONE and ready for a proper floor covering in a few years.

Personally I would go for the laminate. You click it together and move in the same day. A stained plywood floor takes several days to finish AND CURE. You can't move in until the finish has cured (7-21 days depending on the finish you choose).

re face nails: why can't they be driven down into the wood; will be out of the way for refinishing.

yes they can- thats what i meant, thanks for pointing that out. I'm going to blame auto-correct!

JMKA, thanks for your input. I just found plank subfloors when we pulled up the 2nd floor carpet of our newly purchased 30-year old house, built in 1988. We live in Houston, TX.

I want to use water based poly/acrylic to finish.

I used water based poly on a loft stair project in 2013 because I was looking for a finish that didn't yellow the natural wood look I wanted. It was a dream to apply and turned out beautiful. It is a low traffic area but I hear water based is getting better all the time.

Need help house is 101 years old. Hubby and i think this was all attic. They turned it into a room by putting in subfloor. Carpet was up here. We took it up. Allowed 3 cats to live up here with 3 litter boxes. The two older cats passed away. We have stopped letting animals up here. We now have a mess.

Attic doors on either side of room.

This is a closet. Started taking up carpet board but having trouble.

the floor looks pretty good. of course i can't smell if there is cat residue from living up there! i also can't tell about the size of the gaps.101 years old there's plenty of dust below the boards and that could be a concern. if they are too wide- we have taken flooring up and re-installed it- time consuming but looks great. good luck send photos!!

this is a closer picture of the floor. it has hair ball stains. This is a closer look at the floor. The entry way is narrow and we don't use this room right now.

I know this is an old thread but for anyone else looking- I am in the process of refinishing some pine "subfloor" right now (and have done so in the past!) Last time I used a clear water-based polyeurethane in a satin finish and everyone who saw the floors loved them! They were gorgeous and natural

We sanded them and they were very light at first but darkened slightly over time which really brought out the grain!

Here is a photo of the floor! It was throughout the whole house

I know you aren't supposed to sand over the nails but...we did!! Right over them. This room has the most nails and "dings" and it still looked absolutely gorgeous!

In the process of doing the same thing right now in a different house!

And I mean in the process! Sanding this very day.

This floor will be finished with a matte hardwax oil, which we haven't tried yet! Hopefully it turns out well :)

Looks nice! Hope you’ll stop back by and comment how the hardwax oil turned out. We want to finish our (beautiful 130 year old quality wood) subflooring and have had a hard time finding info on how to do it and do it right.

We have finished ours with hardwax. We did the old oak strip flooring upstairs, sanded and hardwaxed. And then did the same to the pine downstairs, sanded and hardwaxed! Here are finished photos of both :) we did osmo polyx matte clear. It did darken the wood a tad, so if you're looking to maintain the natural wood colour I would try osmo polyx in raw, which is probably the route we will go in the future!

I think the raw only comes in satin from what I could find online, but as a hardwax I've read it doesn't get very shiny, even if you use a high gloss. It actually soaks into and penetrates the wood, unlike poly or other finishedls that sit on top of the floor. It feels and looks very different than poly and it took a few days to adjust to the look, which we now love!

The advice I can give is: sand sand sand and apply the hardwax oil extremely thin. After reading online, we actually wiped it as we went. Almost like a stain!

Beautiful! Thank you for the tips and how to! So helpful!

I just boufht a house (built 1910) and pulled up some carpets and oak floors to reveal pine tounge and groove floors directly on the joists. There is a bit of squeaking but nothing too bad. To make this a more solid floor, im considering carefully pulling up the pine, laying down new plywood/OSB subfloor, putting the pine through a planer, and then reinstalling it on top of the new subfloor. has anyone done this?

Hello, HU-768178175, I’d love to hear how this turned out. We’re you able to successfully pull up the subfloor? I was thinking of doing the same thing in my home (built 1923). It has wide pine tongue+groove planks that have a ton of character.

Following your stories to find out how the floors turned out.

I want to do this with my subfloor - but it is this kind. I want to use it as my actual flooring. It an OSB subfloor and I was thinking if I sanded it, added primer painted it and then use graining tool and satin it, it might work? Does that sound crazy? Has anyone done this before?

I'm wondering if anyone on this thread with plank subl-floors experiences movement of the floor when it is walked on? We have tongue and groove pine between first and second levels (with carpet) and find a lot of movement and squeaking (the subfloor is the ceiling of the downstairs bedroom). Also, our interior walls and kitchen cabinets seem to creak a bit when we walk into a room (assuming they are built onto the plank subfloor. Any info/comments of experience welcome!

Planning on doing this! got my first home in 2021, it was build in 1923. So this year is its 100 year centennial anniversary! ripped out the carpet to find subfloor planks throughout the mainfloor (living room, 2 bedrooms. It looks like walnut wood, but I will have to sand the hell out of it since theres paint and gunk all over it like old carpet padding netting. There's some tile in the living room doorway which I'm looking to remove but its tough. I'm sure the plank is under them as well. The kitchen also has those basic fake white marble square porcelein tile which I'm sure was laid over the wood subfloor. Looking to remove those which is the hardest part. I have a unfinished concrete basement which I will probably epoxy the concrete floor with marble patterning. May post results as my resolution is home improvement this year!

This may not be a popular option, but it was the best one for our 100 year old pine subfloors on our second floor. When we moved in to the house it had been empty for 5 years (long story), while the upstairs floors at first glance looked in pretty good shape we found a lot of damage and issues once we moved in. I struggled with how to best handle the floors, from refinishing, installing new flooring to painting them. At the end of the day painting them was the best option for us and I cannot be happier. I have only finished 1 of the 4 bedrooms so far as I am working room to room, so that is the photo I have attached below. Btw I have a ton of movement in 1 of the rooms flooring, which I will be nailing down prior to painting. The process I used was a light sand (orbital hand sander), clean, prime with Bin Zinsser, and 3 coats of Benjamin Moore floor & patio paint. I didn’t fill any cracks as I wanted to be able to see the individual planks. The floor is very easy to keep clean and adds so much brightness to the rooms. I know this option is not for everyone, but we have zero regrets about our choice to paint the floors.

Cancork Floor Inc. - could you be more specific about why you don't recommend it?  You say it'll have to eventually be covered - why?  You say that refinishing this plank subfloor can prevent some future installs unless it's removed - how does it prevent it?  You say you can't "float" some floors over it - what does that mean but most importantly, why?

my subfloor boards are beautiful and my contractor said that I can't use them as a subfloor because they wont hold the weight of appliances etc and someone could fall through. I disagree. From this thread, it seems many of you are proving him wrong. Correct?

Following

Wondering about solutions for loose boards and squeaks when finishing old plank subfloor. Any comments on the weight threshold of these floors?

@cpartist - hurrah for resurrection of old threads, fewer repeat threads, and more learning over time!