You'll have to pull up more to really tell, but you probably have finished wood floors. Maybe painted later. If they're wider than 3" they're probably pine or fir.

OK...so here's what you MIGHT be dealing with. You *might be dealing with either slatted wood subfloors (possible...can't tell until you remove all the carpet) that have been painted. Or you could have wood floors (probably a fir or pine) that were painted a LONG time ago.

As you know, LEAD BASED PAINT was on the market until 1978!!! Yep. That long ago. So...if you want to disturb this paint, you must send a sample away to a lab that will determine what is in it. I would ASSUME this is lead based UNTIL someone tells you it is safe to remove.

Remember: lead based paint is safe so long as it is not disturbed (no sanding), no chemical stripping, no heat guns. If it is flaking, then ingestion by animal (cats or dogs that 'lick' things...just to find out what it is) or children who 'mouth' things (cause babies and young toddlers do that) will be the greatest danger.

If it is lead based, you will most likely need to deal with remediation if you want to do anything with the wood. That gets expensive. If you are having the lead paint remediated (you might as well get all the wood trim stripped...'cause if it is on the wood of a floor, it is definitely going to be lead on the trim). And if you really want to spend quite a bit more money, you can have some of your surfaces tested for asbestos...and get IT remediated at the same time.

Mold is also a remediation situation as well....so while you are at it...you can look to see if mold needs to be/can be dealt with at the same time. The EXPENSIVE part of remediation (mold, lead, asbestos, animal infestation...aka Hanta virus, etc) is the TARPING off of the rooms and setting up the negative pressure fans. That's days 1, 2 and sometimes 3 (depending on how much of the house needs to be looked at).

Or....you can assume you are working with lead based paint. You can send a sample away just to be sure...and then assume you will be putting down carpet once more.

The quick first step would be to get a home lead test kit from a hardware store. If the liquid turns red, you have lead; if not, you might still have lead and might want to consider a professional lead inspection. Those have to be disclosed when you sell the house, though, and pro lead remediation is expensive.

Leaving lead paint might or might not be ok. Encapsulating it might be advisable, since old paint can crumble and generate dust, and the dust is bad news.

It's powder post beetles

Many of the home lead tests have very high false positive rates. You should spring for a laboratory test.

Brooke Olson , as already mentioned have that paint tested for lead. Then have a local flooring contractor come out and review the flooring in person. Its very possible you will have a red oak floor underneath that can certainly be refinished and look like new again.