Hi everyone!

 

I'm a DIY enthusiast who's just bought their first house and is looking forward to starting multiple projects!

 

I'm hoping for some advice on my first project.

 

I've recently bought a new house (terraced, Victorian) and was delighted to discover pine floorboards beneath the carpets. My excitement was short lived when I realised that the depth of the boards is only 16mm. Am I correct that at 16mm, these boards are already too thin to sand down before refinishing? 

Edited July 24, 20215 yr by LukeW

16mm seems very thin, I presume they have been replaced at some point and not original. 
sanding will only loose you a few mm and if the floor is solid at the moment  then it should be ok…. 
have you looked at if the floor has insulation under it ? There is probably a reason for carpets…. It gets very cold in winter ? 
no point spending time and money getting the floor nice only to find out you need to put carpets back down to keep warm ! 
insulation first then work out where to go next. 

Also carpets can keep out the draughts (underfloor space should be ventilated) and unless tongue and groove boards (which they may be) small gaps between boards. I doubt Victorians would use 16mm boards so they are probably newer tongue and groove which means as they support one another 16mm might be stronger than non t@g boards.

Thanks for the replies! 

 

I hadn't thought about insulation - definitely something to check first!

 

The boards are square-edged rather than T&G - so unfortunately decidedly on the thin side.

 

I'm personally not mad about carpets in general, but not to the point of wanting a cold and draughty house!