Plane or sand original wooden floor boards

[jessie175]

The original wooden floors in our house (circa 1900's) that we are refurbishing seem to be in good enough condition. I have read here that people usually sand and varnish them but we have been advised that planing the boards would be better.
To be honest I don't understand the difference or how this will affect the overall look. I would like to keep the antique look if possible. Any advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[BlueSpud]

Do neither. Planing and sanding will take the top layer of the boards away, and boards only have a limited thickness. Planeing and sanding will remove the antique look.

BTW I am not an expert, but someone would want to give me a very good reason to attack those old boards.

 

[Carpenter]

Planing is not an option, they couldn't really be planed insitu and no one would pass old floor boards through a planer/ thicknesser anyway for fear of old nails, grit and other hard particles that would soon make a mess of a set of knives! You can have the boards sanded, lightly to remove surface discolouration and minor scratches etc. but this will affect the appearance; however the boards will still look "old" and in keeping with the house. You could hire someone to do this or try it yourself; you would need an industrial floor sander and edge sander (all available on hire) but this is dusty, tiring work. This has been covered in many other similar threads.

 

[huskerdu]

Do neither. Planing and sanding will take the top layer of the boards away, and boards only have a limited thickness. Planeing and sanding will remove the antique look.

BTW I am not an expert, but someone would want to give me a very good reason to attack those old boards.

I have a few comments about what you have said.

I disagree with you. Sanding and varnishing will not remove the "antique " look of old floor boards.

You are right that sanding removes the top layer of of boards, but only a
few mms and it should last for years. I would not describe it as attacking the boards, just preparing them to be exposed and enjoyed.

If you want to expose the boards, you have to sand and varnish the boards. The untreated boards will be filthy, full of splinters and any liquid spills will soak into the wood.

I agree with Carpenter, it is physically hard work and very messy and the
cost of hiring a sander and buying belts for the sander for a few days might mean that the cost saving of doing it yourself is not as much as you think.