Is there any point putting hardwood on floorboards?

[Chlorinated]

I have removed my carpets and have found wooden floorbaords underneath them. I was thinking of restoring them or putting new wood above them.
Restoring costs £400 and the existing wood is apparently quite good and will look classy once finished. On the other hand using new wood will cost less but it will still look good, although not great.

1.If I put new wood, does there have to be underlay between it and the existing floorbaords?
If so will this work even though the original floorbaords may not be level?
Will I have to use plywood or us underlay sufficient?

2.I believe restoring floorboards will cause noise to neighbours below, will using the new set of wood reduce/sort the noise problem out?

3.Is there any other reasons you can think of why I might want to restore over adding a new wood layer and vice versa?

Thanks

 

[ladylola]

By "putting new wood above them" do you mean laminate or are you suggesting new floorboards laid on top ?
Personally if the old boards are fine I'd go with that option. As to the neighbours have a chat and see if there is a day when they go out so you can arrange for the floor to be sanded then to reduce their inconvience.

 

[Symptoms]

Chlor - noise concerns whilst the work is being done can be worked around but the bigger question is the noise concerns once the work has been completed. Your neighbours below ain't going to like all the sounds from your flat (footfall on bare boards, telly/music, conversation); the carpet would have deadened some of this. If you really want to proceed with this (beautiful bare f/bds) you do need to consider some sort of soundproofing scheme for the floor ... there are plenty of methods of doing this but it'll add to your costs.

 

[Chlorinated]

I am suggesting new wooden boards on top. I believe laminate is the plastic feeling wood and the stuff i was looking at were not light like laminate but thicker wood although not thick or great feeling as floorboards.

Anyway, surely for noise reduction and warmth new boards is a good idea, is it not? And are there any other pros and cons to doing such a thing? Why else would you say restoring original floorboards is preferable?

thanks

 

[Symptoms]

Chlor - you wrote: "I have removed my carpets and have found wooden floorbaords underneath them. I was thinking of restoring them or putting new wood above them."

and

"Why else would you say restoring original floorboards is preferable?" ... I didn't. I was suggesting that original flooring (only if in good condition) once refurbished would look good.

The main thrust of my posting was to mention nuisance sound transmission between the flats. The original carpet would have deadened some of the inpact noice (footfall through the floor/ceilingstructure) and airbourne (across the void between the floor/ceiling). If you plan is to have bare boards (either original only or new floating) then you should think about the sound nuisance that you may introduce ... remember sound nuisance will come up into your flat from below (airbourne - there won't be any footfall unless a family of large bats live below) as well as your noise being heard below. It is posible to use original flooring after soundproofing but easier to install floating over a soundproofing treatment (existing f/bds, securly fixed & all nailheads punched below the surface slightly, acoustic 'quilting' or underlay of some description, then the floated floor above. The floated stuff must not directly touch any structure (skirtings, nailheads, original f/bds, walls, etc) as any inpact noise of the floated floor will transmit through to below.