I am near the end of having a 2 BR apartment remodeled in a building that I own. The 2 bedrooms had old wall-to-wall carpet in them and I took that up. The living room had a Pergo laminate floor in very good condition, but I had to take that up because the remodeling changes resulted in the Pergo no longer covering the full size of the room.
What I am now left with is 2 bedrooms and a living room with old red oak hardwood floors in mediocre shape -- there are paint splatters and oversprays on the floor, some pieces would have to be replaced or filled in with hardwood (where closet walls were, etc), and there are some gaps between some of the existing hardwood boards.
So, I am thinking my choices are:
1) wall-to-wall carpeting throughout; 2) new laminate/Pergo-style flooring throughout; 3) replace the missing pieces and fix the existing hardwood floor, then sand and refinish it; 4) add all new unfinished red oak (or similar) hardwood flooring throughout, on top of the existing hardwood flooring, then sand and apply finish coats of polyurethane, etc.; 5) add all new pre-finished red oak (or similar) hardwood flooring throughout, on top of the existing hardwood flooring, and then maybe add a coat of polyurethane to seal the cracks between the pieces.The 2 bedrooms, living room, closets, and small hallway area add up to about
440 square feet. If I do add a whole new hardwood floor on top of the existing one, that added 3/4-inch plus underlayment in floor height will not present a problem. I have a person who can do the work regardless of which option I end up choosing. I have been reading, researching, watching YouTube videos, etc. to learn as much as I can before going ahead.Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations, etc. would be appreciated.
If I do decide to go with installing new unfinished hardwood (instead of pre-finished hardwood), I assume that some quick sanding will need to be done -- but not a lot -- before adding a polyurethane finish. Is that correct?