Renovating Old Floors – An Expert’s Guide to Repairing & Replacing Flooring in a Period House

Renovating wooden flooring

The simplest renovation job for a wooden floor is sanding and varnishing the boards. This works well for Victorian or early 20th-century floors that have regularly sawn boards of good quality timber. Later examples are unlikely to be of sufficient quality to make it worthwhile. This is a  straightforward job for a competent DIYer. Floor sanders can be hired from most tool hire centres, but make sure all the nails are fully driven home before you start.

These solid oak planks by Chaunceys Timber Flooring created the perfect base for this home’s new kitchen, designed by Sustainable Kitchens in Bristol. The planks were finished in clear oil to showcase the natural beauty of the reclaimed timber

Suspended timber ground floors can suffer decay to the sub-floor as the result of persistent damp. In this case, boards can be lifted carefully so the supporting joists and counter joists can be repaired or replaced as necessary. Any new joists should be wrapped at the ends with DPM to protect from future decay. The opportunity can be taken to introduce airtightness and insulation below the floor, greatly improving thermal performance, before re-fixing the boards. If any are damaged, they can be replaced – regular boards can be re-ordered and hidden in an unseen area (such as under rugs or furniture).

This is a job for a carpenter, unless you are quite skilled. Older boards will have been shaped to fit their individual place so they cannot be moved around. If these need to be lifted and re-fixed, it is a job for a specialist carpenter. If repair is needed it should be as minimal as possible and the finished boards polished, rather than sanded.

Case study Victorian terrace renovation with reinstated original floorboards

Eager to move, Michelle and Remi Morgan had looked at dozens of houses without success until, one lucky day, a property listing caught Michelle’s eye. “I knew this was our dream house, but the estate agent told me the owner had taken it off the market,” she says. Luckily, after getting in touch with the owners, Michelle and Remi found out there had been a mix up, and they were able to purchase the house.

“It was fantastic,” says Remi. “It was an 1890s Victorian terraced house with four bedrooms – one rather small, another in the loft – and a lovely garden. There were plenty of original features, including wide pine floorboards downstairs, old fireplaces and corbels in the hallway.”

Photo: Fraser Marr

They soon set about designing a renovation that could work for them. In order to turn their ideas into reality, the Morgans consulted architectural firm Design Squared. Between them, they came up with a plan to demolish the flank wall of the kitchen to make way for a new side return extension. They would also remove the existing single-storey addition at the rear of the kitchen. “It contained a utility room and a loo and was always damp, thanks to its flat roof. On its footprint we’ve added a new two-storey extension to lengthen the kitchen and create an extra double bedroom above,” says Remi.

Photo: Fraser Marr

The extension has created a big kitchen-living-dining room, with the space offering an extra 2.3m in width and 1.5m in length. The line of self-cleaning skylights in the side return’s roof help to maximise natural brightness, while a huge glass pivot door from Maxlight connects indoors and out. Creating the kitchen-living-dining area meant the existing spaces downstairs could be repurposed and updated. The previous dining room has become a library and games area. The ground floor features reinstated pine flooring, which adds a lovely textural feature to the property.

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Renovating tiled floors

Modern ceramic tiles don’t usually merit renovation beyond cleaning. If badly damaged, replacement is best. Colourful encaustic tiles were popular in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. These floors often survive, sometimes below later carpet or vinyl. Unfortunately, they are frequently damaged by services, carpet nails etc. Until quite recently, replacement tiles were very hard to come by but there are now several companies supplying new encaustic tiles – some can make specific tiles to your pattern. These floors are worth renovating, providing attractive colourful patterns, usually in hallways.

These quarry tiles were restored with just a thorough clean using washing soda and lots of scrubbing

Small-format quarry tiled floors can survive similarly hidden away. They are hardwearing so should still be quite flat and regular, enabling localised repair if matching tiles can be found – these are most likely to be reclaimed. A good clean might be needed, but make sure you avoid any abrasive or aggressive chemicals.

Large-format quarry tiles were in use from as early as the 17th century. They were fired at a low temperature which, combined with their age, results in considerable wear. As noted, this can be treated as an asset rather than a defect,  but any missing or extremely damaged tiles may need to be replaced. Sizes are often non-standard so it can take a lot of hunting around in reclamation yards to find the most appropriate tiles. Ideally, you want to find a tile which has a similar wear pattern to the rest of the flooring.

How durable are the different types of flooring?

The materials you are likely to encounter in old floors vary in their durability and longevity. This affects the amount of damage or deterioration you can expect and will inform your renovation options.

Timber floors

• Oak floorboards are highly durable and may be extremely old. They can suffer from patches of decay or wear and tear, usually due to the inclusion of sapwood. Localised repair might be needed.
• Elm can survive for a similar length of time but tends to have more irregular grain, causing greater potential for decay.
• Old softwood boards (up to about 1919) are typically made of good quality, slow grown timber and it is very durable. In severe conditions, a number of boards might need to be replaced.
• Newer softwood boards and associated joists have much more limited durability and have a high risk of decay in damp conditions.

Stone floors

• Sandstone can suffer extensive wear from foot traffic. Individual stones cut from a defective bed can wear excessively, sometimes leading to complete failure and requiring replacement.
• Limestone is generally much harder wearing but is less homogeneous, resulting in ridges or pockets of disintegration that can be a problem.
• Granite is extremely hardwearing, bordering on the indestructible.

Tiled floors

• Encaustic tiles are very hardwearing but subject to physical damage. Individual tiles can be sourced from specialist suppliers.
• Small-format quarry tiles usually experience only limited wear. Damage is usually localised; seek replacement tiles from salvage yards.
• Large-format quarry tiles often show extensive wear. Aim to retain if possible.

Insulating old floors to improve thermal efficiency 

The floor is the element of a building with which you’re in most contact. So, insulating an old floor tends to have a significant positive impact on comfort levels. If you’re going to tackle this kind of project, it’s important to take the right approach. Otherwise, you could risk causing issues with damp. Suspended timber floors can often be carefully lifted without causing damage. It is then quite a simple task to drape a membrane between the joists and fill the space between them with insulation before replacing the boards.

It’s essential to use breathable insulation materials in old floors to avoid damp and decay to the floor joists. Loose fill cellulose insulation works well because it easily fills the voids without any gaps. The ventilation space below the joists should be left unobstructed. Bear in mind that the older the floor, the less uniform the boards and joists will be. This greatly increases the difficulty of lifting and replacing the floor.

Floorboards have been lifted and replaced to enable the installation of mineral wool insulation in this project. An additional vapour control membrane, placed on the warm side of the boards, improves airtightness while minimising the risk of interstitial condensation

A significant cause of poor thermal performance in timber floors is that they lack airtightness. Draughts between the boards tend to make a room feel very cold. Well-detailed insulation as per the above will give excellent airtightness. If it’s not possible to lift boards safely because of their age, then fill the gaps between with hemp caulking to eliminate draughts.

Historic solid floors should be left undisturbed wherever possible, so they do not usually present any opportunity for insulation. However, modern uninsulated concrete floors can be removed and replaced with a breathable, insulated version. A base of foamed glass aggregate covered by a lime screed is a good choice for heritage floors. This is a specialist job that must be carefully planned. It is quite intrusive and disruptive but will make a big improvement to thermal performance.

Retrofitting underfloor heating (UFH) in period properties

Where a floor must be replaced or substantially altered, there is the opportunity to incorporate underfloor heating (UFH). Water-based systems provide consistent low-temperature heat throughout the surface area of the floor. This delivers great comfort levels, and works well if you’re installing new solid floors (where the pipework can be embedded in the lime screed).

Installed correctly, UFH can work well in older buildings, which tend to offer good thermal mass, taking best advantage of the low-grade warmth this emitter provides. Underfloor heating also avoids the irregular peaks and troughs and high flow temperatures of conventional radiator systems. This makes UFH very efficient and sympathetic to the sensitive structural fabric of period properties.

Nu-Deck from Nu-Heat combines a floor deck and underfloor heating system in one – offering a low build-up alternative to between-joist system. This system won the 2024 Build It Award for Best Underfloor Heating Innovation

The floor build-up is the biggest obstacle when installing UFH in a renovation project. Accommodating a layer of insulation, the pipework and thick screed in a traditional setup would add 100mm to the floor, reducing head height in the room significantly. You also have to consider the subfloor: suspended timber floors require a different approach to solid concrete.

Insulating beneath the retrofit underfloor heating system is key; limiting heat loss through the floor and ensuring it travels upwards into the building instead. Concrete floors are particularly difficult and costly to dig out to accommodate insulation, but even if you can only include a very thin layer of thermal protection, it’s better than leaving it out altogether. Some UFH board systems include an element of insulation, but you’ll probably need to top that up for best performance.

You should be wary that there is some potential risk to the house’s original features, such as stone or timber floors when lifting and replacing them. Heritage skirting boards and architraves will also need adjustment to accommodate the floor build up.