The Telltale Signs There’s Beautiful Hardwood Flooring Under That Tired Carpet

If you find an older home you love but aren’t thrilled with the flooring, don’t fret. 

What you may find underneath might be exactly what you were looking for in the first place. Many older homes were built with solid hardwood flooring, even if it’s no longer visible. 

As long as you know what to look for, you may reveal the gold mine that can be spruced up to fit your style and preferences. 

How to spot signs of hardwood flooring before ripping up the carpet

There are several clues that will give you the green light and confidence to go ahead and tear up that carpet and take full advantage of the hardwood flooring beneath it. Here are some ways to spot those indicators:

Pull out floor vents

The floor vents will tell you what layers are there. “Solid hardwood will generally be 3/4 inches thick and laid on top of a plywood subfloor—underneath the carpet and padding,” says Carly D. Harrington, owner of Floor Coverings International of South Atlanta in Atlanta.

Look at your crawl space and unfinished basement if you have them

If you have a crawlspace or unfinished basement, leverage it. You might be able to see hardwood flooring through any old holes for plumbing or vents up from below.

Pay attention to transitions

“Pull up the carpet at transitions into the bathroom tile or kitchen linoleum or vinyl,” says Harrington. You may be pleasantly surprised to find hardwood. 

Listen for squeaks

“You can also just listen—wood floors tend to squeak differently than subfloors, though in older houses everything squeaks, so it’s not the most scientific method,” explains Ivy Sbaiti, owner of Ivy Home Solutions in Dallas. Still, between a quick peek and a careful listen, you’ll usually know if something’s there.

Learn the home's history 

If the previous owners of your home were long-term residents, you have a much better chance of finding salvageable hardwood. “However, if the home was a rental or has been turned over several times in the last 30 years, and it still has carpet, the flooring is likely particleboard or too damaged to be restored,” explains Harrington.

How to know if it’s true hardwood once you’ve uncovered it

“Original solid hardwood is 3/4 inches thick and will generally have nails at the end of the planks in the doorways where the flooring runs perpendicular to a hallway. Engineered wood is generally glued down and laminate flooring, on the other hand, are floating,” says Harrington.

Engineered wood and laminate are much newer building materials than solid hardwood so they’re unlikely to be under carpeting. “Tapping against floating or glued down flooring has a hollow sound compared to the sound produced by solid hardwood,” explains Harrington.

Once you get the initial confirmation that hardwood flooring is in fact there, contain your excitement until you remove all the carpet as unpleasant surprises could be waiting for you. “These surprises may be large voids for former floor furnaces or other damage patched with plywood. Dark and deep moisture stains from pets or plants as well as fading or darkening from persistent sun exposure are also quite common,” says Harrington.

Other surprises may include deep scratches from furniture moving, holes from cable, satellite, telephone, and security wiring as well as termite damage. “Note that these are not necessarily deal breakers for your hardwood but may mean that it's time to call in professionals to lace in new wood, sand, stain, and polyurethane to return them to their former glory,” says Sbaiti.

How to treat hardwood flooring once it’s been uncovered

So, what do you do once you have that “aha moment” and realize that hardwood flooring is hiding beneath your carpet? You have a few options, depending on their condition as well as your budget and personal preferences.

The polished route

“Professionally refinishing is the best (and most expensive) way to restore floors,” explains Sbaiti. If you have the funds and desire to go all out, this is the ideal option.

The DIY route

Your hardwood flooring doesn’t have to be perfect to look good. “If the house has character, a few imperfections, leaving it mainly as is and using a DIY kit can actually tell a better story. In some of my flips, I lean into that. A little wear and tear, styled right, gives the home charm,” says Sbaiti. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

The bold route

If the wood is too far gone to refinish, painting is the cheapest and most forgiving option. “A dark paint, such as black or deep gray can look fantastic with the right styling,” notes Sbaiti.