Under the carpets of an enormous number of British houses sits a wood floor that the owners are about to pay to replace with a worse one. Original boards get ripped out weekly in favour of new flooring that will not last half as long, usually because nobody in the room knew the old floor could be saved.
What sanding can actually rescue
A sand and refinish takes a floor back to bare wood and builds a new finish on top, and the transformation reads as a new floor. Grey boards, paint splatter, decades of overlapping finishes, water marks and most scratches disappear with the top layer. Solid boards can take this repeatedly. Engineered boards can take it a limited number of times, governed by the wear layer above the plywood core: measure it at a radiator pipe cut-out or a threshold, because sanding through it is the one mistake that cannot be undone.
What sanding cannot fix
Sanding is surface surgery, so anything structural stays. Boards that flex or bounce point to joist or subfloor problems that a finish will not cure. Deep urine staining from old pet accidents penetrates beyond sanding depth, and turns black under some finishes. Woodworm flight holes are usually historic and cosmetic, but active infestation and rot are replacement territory, at least for the affected boards, and a restorer will splice in reclaimed boards rather than condemn the room. Wide, uneven gaps are a judgement call: filled, they can go again, though filler in a floor that still moves seasonally will eventually let go.
The decision, honestly
Restoration usually undercuts replacement once you price uplift, disposal, new boards and fitting, and it keeps the wood that matches the age of the house, which buyers notice. The exceptions are floors with too little wear layer left, widespread structural trouble, or a room where the owner simply wants a different species or pattern, all legitimate reasons to start again.
Have someone who does both look before anyone quotes for either. Many of the flooring firms listed here offer sanding and refinishing alongside supply and fit, or describe the floor and its state and ask specifically whether it is worth saving. The answer to that question is the whole decision.
