What have you used to clean the floor?

the picture does help, but as far as the peeling goes that's probably the top layer of finish.

Did you have it recently buff n coated?

Floor installers do not care about level. if there is a natural slope to your house, then the floor will follow that. Could they have done something about that? yes, but its not standard to do so. also with the amount of movement the whole house does, you could have wound up with more noise issues in the future. but its hard to say for sure without seeing the house.

the floors making noise is normal too, after 15 yrs and with the seasonal changes that cause the wood to shift, noise will happen,

when you step on a board and you see if move up and down that usually means theres a soft spot in the subfloor, or that particular board doesn't have enough fasteners to hold it to the subfloor. (assuming its nail down)

If you have not had it refinished since it was installed, 15 years is about right for a refinish. If there are a few trouble boards, a professional can come in and either fir those boards up or replace them and make everything sturdy again.

Thank you, really helpful. We don't see any boards move themselves, but just / feels / soft in some places and makes some noise.

We use murphys on the floors, should we switch? Also always wanted to try vinegar and water but is that for finished floors?

Refinishing is a huge process with a lot of mess right? Would they also address the noise issues or just cosmetically on the top layers?

From the basement looking up the floor boards there are diagonal which I believe we're part of the original structure before the house was completely redone, so would that be considering the subfloor or is that another part below the actual floorboards we see?

Any idea on a cost to refinish 1500sq ft in CT? Attached another picture just generally of the floor.

Beautiful floors!

Murphy's can leave a build up of residue over time. Generally, I use one of the products that you can find in a home store specifically for cleaning prefinished floors. They work pretty well and you can get a starter kit that comes with a washable microfiber mop.

Refinishing your floor will only work if it's a solid floor. Some others my say that engineered can be refinished, but it's never worked out for me. Refinishing in my area (Ohio) runs $3-4 per square foot. Whether your refinisher will address squeaks or other issues depends on your arrangement with that person.

Correct me if im wrong, but I don't believe that floor is pre-finish

it could have been at one time, but it looks like its been sanded. Murphy's can leave residue, but from you're first picture, it looks more like poor adhesion of the top coat of finish.

The diagonal planks you see in the basement is your subfloor. Your Oak hardwood floors are nailed to it.

Refinishing can be messy. this is where you job comes into play and seek out many professional to give bids. No professional worth his weight will charge for a bid.

When you do, make sure you ask as many detailed questions as possible, and make sure they are specific about their process...meaning do they hang plastic? what brand of finish of stains and urethanes do they use. How many coats will be applied. Roughly their time frame to complete job. Will they remove baseboards? Shoe moulding? will they replace bad boards? will they address squeeking?

Some of those will be a surcharge, but its better to ask and have them at least bid it, so you know going into it what you're getting.

Im in the Midwest, so I cant say what east coast prices are. but best way to figure out, is to get those bids.

Yes I don't believe it is prefinished either. Thank you again for the feedback and advice super appreciated!

Hi,
That looks like the floor may have been coated with a product like Bona Polish or refresher. It looks to be debonding at the joints and in the middle of boards.

I have seen that issue on floors finished with urethane, but only at the joints. My feeling is that when a floor is site finished with urethane, something in the joints (uncured stain or filler, old wax or varnish, etc.) contaminates the finish or the surface so it doesn't bond well at the joints. When the floor moves, the poly debonds showing a lighter line.

Can you try to peel the finish off in an inconspicuous spot? If it peels off, it may well be a polish. You can also try putting a small puddle of ammoniated window cleaner on the middle of a board to see if it affects the finish.

IMO, a floor finisher would be foolish to try to make a contract to address floor squeaks. There's a few easy things you can do. After that, it gets involved and expensive.

I'll second the opinion on Murphy's. Never use it. Use a spray type wood floor cleaner instead. Never use a cleaner that says it will shine. polish or protect your floor.

Id like to clarify my comment about fixing the squeaking. And JFCWOOD is correct that a refinisher would be foolish to agree to fix every squeek.

That wasn't exactly what I was referring to. If you had a localized squeek, the refinisher may be able to try to fix it. its one of those things that you could try putting a finish nail in the board and that may fix it for the time being. but if your whole floor has squeeks everywhere, than yes its pointless to try to fix. at that point in order to alleviate the problem, you would need to pull up the entire floor and start fresh.

I have worked many a floor to attempt to quiet them some, but never included tightening an existing floor in a contract. Also, never guaranteed a new install to be squeak free forever. Wood floors will make some noise...if not today, then probably tomorrow... Nature of the Beast!

@JFCWood

I think you're exactly right. That's what it seems like. There are also an insane amount of surface level scratches on the wood even though we don't allow shoes in the house and are super careful. I think it's just that polish being scratched.

Any recommendation on something I can do myself to fix/repair or does it need to be professionally done?

Most of the polishes I've seen scuff and scratch easily. If there is a polish on your floor it was either applied by someone that wasn't aware how poorly they perform, or to spruce up the house for sale. At this point you can either look into removing it and addressing what that exposes, or apply more polish. Or you could have the floor resanded.
I have stripped polish off floors that was applied over a perfectly serviceable floor (probably by a housekeeper who thought they were doing the right thing) but quite often the polish is hiding other ills. I hate to say it but your best bet is probably to apply a polish as needed until you decide to refinish the floor. If it's 15 years old as you think, it's probably got some dings and scratches and will look great once refinished but you can put it off for a while.

I believe that is the finish peeling off. It is most likely waterborne polyurethane finish applied after a screen and recoat. I've seen this with Bona Hardwood Finish products.