There are some things that are not worth the time, stress, hassle, mess of diy... refinishing of floors is in that category, in my opinion.

I couldn't imagine ripping them out unless they are beyond repair, but as others suggest, have a professional come in and take a look.

I had maple floors refinished in one of my homes. I had it coated with a water-based poly because I can't stand the long lingering odor of regular poly.

The floors were like night and day. Could not believe how beautiful they were. Super professional people, no dust in my house, beautiful job. In a house I now own, I have some kind of hardwood under the carpets... and will be refinishing it in the near future. Can't wait!

Good luck on your floors :)

The type of flooring you probably have is classic solid hardwood. It is in homes over 100 years old, many of them classy and elegant. Tom and Norm on This Old House always try to save these floors and the wood easy to match because it is always available. Engineered flooring tends to come and go in different styles making it hard to match if needed down the road and if you go with something trendy (weathered gray) it will be "dated" in 10 years. Some HGTV shows just throw stuff away all in the name of "style" and "updating" which is really marketing to get people to rip out perfectly good surfaces and buy new ones - a certain pair of brothers comes to mind.

If the floor really is beyond saving, look for something equally timeless.

Shag carpet? That says a lot. Probably gorgeous with a pro bringing back the life. Here's a handyman special that was fixed by pros. Keep in mind, not all professionals follow the same techniques. Project was in Plymouth, Michigan. Home built in the 30's

Additionally, don't follow the links at the end. I stopped the HardwoodFloorTV project four years ago. I think LL took the domain over. Nope it goes to WalMart. Go figure.

More refinishing stuff with short videos

if the home is from 63, and has been covered w/shag, that means the floors have never been redone. They are not too far gone. If you weren't happy with the DIY job you did, that's prob because you've done it incorrectly. please do not take out original hardwood floors and replace w/some cheap engineered replacement. If you spend the money now to redo these correctly, they will last you another 50 years.(and never go out of style) that's a great investment.

post some pics of the floor if you want to know.

save yourself the hassle and cost (because if you ruin them now you have to pay to get them removed and replaced) and call in a professional wood floor refinisher. I watch those flipper people try and refinish floors without having a clue of what they're doing and I cringe. Its not a beginner DIY project.

agree w/jhmarie,,,there is one hgtv flipper show that routinely take out all character of older homes and put in gray, laminate and other nonsense. kills me that they don't even attempt to save the wood floors.

Use a professional company to add matching species of hardwood to the new areas and then have all of it (including the existing) sanded down and refinished to the same color. Worth every penny and should look fine. Please don't put down an engineered, prefinished wood next to true hardwoods.

Photos of what the floors CURRENTLY look like (and ones of your attempt to refinish) would be appreciated. Here's a hint about what to do: a full sand/refinish for hardwoods = $4-$5/sf. It is one of the most cost effective ways to "refloor" a home. Even a low-grade laminate + low grade underlayment + low grade "professional" installation can be $4/sf (after all the bills are paid).

Adding more of the same is usually pretty easy to do. A competent wood flooring company can do this with a few more dollars to source the wood and install. The sand/refinish is done all at once. Again, this is one of the most cost-effective flooring options we have. A little bit of money "up front" for the wood = 60-100 years worth of "life" with the wood floors.

And I agree with the "probably never been refinished" statement above. If you assume the carpet is from the LATE 70's (or a cheap arse who put in outdated/cheap shag in the 80's because it was on sale) means the floor from 1963 was NOT refinished. It probably looked 'nasty' in late 70's and because someone didn't want the cost/hassle of refinishing they covered them up. That's a GOOD thing. You have 55 year old hardwoods that don't look a DAY over 20 years! Awesome. You have even LONGER life expectancy than anyone else in the same boat!

Total Score! Go ahead and bring in a hardwood flooring company to assess the situation AND offer a quote for A) refinishing existing wood and B) adding in new/matching wood and refinishing all at once.

I think you will find the quotes to be more than acceptable.