Remove Hardwood to fix hump in floor or refinish and live with hump?

[Sage Souther]

Hello BP community! Just recently closed on my 1st investment property (Duplex located in Amesbury MA). Me and my partner are implementing the BRRRR strategy and plan to hold on to this property for a good while. Id like to get some opinions on what some more experienced investors would do in this circumstance.

One of the units has some existing hardwood flooring thought the kitchen, hallways, and bathroom. The flooring is in really good shape, just needs a refinish to make it like-new. It’s probably hard to tell from the pictures, but there is a big hump in the middle of the floor (about ½”) along with a slight sag in the hallway area. It’s an old New England house that was built in 1885 so it’s really not that surprising. The floor itself is very solid. The reason why there is a hump in the middle is because that part is an addition to the original house and whoever did it, did not match the floor very well (you can see it in the basement)

My 1st question: Would you keep and refinish the hardwood and just live with the floor hump, or tear out hardwood, level the floor with floor leveler, then install LVP.

My 2nd question: Would you refinish the original pine floors (see pictures of grey flooring) or install LVP. I think the pine floors would astatically look better if refinished in polyurethane but I feel like it wouldn’t stand the test of time against tenants comparted to LVP.

The hump really doesn’t bother me all that much, maybe I’m overthinking it. I’m going to be doing all the work so the most cost-Efficient option money and time wise is to save the hardwood. This whole unit is getting a full renovation anyway so now would be the time to address it. Every other room is getting LVP over original pine floors for long term durability against tenants.

More Details

• Purchase Price $210k
• Renovation Cost $120k
• ARV: 650K

I’m doing a DIY construction video series for this project on my YouTube channel. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think. Link is in my bio, Thanks for reading.