To refinish hardwood floors or not to refinish hardwood floors

[Lee Smith]

1900's house.. Hardwood floors throughout.. Problem is when they installed ductwork for furnace they cut up the floors. They also cut a section in the entry.. Should we refinish the hardwoods as is?
Trying to patch and splice to make it look original could cost a ton of money, and this house has a fixed up value of 150k.. I am leaning towards just refinishing as is and calling it character that tells a story of growing pains for a house... I might even advertise it as such! haha

Your thoughts?

Entryway: Not sure why these boards were cut and replaced, but they were at some point... 

Ductwork was run and so floors were cut to accomodate...

As I say, for the price point, I am thinking we refinish as is, and call it character, but would be interested to hear everyone's thoughts! 


@Matthew Schroeder

[Will Chamberlin]

@Lee Smith, a good floor guy should be able to fix this if the rest of the floors are in good shape. The guy I use has a stockpile of random pieces and was able to splice in some 'new' wood to replace an old cold air return. It didn't cost much extra, just a couple hours of labor. I would ask and see what the cost is. Compare that and the refinish price against another surface and see what it more cost effective/looks better for what you are trying to do. Fair point by @Colleen F. about not being able to just go buy new wood for this. You may be able to hit the salvage places and find similar wood for them to work in and save some money there. I am a big fan of keeping the real hardwoods and refinishing since they handle abuse really well and keep the original character of the house.