Wood floors

[Lizzie C]

Apologies if you have read this before - originally put on wrong forum.

What to do?:
Kitchen & one other small room have wood (Chestnut) floor boards which are old and ropey. 
In the small room the previous owners had covered them up with a layer of 
carpet then laminate then carpet again.
In both rooms the floors are in quite a sorry state, although not collapsing there are 
lots of nails, a few damp areas, gaps, gouges and wobbling (?!) -  the 
floorboards lay directly above the cellar - there is no additional layer between 
them and the cellar/cave which probably didn't help the damp, but did allow for 
much 'breathing'!.
Can they be saved or should we start over?.
I am concerned that there is no other layer between them and the open cellar - 
should I be?
Could these old boards be used as a 'base' layer for new ones?
I'd be grateful for any suggestions or advice regarding wooden floors and their 
problems & fixing, I have zero knowledge of floors and have managed to entirely 
escape their issues.... until now....

Cheers.

[shimble]

you really need to check out the joists.... which is more important ....are they solid? are they secure in the wall? what sort of a span have you got between each joist? how big are the joists? are they full of wood worm? address this and then you can consider what is best to do with the floor  but you are probably best off scrapping it and starting again but thats only my opinion and youde have to see in real life to be sure

[BIG MAC]

Maybe try a floor sander if boards are sound? a light sand initially to show up the worst gouges which can then be filled with colour matched filler then sanded again prior to hand finishing /staining and laquer/wax.......just a thought

[Pierre ZFP]

If you're going on the sanding route suggested above, don't forget to remove any nails or punch them below the surface before sanding or they will make an 'orrible mess of the sander.