How can I cover tongue and groove floors ?

Things to consider.Adding flooring over it adds additional height that can cause problems with the overall appearance of the room or pose problems with having to cut the bottoms up on interior and entrance doors to allow the doors to swing properly. There can also be clearance problems with appliances and it can create unevenness where other rooms connect and adding additional layers of new flooring places unnecessary weight to the floor system. And if the old flooring should ever become loose it could affect the new flooring installed over it. One of the benefits of removing the old flooring is it allows you the chance to fix any loose subflooring or squeaks by re-securing the main subfloor to the floor joists prior to installing the new flooring. With all that being said though the answer is YES you can install New Wood Flooring over the old. BUT…

New Hardwood Flooring Over Old Hardwood Flooring: 3/4" thick or thinner Solid or Engineered hardwood flooring must be installed across the old wood floor boards (at a 90 degree angle). If the hardwood flooring is installed (nailed down) parallel to the direction of the old wood flooring the new wood floors could pull apart leaving open gaps or develop waviness later if the old wood flooring under it expands or contracts. If you desire to run the wood flooring parallel with the old wood floor boards you must install a layer of 3/8" thick plywood underlayment screwed down over the old wood flooring which acts as a separation and will allow you to run your new wood flooring in any direction desired. We recommend laying 15 lb. black felt Hardwood flooring underlayment paper over the old flooring overlapping the seams 4-6 inches to help retard moisture transfer. To reduce any added height problems you can use a thinner 3/8" - 9/16" thick engineered wood floor or 5/16 thick solid hardwood floor. You can also use a floating engineered floor which can usually be installed over the older floor in any direction. All floating wood floors require a suitable underlayment pad.

Here's a bit of info that may help you decide! I think it can be done!

https://www.newlifehi.com/blog/can-i-put-laminate-flooring-over-hardwood

Yes. http://www.attnational.org/can-i-lay-laminate-flooring-over-existing-hardwood-floors/

Before laying finished flooring such as vinyl, you will need to lay a sub floor, Such as MDF, I would glue and nail with ribbed nails, 4-6" spacing.

Why not sand it? I would definitely not cover real wood flooring.

Yes! You can lay a vinyl plank or laminate floor easily over them.

Yes you can - and if you want to avoid scratches from dogs, I'd recommend vinyl flooring that looks like wood and is scratch resistant.

Yes, you can. It should minimize further damage to your hardwood if you don't use glue or fasteners and possibly add a layer of cushioning under it. They make some pretty sturdy luxury vinyl these days. Good luck and stay safe!

Hello Patti,

First arrange to have the dogs claws to be trimmed on a regular basis. Cover the floor with Vinyl flooring maybe, or carpet.....Best wishes.

I love my vinyl plank floor! ...mine is even waterproof!

Whatever you do, it being claw-scratch-resistant is important.

I would research products very well.

Since I’m adept at laying tile, I would buy through-bodied porcelain pavers (not glazed and not polished) and tile it with either 1/16” non-sanded grout joints (if non-gauged)

or no grout at all, if it is gauged tile.

If it is level, you should be able to lay in on top of the current flooring.

Refinishing pine is only possible once so if you are going to have dogs, that probably isn't a good resolution. You can always cover with rugs but that is such a hassle to keep clean with dogs.