If older homes are your style, you're buying into the benefit of careful craftsmanship and attention to detail that seems to have disappeared over the past few decades. However, older homes have older materials that can either add charm or leave a hole in your pocket. In order to determine if an older home is worth its price tag, you'll have to see what can be saved and what should be scraped and add those costs to the price of your potential new home.

Many homeowners are drawn the character of older homes because of the detail and quality we don't see as often today. Older homes often have floors that show their age in a very romantic way, however, along with the beauty of wide floorboards and the rich patina earned by years of wear can also come the squeaks, stains, smells and other tell tale signs of its age. While age brings character to a floor, it can also bring concerns.

So how can you determine if the floors in your future home are worth salvaging before you sign? Here is more information, courtesy of www.wedothehomework.ca.

When it's better to replace than refinish

Floors with the following indicators may not be worth the elbow grease:

1. Boards that have structural issues such as having to remove the boards to replace a subfloor.

2. Over-sanded floors where the tongue and groove is deteriorating.

Is this floor worth salvaging?

There are more cases when saving a floor is far more cost-effective and satisfying than replacing it. Even bug-infested boards can be replaced. The following signs will tell you that your floor is worth saving:

1.Squeaks are common in older floors but don't write them off. This is a fixable problem and just takes a skilled handyman to quiet the noise by applying a lubricant and tightening the floor.

2.Small areas of damage don't mean the whole floor has to go. These can be patched and re-stained to match the rest of the floor.

3.Stains aren't permanent either. Most stains are surface stains and can be removed with sanding. Deeper stains will come up a bit and can be hidden with new stain and a great area rug.

Almost any old floor can be salvaged and it is considerably cheaper and more visually rewarding to refinish instead of replacing a floor. You'll also get the benefit of its natural characteristics such as mineral streaks, knotholes and dings and bangs that give it a unique look on every board.

For more information, visit www.wedothehomework.ca, a website created by the Ontario Real Estate Association to educate homeowners about the buying and selling process.