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Old wide Hemlock flooring covered with black mastic glue can be saved. This beautiful old floor was in an old colonial home in upstate New York. Many people see glue like this on a floor and give up. Actually, the glues acts like a preservative and protects the old floor from abuse. I used 16 grit sandpaper on my old 220V drumsander which I haved named "Nellie" . When I was living in Northern VA I stopped by the US Patent office and looked up Nellie's Patent. She was patented back in 1951 and her number is 356 so she was probably made the first year of production. She still sands floors as well as some of the new floor sanding machines if not better. These hemlock boards are wide which is a premium these days. Back when this floor was installed they were actually less expensive. Old Growth trees were abundant and large. Since the milling was done manually, the less cutting needed the cheaper the flooring was. The narrow boards found in many expensive victorian homes was actually more expensive as they required more milling. With the automation of milling and the absence of large old growth trees the narrow flooring boards anr now less expensive and the wide boards more costly.