OK...first things first. Not all engineered hardwoods can be refinished. So we start at the beginning. The top layer (called the wear layer) needs to be 3mm or thicker to achieve a single (1) sand and refinish. You will need to assess your own floors before you do anything or call anyone.

To do this you need to find a cross section of the floor. The easiest way to do this is to find a floor register and pop it off. The floor will be 'cut' (ie. you can see the cross cut) to fit the register. Go ahead and get your tape measurer out (easiest if you have millimeters on it) and measure the TOP layer of wood.

If you are seeing 3, 4 or 6mm of thickness you can (technically) sand and refinish these floors. As to whether or not you want to tackle this project yourself is another matter. Many of these floors are finished with Aluminum Oxide. This is the toughest finish you can get. It takes HUGE amounts of effort to get the finish OFF. It takes SOOOOO much effort that MANY professionals WILL NOT touch it. The other pros who will do it charge an extra $2-$3/sf (on top of the $5/sf or a regular sand/refinish).

If your finish has aluminum oxide on it, I would say a professional needs to be called. It could take a 'green' DIY flooring attempt weeks and weeks just to get down to raw wood.

And to be clear, the dark stain on the bevel of your floor probably will be left BEHIND. It takes a DEEP sanding to get rid of the bevel edge (the little valley between the planks). If you have a THICK wear layer (4-6mm) you can sand past the bevel...but if you don't then you are probably going to have the dark stain left between each plank.

My question becomes: how happy will you be, after spending all that money/time to sand down those floors only to have dark brown stain left behind?

I would not recommend a DIY floor refinish unless it is a relatively small area in an older home with solid wood. Floor sanding with a drum sander can damage floors quite easily. It is a bit of a trick to raise and lower the drum at the right moment. I am reasonably strong but not coordinated enough to pull the sander back at the same speed as it goes forward. Sanding is only part of the work.Then you have to finish the surface which has its own tricks. Mistakes you make during sanding will show up after you have finish on the floor when it is too late to fix them

By the time you rent the equipment, buy the supplies, and supply the labor you will have invested quite a bit into the project and you will get less than professional results. My advice is don't do it at all unless the floor is in poor condition. Spend some money on rugs and paint that will go well with the existing floors rather than pay to have the floors redone.

Only try to DIY if you can afford to 100% replace. Actually, only hire it done if you can 100% afford to replace it too. Don’t guess. get quotes.

You’d do better to spend the money on an electrician and better lighting. And use it.

Thank you SJ, Lyndee, JuneKnow and G&S. Looks like it is in my best interest to try and live with these floors as is - unless you have other suggestions? I was tempted to paint, but have read that should be a very last resort. They're just so dark, and we have a beach, and kids, so they're always dirty. Next step may be to post in a design forum to see how I can make them work with paint, lighting and rugs. Thanks again for your advice!

Stacey

No on a DIY floor refinish please, especially with a rented drum sander. Tremendous damage in seconds. Possibly catastrophic with an engineered floor.

I refinished our floor (parquet, not engineered wood) a few years back. Never again. We hired a drum sander. I could manage the sanding part, except that every time I so much as looked at the sander the dust bag would burst. We had a narrow corridor and at least three times it knocked a door or radiator and would burst. Always when it was at least half full, of course. It could have been quite messy except I usually inhaled all the sawdust before it dispersed through the house. The floor does look great, but if it ever shows signs of needing to be refinished again I'm moving house.

A large light patterned rug could do a lot in the pictured area. Matching or complimentary rugs in other areas. Instead of painting, a vinyl floor covering is an option.

Here. and here.

Most pros will have a dustless system for their sanders. A good system will pick up 99% of the dust. I don’t even put up plastic with my dustless system. The only time it gets dusty Is when I remove the equipment from the job site. It’s minimum.

A suggestion from the design forums - Install Modin Flooret flooring over the top of the existing dark wood - any thoughts on that option?

@ Stacey...please start another thread. It is not recommended to place vinyl over hardwood.

Ok, thanks!

Absolutely, positively, unequivocally, without question, this is NOT a diy

Definitely agree...this is not an easy DIY job. One thing I hear of a lot of home owners doing when they're unhappy with the floors they inherit is just laying a new floor overtop. There's a new floating solid hardwood flooring on the market here in north america (europe has had it for a while now...they're always ahead there!) called Easiklip. Is a click lock system that uses a clip under the floor boards. Because it floats, you just need to lay a foam pad underlayment over your existing hardwood and you're good to go. It's super easy to install. And one really cool thing is that because it just clips together, it's removable too. So if you move house, you could take it with you! Kindof a crazy thought though, haha. But in theory, if you like your new floating floors and the person buying your house doesn't, you can just revert back to your darker original engineered flooring and take the new stuff with you.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but thought I'd chime in with a perspective that hasn't really been offered for your problem yet! Hope it helps :)