It helps to take a small piece of wood ( an old shingle or piece of a 2 x 4) and put it under whatever you are using to pry up the strip. I used one of DH's expensive wood chisels to pry up the tack strip. It worked really well, but probably wasn't very good for the chisel.

When it comes to hardwood, trends are something to ignore! Why? Because hardwood is pretty much a lifetime purchase, and unless yours is damaged in some way, you're probably not going to replace it. So, light wood vs. dark wood, wide planks vs. narrow planks -- that stuff's all going to come and go. With that in mind -- as well as the very real concerns about cleaning dark wood -- I'll vote for a nice, neutral midtone every time. Not too much contrast, not too red, and (unless it's a beach house) not too pale. I think this is the wood that's most likely to give you good service and stand the test of time.

JFCI, Will try increasing the concentration. CFI, I asked around - some went up as high as $1.25/sqft. One of them was more reasonable at $0.75/sqft, but after speaking with him I realized that I'd have to move all my furniture out of the way. My floor plan is a little weird - the main living area is split up into two halves by the kitchen in the middle. One side of the kitchen forms the living/dining/great room and the other my home office making this a two day job because of moving around the furniture. I will call upon the pros in the future for a complete floor facelift - right now, I'm just going to try this by hand so that my floors don't look like they've been pulled from a warehouse. I'm considering getting a handheld polisher like this one - http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18-Volt-ONE-10-in-Orbital-Buffer-Tool-Only-P435/205975768 to help with removing the sludge. This will also give me the flexibility to work around my schedule/furniture. I couldn't find any mildly abrasive pads, but I reckon the microfiber/cloth pads that come with the tool should suffice at high enough speeds. Will update once I get out and but this thing! Thank you both for all the advice.

Most of these OTC polishes (Bona Polish, Weiman, Rejuvenate) are total crap. They scuff easily, wear poorly and don't repel soil. Quite often they're applied over floors that aren't clean and they trap soil and make the floor look dingy. People add coats to make it look better and end up making it much worse. Contact the manufacturer to inquire how to safely remove it from your wood floor. Swiffer Wet Jet is another product to avoid IMO. I've seen it leave a film on the floor. After the polish is removed, contact your floor installer or the manufacturer to see what they recommend.