Changing color on hardwood

I would like to make my "medium" oak floors a deep mahogany shade - I have a couple of questions - first, after initial sanding, and trial in an "inconspicuous place" I see VERY little resulting color change even though we picked a very dark stain (MinWax Gel Stain - Brazilian Rosewood) and followed all of the directions - would could be going wrong? Second - We have choosen to go "dark" with our stain because our floor has several misc. stains and nicks throughout the entire first floor and we thought the dark stain could help hide whatever was left after sanding - are we right about this? Any help would sure be appreciated! Thanks!

 

Tommy:

How "deep" did we go in the initial sanding? Did we remove all of the previous finishes, waxes, and/or cleaners that could have been used over the years? Take a look at the following link for ideas.

www.floridawoodfloors.net/job.htm