Our dining room floors are nearly 100 year old pine, the previous owner only stained the perimeter of the floor and used a rug in the center. After stripping the floor was 2 very different colors and we were told that no amount of sanding would make the floor uniform and that we should just stain them and restain the perimeter if needed. After staining, I am discouraged I don't think its going to ever match (you can hardly see the grain in the middle). The pictures should show the before, after stripping and the first coat of stain. If anyone can advise us on how to proceed, we would be very grateful. Thanks in advance

My house was built in 1953. We are getting ready to redo our wood floors. The subfloor we believe is throughout the house is 2x4s on a concrete slab. The wood floor is nailed to this. That's it. After considering refinishing our floors we decided we are going to replace it with either nail down hardwood or floating engineered wood. We are going to rip all the existing wood out. If we go with nail down can we just nail right back over the 2x4s if everything is still solid and sound? What if a 2x4 is loose or needs to be replaced? Do I just tapcon it down to the slab? There was a wall that we took down between the kitchen and dining room that leaves a gap between the subfloors in those rooms now. What is the best way to install a 2x4 in this gap? Over lap it and tapcon it to the slab across both rooms? Or tapcon it between the existing 2x4s so that everything is in line? If we go engineered floating: replace/reattach any loose 2x4s and then 1/2 inch plywood over that and then float the floor on the plywood? How long of screws should i use to attach the plywood to the 2x4s? Deck screws? Thanks for any advice