Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Questions about wood floor found under the carpet

Hi there,

Recently, I decided to take out the carpet and try my hand at refinishing the wooden floor underneath it. I've been reading some guides on how to do it, but I have not done refinishing before.

For reference, I have put some pictures on my website:
My Wooden Floors (http://guitarslinger.googlepages.com/home)

I'm hoping to get some insights to the following:


Can this floor be handle by an amateur like me? I have not done any DIY projects, yet, so I'm not sure if this is beginner material.
Can I use a sander on this type of floor? I want to sand it so I can put a different color on it.
How can I pull out the extra carpet underneath the cabinet? It seems the previous owner use the cabinet to hold down the carpet.


I'm sure I'll have other questions that I have not thought about, yet. But the main thing is that I want to get an idea on what would be the proper steps of bringing this floor back in shape. Parts of the floor are kind of loose, but I think I should be able to glue it back so it is tight.

Thanks!

This appears to be a parquet floor that needs some special considerations than a standard 'strip' floor. The wood grain of parquet tiles run at 90 degree angles from each other. Because of this you probably want to stay away from a large drum sander. You could use (rent) a large orbital sand or depending on the size of your room a hand held model.

Can the cabinet be removed?

This appears to be a parquet floor that needs some special considerations than a standard 'strip' floor. The wood grain of parquet tiles run at 90 degree angles from each other. Because of this you probably want to stay away from a large drum sander. You could use (rent) a large orbital sand or depending on the size of your room a hand held model.

Can the cabinet be removed?

Thanks for the input! Some others have told me that the floor is not worth salvaging and just put in new ones. I'm not sure, yet. I'm still trying to gauge other opinions. Although, if the orbital sander rental is pricey, then it may be better off replacing the whole thing, no? The size of the area is about 600 sq ft.

The cabinets can probably be removed. However, I don't have the know-how right now on how to go about doing it. It probably looks like a job for a pro.

Well, there are some pretty inexpensive options available if you don't have your heart set on solid hardwood, and are okay with using laminate. Actually, in your case, laminate might be a good choice, with that huge crack in the concrete. Who's to say what the concrete looks like under the rest of the floor? You'd be surprised at how easy it is to install laminate (http://www.qualityflooring4less.com/laminate-flooring.html) yourself, even for someone who claims to have very little DIY experience. Good luck!