Hi, I'm hoping a flooring professional, or two, could give me advise on floor refinishing. My question is can a very dark stained oak floor be sanded and refinished with a lighter color? My concern is that the spaces between the boards would remain dark and look strange. Any advise and before and after photo's of a refinish of this type would be greatly appreciated.
Here is an image of how dark the wood is...
https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISq ... 000000.jpg

If the flooring was a light color and then stained darker you could sand and finish with a natural color. This floor looks like it was an exotic species and may always be dark. If it is sanded to bare wood, you could bleach it to a little lighter color

The floor is oak and stained about the darkest I've seen oak. I'll look into the bleach idea. I'm sure the stain will sand off, My only concern is the gaps reamining dark and looking strange.

Any dark lines separating the boards remaining will not be too much of a distraction in my opinion. The color will be natural again, pretty light, unless it was fumed white oak. Bleaching will take the red color out and leave the yellow hues as the surface develops a patina. Bleaching should be a last resort and adds complications.