I own a dance studio and have just purchased a new building. I have installed many engineered and Laminate floors but never any true hardwood. Here is the situation I have, with any suggestions being greatly appreciated.

There is currently Hardwood throughout the building but it is in very rough shape, many of the boards are warped, whole section are bowed, and the entires floor has carpet glue covering it. The main run is 70'X30', and will be for dancing, weddings and fitness classes. I am trying to pick between 2 options keeping in mind I need to balance price labor and end result:

#1: Level current floor, pad and cover with engineered? This would require purchasing all new wood, pad and transitions, as the engineered will not hold up as well for that kind of traffic am I correct?

#2: Sand, Stain and refinish the existing floor. This would require tons of labor in the repairs, and more importantly I do not know what finish to use after I am done. From what I have read I would complete all repairs, then sand the floor, stain the floor, seal the floor, and then coat it. What would the best coating be? I need something that will hold up to high traffic, that has a nice shine, and that is thick enough to create a smooth surface for dancing. (something like a gym floor coating)

What Route should I take? If I refinish what coating is the best for a dance floor? any help is greatly appreciated.

Well you can't just cover up a bad floor with another floor. That needs to be fixed either way. Not sure what you mean by warped and bowed. Is this an old site finished floor. Is it glued over concrete or over a wood subfloor?

You should have a professional floor finishing guy come look at it.

Thank you for the reply - I know that I need to fix the cuurent floor regardless, just wondering where to proceed from there. As far as the questions asked I still have no idea what finish would work the best for what I am trying to do, as far as warped and bowed I mean that sections of the existing floor bow down in parts as though there has been water damage or a poor initial installation. By bowed I mean the floor was an almost wave like feeling to it. All total I will be installing nearly 7000Sqft of wood and do not have the funding available to pay someone even $4 or 5 per foot. I have previously used laminate and engineered but due to the size of the spaces I am flooring. (2900Sqft largest undivided space). Again any help would be appreciated, I know calling in a pro would be the best route but that is not an option for me so I am hopng some of you experts may have a bit of advise. Thanks

Can you post pics? Hard to say whether or not a floor can even be refinished without seeing it. If it's covered with carpet glue, it'll be expensive to remove that.

Yah need a picture. Some cases the bow is way too much, If you plan on using this alot your going to want real wood floor. Most regular dancers i know dont enjoy dancing on a beveled floor. If it's in ok shape and can be resanded then you can put your money torwards that rather than spending it on an engineered flooring plus your floor will most likley be much flater. Shouldn't cost you much more if any more at all to have it resanded over buying all new flooring.