Howdy from a noobie here.

I have several questions and realize that I will have more as I go.
My wife and I recently sold a house with a lot of solid red oak flooring. Half way through negotiations on an existing house (with 1000 sq ft of brand new hardwood laminate flooring ) my wife wife asks me "We can replace that floor, right?" She wants solid red oak flooring again.
Ahem.
Really, she's right - the laminate is too dark and the seams bother me. I'm getting some estimates next week, but have some question so that I can talk with some knowledge to the flooring guys.

1) House has slab foundation, I assume (we know how dangerous that is) that a subfloor was placed for the laminate. Can I reuse it? At 1000 sq feet that is likely not an insignificant amount but I wouldn't want to save a penny and ruin a dollar, so to speak.

2) I have noticed that there are "prefinished planks" out there. first impluse was that it sounded like a bad idea, but then I thought that that would allow me to see EXACTLY what each board would look like as they were being laid.

3) if that is not a bad idea, would it be wise to slap a top coat of polyurethane (or whatever) on top after placing the t seal any micro gaps between boards?

That'll get me started at least - thanks in advance!

You should be able to use the floor preparation for the laminate, presuming it has a moisture barrier under it, if you are installing flooring that will float. A pre-finished floor is your best buy. Most pre-finished floors have a micro-bevel and that bothers some people. An engineered floor will be the most stable.

Thx Pete.
No, we have decided on solid red oak - no laminate. Didn't know about the bevels. on that.

Directions should come with your flooring. You may need to install a 3/4 inch plywood fastened to the slab to fasten to, if you aren't floating the floor.