Hi Dan and thanks for your reply. As I understand it, sanding would be an option but it's supposed to a hell of a mess. Then there is the issue of refinishing the floor and the quality of work provided. Much of the labor provided in Houston is day labor, that was picked up off a street corner an hour before they start work. No craftsmanship there.

I've been advised that it would be cheaper and more satisfying to simply replace the floor. I may end up doing that at some point but for now, I don't want to spend the money and am going to try to bring the floor back to life as inexpensively as possible.

I was thinking of using lemon oil, as is used on guitar fretboards to keep them healthy. I just don't know if it would be streaky over a large surface. I've done some small areas of the floor with the lemon oil and it sucks it right up.