Answers

Your best bet will be white or red oak. In any kind of wood, I would recomend you to do the finish coat with BONA HIGH TRAFFIC, is the hardest finish yo can put on your floors and is water base.

Tthe squeaking sounds you hear are probably from movement of the boards, either against each other or against the sub-floor beneath the hardwood.  The nails used to install the original sub-floor may have barely missed the joists and are now rubbing against the raw wood.  The popping could be sudden movement of the ajoining hardwood boards. 

You may be able to top nail the hardwood in the joints between the boards.  A more effective solution would be to screw up through the sub-floor into the hardwood.  This will suck the hardwood down tightly against the sub-floor.  Take the opportunity to pull out  any visable nails that could be rubbing against joists. 

The second solution depends on access to the area below your squeaks.

Tyler,

It sounds like the existing laminate flooring is solid and free from flex. If so, you will have no problem installing the new laminte over the old. You will want to use a sound absorbing pad underneath to avoid a hollow sound as well as potential squeeks between the 2 laminate surfaces. Best of luck!

David Domenichini

D.R. Domenichini Coosntruction

 If you simply want to color them, Old English does a great job.  Bona wood floor cleaner is the best out there.  Hardware stores should have both.

Our business opened in 2011. I have been in the construction industry for over 30 years.

I probably would not recomend it.  A laminate floor is a floating floor and the flex, expansion and contraction of both as well as the hollow sound you can have with a laminate may give you undesireable results.  Laminates come out very easily and I feel it worth your while to remove the 1st laminate to elimate any future floor structural issues and install the new floor to the manufacturer's specifications.

Start with a washcloth and some rubbing alcohol and gently wipe down where the scratches are.  Take a cotton swab and go through each scratch with some rubbing alcohol to make sure they are cleaned out.  Purchase a floor repair wax kit from your local hardware store (I recommend Picobello Flooring Repair Kit).  Using the putty knife, apply wax to scratches and ensure its all the way inside the cracks.  Once you are done, take the flat edge of knife and scrape off any excess wax. Last step just gently wipe repaired areas with a cloth to wipe up any residual wax.  

For cleaning the floors, make sure you are using a damp (not soaking) mop with a small ammount of floor cleaner.

Hope that helps!

-Brittany