atari

So I love the color and look of Walnut but it is just too darn soft to lay on the floor. Are my options basically a stained Maple or Birch to get that Walnut look. (Mocha, Java, Coffee, etc...)

5" Light Distressed Planks.

adams,b

I do not believe Walnut is very soft. But anyway we had a job and they could not get Walnut in quick enough but they could get Brazillion cherry and we stained it "ebony" to accomplish what they wanted

ccoffer

Northern Yellow Birch is as hard as Maple. Walnut is pretty soft.

Woz the Painter

I'm just a humble painter, but think that woods like walnut and mahogony look great, finished as naturally as possible, with a sanding sealer, and varnish in a sheen of your choice. I worked on a new bank years ago that had solid walnut, four piece 20 some inch crown, three piece 18 inch base, in entire building. We stained it on site with Ebony stain, sealed and varnished it. When finished the grain was virtually non-existent. There were 3 windows in the main stairhall that were vinyl clad exterior and only came with a pine interior, which was stained in ebony to match solid walnut, and you couldn't tell the difference between the two. Have seen many shop finished ebony mill work installed on jobs I've worked on made of poplar, that looked the same as walnut. Why spend unbelievable amounts of money on rare and beautiful woods, then stain them so dark that you obliterate the beauty of their grain?

Donedat

Use Ipe. It has a real nice chocolate brown color naturally but is one of the hardest of all the hardwoods available for flooring. It is even harder than maple.

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adams,b

Funny thing though is Ipe is Brazilion Walnut, and it is 185% harder than red-oak. I have some pics of a job we did but I could not figure out how to post them. It said put in the URL address and when I did the pic would not show up just the address. any help?

drunkrussian

Do not try to stain maple unless you are very good with staining. It is a very hard wood to stain, and to keep the color even.

Exotics are a good choice, and maybe a quality engineered floor if you don't mind it. Then again, i've done a few pine floors, and thats softer than black walnut, and they have been just fine.

747

I seen a hardwood floor done in mesquite last week that blew me away.
It was in Texas. I don't know if that is available in other regions.