Black Walnut while very popular is not as durable as White Oak or Hickory (two other very popular species right now). One option is to install White Oak and use a Walnut stain to emulate the color. The grain pattern however will be very different. If Walnut is the only thing you want to put down just make sure to use a stain or matte finish poly to hide any marks. I do have a client with two Great Danes and Walnut floors. They have noticed marks near the front door and dog bowls. Thats about it. Let me know if you have any wood flooring questions. joel@oakandbroad.com

These walnut floors were provided by Rehmeyer Wood floors and installed by Farinelli Construction. We used a several step process in the finishing to add to the 'character grade' of the wood which on the hardness scale is less than oak but harder than pine. We used a 'character grade wood from the start and glazed it to fill the knots and imperfections. Then sanded the glaze and then used 4-5 coats of a matte finish tung oil. We feel that this oil provides a durable finish that is easy to clean and touch up. We feel that if floors are lightly screened and recoated before they become too heavily damaged (every 3-5 years) they will stay looking pretty nice... without having to resand and start again.