No.

The only American walnut flooring to consider would be acrylic impregnated walnut...IF it is still being produced by anyone.

In general, if you're worried that American Walnut might be too soft for you, you're probably correct.
Armstrong has acrylic impregnated Walnut 5" engineered plank in their Performance Plus line.

I used to have the sentiment that if you liked a particular wood but discovered it didnt "perform" well then you shouldnt bother. But i guess now i tend to lean to the notion that if you expect prestine and will have a meltdown if anything is not prestine, then maybe hardwood flooring isnt healthy for those people.

Is walnut soft? Sure is. But you like it. Does red and white oak not dent or scratch? Yep they sure do. Every wood has its "flaws". Question you should consider is if i have an accident and the wood gets a ding am i going to be able to live with.

The other posters arent wrong and im not disagreeing with them but if you like walnut id say get it and not stress trying to find someone who claims to be able to stain oak to look Just like walnut. Nothing looks close to walnut like walnut does.

The Armstrong Performance Plus line is not what Hartco produced, unfortunately. Armstrong bought Hartco and added a hard and glossy finish to the product.

Nydree bought Permagrain and produces Walnut acrylic impregnated flooring, but I bet it costs a fortune. But, it's worth a look!

Here is a link that might be useful: Nydree flooring...

The Armstrong Performance Plus is very slick looking. I'm not crazy about it but we did put some of the Walnut Natural in a high end hotel's sales office and they love it.

It's a case of learn to love the dents, dings and other patina that the floor WILL have with normal wear (much less abusive wear) or spend some pretty spendy bucks to get something more durable from the same species. Or, maybe look at doing one of the more expensive laminate imitations with a better quality sound pad under it. Laminate has come a long way when it comes to how realistic it can appear and it does tend to look "perfect" longer than real wood. Just remember that damage to it can only be disguised, not "refinished".

I don't want to add to the debates that abound about it, but also consider becoming a no shoes in the house household.

Thanks everyone. I was having a 'moment'. I am having brain overload with all the information I am gathering for wood floors in our house it's just overwhelming and I go back to the look I love.

Now I'm looking at hickory and acacia again. I know I won't quite get to that walnut stain, but I should get pretty close. =)

I can not agree with gregmills more on the following statement.
"Nothing looks close to walnut like walnut does."
I do believe the walnut flooring will hold up well in a residential use. There isn't big enough Janka difference between Oak and Walnut to worry about. In Edina, MN, there is a high end furniture store, called Room and Board. Black Walnut flooring is installed all through their first floor showroom. With high traffic in a commercial, there will be some dings and dangs for sure. Every time I stopped by that place, their floor is just as attractive as any other times before. Hand Scraped Acacia can be a good option too since newly added dents can be just more characters of your walnut flooring. Attached is a picture of scraped black walnut.

I am designing a new home and also love walnut. Like the OP, I have been somewhat concerned about the hardness and wear resistance. Nevertheless, I have decided to go forward with installing the walnut.

First, we are going with solid 3/4" planks and having them site finished. Going to use Rubio Monocoat, which has a very flat finish with little sheen. Low sheen finishes are great at concealing scratches. If any scratches are overly annoying, we can sand the board and simply reapply the Rubio.

Second, as pointed out above, walnut is softer than oak, but not by a lot (1290 vs. 1010 janka). Walnut is slightly harder than cherry, and many people have cherry flooring (995 janka).

Third, I have Santos Mahogany in my current house (janka 2200). Despite the hardness, it has nevertheless accumulated numerous scratches and dents over the years. These are fairly visible due to the semi-gloss oxide finish. The point being, even high hardness floors are going to get slightly banged up with normal usage.

American Walnut has a Janka rating of 1010

Teak, which is used for ships decks, has a Janka rating of 1155

Northern Red Oak only has a Janka rating of 1290 and no one worries about oak floors. My chair is on a floor that's been in the house since 1895.

Yes, Actually you are true the walnut is soft but however looks very natural and beautiful when installed in the floors of your bedroom or living room.
Walnut is highly light sensitive. It has a tendency to get darker in color and become rich in color if exposed to UV-rays which adds to the beauty of the wood.
Walnut is suitable for room which are most of the time free of pets and children.

Stacy that is so pretty! I wouldn't mind at all if it was just my husband and I. But we have a couple of dogs that sometimes rip around the house and despite the tempting posts on this thread I'm concerned I'd regret my choice.

Also, we have to get engineered because I like the wider plank look and the flooring specialists in my area say our weather is too hard on solid 4" or 5" widths. Unless we install a humidifier we would get cupping and bowing.

I'm excited about a sample I'm waiting for from Kentwood. It's hickory engineered at a 5" width. I hope this is "the" one! =) We've been looking for a long time.

Good Choice!
In fact the hickory floors are considered to be the most durable wood flooring after mesquite wood. Since you have couple of dogs, the floors can be protected from simple scratches of your pets since the wood resists natural wear and tear.
Hickory woods are really hard and difficult to install but you are installing it from Kentwood. So, no doubt professional would be there to install it.
However, negligence in cutting and installing the wood in your floor may result some irregular shapes in the floor. So make sure that only the professional do the work of cutting and installing the hickory floor.
Anyways, I like your choice of hickory flooring.
Good Luck!

Curious to hear where you got that information about Hickory? With it being the "most durable". And "natural resistence to wear n tear"

Have a look at the blog of the URL below.
and you will get some facts and figures of Hickory flooring. In-fact I personally knew this since one of my friend had installed it in her house recently and she is loving it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hickory flooring facts and figures

No where does it say anything about hickory being the most durable nor natural resistant to wear n tear.

Fact is hickorys strong and dense but there are plenty that are stronger secondly it doesnt matter what type of species you have. It will scratch. And it will get beat up with use.

Its totally fine to hype up a species but lets be honest and truthful about information we give.

And lets get our facts from reliable sources not a website thats attempting to sell you their services.

Its true not a hype. There may be other woods similarly strong but the combination of stiffness, strength, hardness and toughness is not found in any other woods.Please check the wikipedia for details

Once again lets use reliable sources for information.wikipedia is not a reliable source. I know what youre trying to say and i agree. But the wording is a bit off and can be confusing for those who come here to learn.

Well, I was just trying to explain you that hickory is a very good choice of flooring and one of friend has installed it.
Sorry if you thought my information was false and not relevant to you.

American Walnut is fairly soft and in general, that would be the case regardless of whether it is solid or engineered. The one exception I have seen is Armstrong's Performance Plus line which is impregnated with acrylic making it harder - for the whole line including walnut, cherry, oak, maple and birch.

We installed 5" Walnut unstained in our new home. They have two coats of Bona Traffic HD, which I hoped would at least mitigate any scratching. The problem is more of a DENTING. We have a very large golden retriever who has already done a wonderful job of "aging" the floors where he hangs out, getting up down and excited when we come home. We have tried dremelling his nail, which only mildly helps, putting tips on his nails, which come off, and booties, which come off and when they are on look ridiculous. The floors are gorgeous, but if you have large pets, or are bothered by denting/scratching, I would not recommend. Makes me so very sad, since I do love them. But love the dog, too. :(

Bumping this thread up...does anyone else have like/dislike their American/Black walnut floors? thank you!