Spread it out. Out of the packaging. One board thick in the rooms it is intended for. It takes a long time for humidity to penetrate a pile of boards. See chapter 3. (sorry, the site used to have chapter by chapter links, but they are gone). Cupping is only one of the tings that can happen. Plain expansion and shrinkage occur, even if the wood holds it shape. See figure 3-3. 8 inch wood is going to have some decent size gaps between heating and cooling season. And if you really are in a low RH area, it is going to continue shrinking. Here is a link that might be useful: 'Wood Handbook' This post was edited by brickeyee on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 14:24

oneluckigal- I have three small boys. There have definately been dents, nicks, etc. in the floor. The worst case is actually dents from someone wearing stilettos at a party and leave little indents. If you are looking for a polished pristine floor, do NOT get black walnut. In our case, we liked the juxtaposition of new and old and liked the feel of an antique floor. We originally were going to "distress" the floors after they were installed (and they are character grade so they have knots, etc) but then we decided not to because they were so pretty! However, time does distress them, they are relatively soft. If you drop a can and it hits at a certain angle it will leave a mark. But since they were already character grade, it doesnt look like the floor has a mark here or there, it just has an overall aged patina. As such, they do not bother us. I maybe could have done without the cluster of stilletto marks but thats life. We also had some scratches from the kitchen chairs being scrapped in and out from the table by the kids and we did the touch up of waterlox and they disappeared. They come back eventually though! Bottom line, if you like antique floors, there are none more beautiful than black walnut (IMO). We would pick them again and will put them in our next house. If you like a very durable floor you are better off with a white oak stained dark or a ipe or something like that. If anyone says they dont mark, they are walking around in socks and not entertaining. As for the waterlox, not at all sticky, it dries hard and it actually doesnt feel like there is anything on there. It sort of sinks into the wood, the wood has sheen but you cant really detect a "finish" or "layer" on top. When they scuff, it just gets a little duller there until you add more waterlox. Waterlox is an ordeal however- we had to move out- we tried to stay in the basement the first time and it was horrible. The next two layers we left for overnight. It takes about 24 hours to cure.

We have a 110 year old house with wide plank knotty pine floors. Though they are pretty, the warm (brown/orangish) stain and the contrast of the knots really dominate the space. I know many traditionalists would kill for these floors, but I fins them hard to work around. What are some options to modernize them a bit? Stain? Paint? What colors?

In real rustic pieces like what youre describing putting hemp rope between planks will fill the gaps. This Old House did it in an episode a ways back. Plunge the rope in and stain to match. They did it in a not so rustic house and it looked ok but i think a cabin setting would look better. Also since sanding the floor after the rope is installed probably wouldnt work to well so if you do plan to sand id do it before installing the rope. Otherwise the conventional filler will crack and break out with the seasonal changes.