aggietexan, if you send me pictures to my email address, I can set them up in one of the two photo sites I belong to that I have not used in a long time. I would add pictures and send the link here and clicking the link would allow the pictures to show. I do not know how to place pictures inside a post but I do know how to do links. I would love to see pictures. Just click my lynn2006 page and you will see a link to click my email. I am glad you are happy with your new floors. Do they have some red in them? I would love to see some close up of the knots since maybe they are tiny and will not bother me. I do love the pics of the Amendoim floors on the BR-111 website. How long have you had the floors? What color change can you see if you have a carpet on the floor?

You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.

You are seeing what we refer to as 'dishout'...and it is a sanding issue. Walnut is very difficult to sand flat. Each of us have a favorite sanding method to get a flat result. I use a machine, similar to a terrazzo grinder, called a Lagler Trio, as the final machine; it never fails in giving an absolute flat result. You will notice dishout and any other sanding anomaly on these dark floors. You will also notice every scratch, dust particle, pet hair and piece of lint.

Someone here has pictures of their natural red oak floors and their quartersawn white oak cabinets. It was a beautiful contrast!! Hopefully she will post to this thread because I can't remember who it was. I did the opposite...quartersawn white oak floors and stained red oak cabinets. Quartersawn oak is more expensive, but has a very different appearance and grain. It really doesn't even look like oak, except for the tone and color of the wood.