We live in Victoria BC in a 106-year-old, heritage-designated house with a wrap-around porch that needed replacing entirely. The new, properly angled structure is built (pressure-treated lumber) and 4K (!!) worth of newly-milled, vertical grain, tongue-in-groove douglas fir flooring has been delivered to the house. Now we need to make sure we do everything right to prepare the boards before installation to prevent early failure.

This is our plan:

1. Dip each pre-cut board in a trough or wood preservative for a couple of minutes and then let dry for 2 days.
2. Paint all 6 sides with a tinted oil-based primer.
3. Paint all sides except the tongue and groove with an acrylic enamel floor paint.
4. Apply a paintable latex caulk to each groove during installation.
5. Protect the end grain by installing a bullnose molding over the board ends.
6. Apply two top coats of the floor paint.

These are our questions:

1. Is this a sound plan?
2. What wood preservative brand and type is recommended?
3. We've read that an alternative to a preservative is a tried-and-true 50\50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Would this be preferable?
4. What should we use as a dipping trough (our boards are 7 feet long)?
5. We've heard many people say that pre-priming the tongues and grooves causes problems with fit during installation. The oil-based primer we use (Zinsser Cover Stain) is particularly thick, so we are worried about this. What is the recommendation for sealing the tongue-in-groove joints if pre-priming is problematic?

Any insight and assistance would be hugely appreciated!