Historic Hyatt House - Rock Elm Plank Floor

AFTER the AFTER photos
Exploring the day-to-day life of a project

A year ago, we posted BEFORE/AFTER photos of our Rock Elm flooring and stair treads in the historic Hyatt House, in charming Rural, Wisconsin, Waupaca County, est. 1852.
Offered as a VRBO
- steps away from the beautiful Crystal River to float, tube or kayak,
- only 3 miles away from Hartman's Creek State park for swimming, hiking and biking
- just minutes away from 22! spring fed lakes famously known as the Chain o' Lakes
- private frontage right across the street, relaxing sounds of the waterfall from any room!
- sprawling backyard with a fire pit great for stargazing
- enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the river go by from the rocking chairs on the front porch + make family memories from the amazing screened porch
- stroll the quiet streets to admire the historic village buildings
- bike for miles on the Rustic Roads.

With all this adventure under foot, Rock Elm flooring and treads are a solid choice! Chosen for its strength, durability and visual appeal, no two floors can ever be the same! Stylistically, our plank floor can be paired with fixtures and furnishings that span industrial and rustic to elegant and refined. Your floor will have an undeniable history and becomes a personal work of art that cannot be duplicated.

With our commitment to preserving history and heritage, we work directly with you to help create your one-of-a-kind art floor. Some of the unique factors to consider as we work together are:
1) the percentage of timber frame characteristics
2) surface texture - the percentage of rough sawn, skip-plane, smooth
3) percentage of identifiable patina such as nail and peg holes, checking, staining, etc
4) board widths
5) creative patterns such as borders, inserts, full floor designs, etc
Your art floor will be timeless!

When incorporating reclaimed, salvaged wood into your project, the cost savings is long-term. Consider this - many of our new house construction customers amortize construction costs, including the flooring, over the life of their mortgage. The flooring you choose is an integral part of construction, much like framing materials, windows, insulation, roof, etc. Good decisions on the front end eliminate additional costs and inconveniences in the future. When you use our Rock Elm plank floor, it never loses fashion and fad, never needing to be replaced, timeless. You have created an heirloom that is valued by generations. An heirloom that appreciates in value is always the best investment!

Antique woods are a sustainable, ecological choice, using existing wood in your project and saving new living trees. Salvaged posts, beams and timbers are historical, centuries old, virgin growth timber making it fundamentally stronger and more durable than new wood. Naturally organic, and bursting with character without any effort, the collage of old wood is always a masterpiece, inspired by mother nature’s true beauty.

Our knowledge and services are being called upon more than ever by those who wish and insist on taking a more active role in their build process to create a home, workplace or gathering place that preserves their own legacy.

A history of Rock Elm...
"Today, if you could find a rock elm (Ulmus thomasii) that was somehow passed up by yester-year's lumberjacks, you'd marvel at this species. Before the 1920s, you could readily find stands of trees 100' tall and 3' in diameter from southern Ontario to southern Michigan and Wisconsin. The rock elm's size, of course, made it attractive to lumbermen. Without a use, though, even the largest of trees won't spark logging activity. But the rock, or cork elm as it is often called, had many. Back when British shipbuilders scoured the Colonies' vast forests, they discovered rock elm. Its wood was nearly as tough as hickory, yet wouldn't split. And under water, rock elm outlasted any other North American hardwood. So the virgin stands began to fall, their logs sent overseas. Later, in the dawn of the auto industry, loggers again felled the rock elm to get shock-absorbing stock for wheel hubs, spokes, and frames. Wooden ice-box manufacturing also prompted rock elm's harvest. The wood stood up well to dampness, and scrubbed clean with little effort. Made into farm implements-and even furniture-it withstood abuse. In fact, lumberjacks preferred rock elm over any other wood for ax handles. And why is rock elm absent from today's commercial wood list? The species has been relegated to poorer soils, which produce smaller and more widely scattered trees. The large rock elm stands remain history." - Wood Magazine

Call us today to make a floor for you, 920.232.6666