# slippery elm flooring



## Graybeard (Jan 21, 2013)

Anyone have experience making flooring out of slippery elm? I have lots of it and I want to harvest it before it dies.

Thanks,

Graybeard


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## DKMD (Jan 21, 2013)

Sounds dangerous...


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## Kevin (Jan 21, 2013)

Elm has many faces and will make gorgeous flooring, but it likes to move a lot. Consult Drying Hardwood Lumber  for best drying practices/stickering/weight etc.


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## Graybeard (Jan 22, 2013)

Kevin,

On page nine of the reference, elm is listed under Cottonwood. Also there is no listing for red elm (U. rubra). Wonder why not?

It sounds like the best bet for me would be to have it kiln dried right after milling it.

Graybeard


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## Kevin (Jan 22, 2013)

Graybeard said:


> Kevin,
> 
> On page nine of the reference, elm is listed under Cottonwood. Also there is no listing for red elm (U. rubra). Wonder why not?
> 
> ...



David,

Elm isn't listed *as* cottonwood. Look to the right of the word elm and there are no numbers. The error is that they didn't indent the word elm to show it is its own category. Listed under it however three species of elm American, Cedar, and Rock. I believe Slippery is closest to American. BTW you'll notice that Cottonwood only has one species listed which is Black. That section is titled "Table 2.1—Green moisture content of *selected* North American hardwoods." so it isn't meant to be all-inclusive.

One other thing about elm that I forgot to mention is that it doesn't stop moving once its dry. Elm has lots of internal stress that drying cannot remove which means if you resaw it, the stuff will walk all over the planet. This means you don't want to mill your stock much thicker than your final desired thickness. You want to do as little as possible to it once dry.


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## Graybeard (Jan 22, 2013)

I'm beginning to think I should use something else. When I use the elm for firewood it's hard to split and is really stringy. It doesn't give off much heat and leaves a lot of ashes. When it's cold like today (-2 F) I use oak. 

I also have walnut, cherry, white oak and bitternut hickory in the woodlot. I'm replacing a carpet on a landing and stair way. I have caps and some railing work to do as well.

What would be your choice to work with?

Thanks for the input by the way.

Graybeard


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## Kevin (Jan 22, 2013)

Graybeard said:


> I'm beginning to think I should use something else. When I use the elm for firewood it's hard to split and is really stringy. It doesn't give off much heat and leaves a lot of ashes. When it's cold like today (-2 F) I use oak.
> 
> I also have walnut, cherry, white oak and bitternut hickory in the woodlot. I'm replacing a carpet on a landing and stair way. I have caps and some railing work to do as well.
> 
> ...



If you want as hassle-free drying and install as possible walnut is your wood. There's few species easier to dry than walnut. Tied with first would be the hickory. Hickory makes stunning flooring and although I haven't dried any in a kiln I have air dried it and I think it's much more stable than pecan which moves like elm nearly. 

For flooring, hickory will probably give you prettier contrast if you like contrasting look in wood as I do. be careful about stickering hickory it tends to stain. I use dry erc stickers and never had satin and have dried three stacks of hickory over the years. But I have read where dry cottonwood stickers will also prevent sticker stain. So you need to weigh the potential downsides of hickory vs walnut. Walnut it almost totally hassle free in all respects i.e. drying/storing/wood working characteristics/hardness etc. while hickory does move more than walnut and is prone to sticker stain and beetle attacks, but it can make for eye-popping flooring once all the boards are down. 

I'm not a fan of oak flooring simply because everyone else has it and I gravitate toward eclectic. I can't speak to cherry because I have very little experience with it other than making humidors and jewelry boxes and I did not dry the wood I bought it.


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## HomeBody (Jan 25, 2013)

An very old woman once told me that it's bad luck to walk on floors made of walnut. No idea how that got started. Hickory would be nice if you like bold contrasting patterns. Gary


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## Graybeard (Jan 25, 2013)

After looking at different prices I find cherry is pretty valuable so I'd rather use my cherry for turned projects. Walnut would be too dark I'm afraid.

I think I'll go to a local supplier of hardwood and pick up a couple of sticks of hickory. The boss can look at it and see what she thinks. The last time I looked it was about 2.50 a board foot kiln dried. 

Thanks for the discussion, it's really helpful to be able to talk to people with much more knowledge than I have.

Graybeard


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