Jack Horton and his brother have restored classic cars since they were teenagers, and their grandfather did, too. In particular, Jack always loved his grandfather’s 1953 Chevy pickup, and “I made sure he knew I was very interested in it,” he says. Then tragedy struck in January: Jack and his wife, Jessica, lost their third son, Caster, only five days after he was born. Afterwards, Jack’s grandfather called and said he wanted to give Jack the truck in memory of Caster. “I needed to build a building to house this beautiful truck, so I got right on it,” says Jack, who is a wood flooring contractor and also mills hardwood flooring with his brother at their shop in Everett, Pa. Jack knew the truck needed a special wood floor, too. “I figured this truck should have the nicest possible place to park, so I laid a single herringbone in the building,” he says, explaining he used a mix of species to mill the strip. That wasn’t the extent of the special floor, though. “I wanted to experiment with an entry border and inset, so I cut up some eastern red cedar from my other grandfather’s property in Massachusetts and glued it down,” he says, noting that he rolled down a moisture barrier before installing the flooring onto the ¾-inch plywood, sanding and finishing. The completed project is a perfect representation of Jack’s two passions—wood and classic vehicles—in the most meaningful way possible.
Courtesy of Jack Horton
Jack Horton with his grandfather, Joseph Pichler, and boys Tucker, age 3, and Decklan, age 2.Courtesy of Jack Horton
SUPPLIERS: Abrasives: Bona Green, Norton Mesh | Adhesive: Bona Quantum Flow 850 | Buffer: American Sanders | Dust containment: Bona DCS 2.0 | Edger: Lägler Flip | Finish: Bona Traffic HD (satin) | Moisture barrier: Bona R540 | Multi-disc: Bona Power Drive | Nailer: Primatech | Router, Saws: DeWalt | Vacuum: ProTeam CoachVac | Wood Flooring: Cove Mountain Wood Products
