A trip into our Chicago design showroom by an architect and his client a while back has led to an astonishing floor in the client’s Florida home. The architect and customer decided to go with a very unique style and technique in our Carlisle floors—a White Oak wood that would be painted (yes, painted) with white paint. That white paint would then be scrubbed off, hand-sanded and then given a water-based top coat that provides a clear and matte finish. Sound like something you’d want to try? Well, this project of 2,000 square feet took about 450 person-hours to complete! Yet, we think you’ll agree that the end result is pretty amazing.
Why would you start out painting that lovely wood, you may ask? Well, this process would allow for a little of the white paint to remain behind, in the "low-lying" areas of the wood grain, while the surface retained the natural oak color. The result is a nice, light white color. This is not the kind of thing that is done every day, but it’s definitely what the customer wanted. The builder, Kelly at D.C. Twin Company in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, had not worked with us at Carlisle before and ended up sending us a nice note about her experience when the project was done:
"Hello! Okay, this is the most amazing floor and beams we have ever had privvy to do..It was very, very tricky, grueling and laborious work….These photos do not do justice for these richly casual, incredible floors. When we started on site, every carpenter, painter, and builder told us we could not do it…[the customer] is absolutely elated, surpassed her vision. In fact, she is having her custom-made rugs re-cut on-site so they don’t cover her new floors! ... it was so worth the difficult work, and thank you again for giving us the opportunity, we are really really proud!"
Well, gosh. We’re always happy when our customers are happy, but we’re also really happy when we make a new friend among the home-building community! Thank you, D.C. Twin!
Here’s a little ditty you might enjoy seeing about Carlisle doing the floors in the "Home of Distinction" in Chicago’s Highland Park. If you happen to be in the Chicago area starting today, May 28 to June 14, check out the full program.
A couple in Massachusetts is installing this Carlisle floor, an Antique Heart Pine model with 4 to 12" inch widths, in their historic home after falling in love with our showroom, our mill and our floors. They’re waiting to hear if "This Old House’ is going to be filming at their home soon. We’ll let you know when we find out!
Cheryl Workman and her husband came by Carlisle’s showroom and offices in Stoddard, New Hampshire last summer and fell in love with our Antique Oak floor. Six months later, they untook the renovation project—installing the Antique Oak in their small kitchen in Michigan. The floor shown here was prefinished with an Amber stain and is 7-inch widths. Cheryl writes…
…(The kitchen project) was a lot of mess, but so worth every minute of it. Thank you so much. I could not be happier.
Back on March 25, we told you about Cheryl Parker and Marc Batcheldor and how they are building one of the greenest homes in the country, over in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, not so far from our Carlisle headquarters. We’re quite proud to be part of this project, which is now about to be revealed to the public in the Portsmouth Sustainability Tour. Cheryl and Marc’s house is featured on the May 16 "Sustainability at Home" tour featuring homes and organizations that are demonstrating sustainable building materials or other energy saving practices. Their home appears on this map as #7: The Zero Net Energy Home! Cheryl and Marc intend that their home will achieve platinum level LEED certification and their zero net energy designation means they will produce as much energy as they use. Their home is a 1,350-square-foot passive solar that they designed and engineered themselves. Each material they used in their home was considered for where it was manufactured, its chemical content and its sustainability—and that’s why they chose Carlisle Wide Plank Antique Heart Pine, crafted in 4-inch to 10-inch random widths. March and Cheryl installed the floor themselves.
If you’re in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire neighborhood on May 16, why not drop in to the Sustainability at Home tour and see Marc and Cheryl’s home up close?
