Surface Blog

Among other things, this Carlisle floor matches the family Golden Retriever

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

Warren and Tassie Crellin of Townsend, Delaware have been married 21 years and had always dreamed of building a log home. In March 2008, they purchased an 11- acre, partially wooded farmette. “We spent months clearing the necessary trees to make room for our dream home,” Tassie writes. “Finally, in January 2009 the logs were delivered and construction began.”

Tassie reports that she first saw Carlisle floors in her Log Home Living magazine.

“I first contacted Carlisle back in November 2008 and was connected with Shanon Sterrett. She was extremely helpful in helping us pick out the perfect floor for our rustic look. We ended up with 10-inch wide planks in hit-or-miss pine flooring. The roughed up texture really blends with the log walls. Not to mention, the wear and tear that two boys and two dogs provide!” Tassie wrote. “I love the hit-or-miss imperfections because any scratches or dings simply blend right in once touched up with stain and simply add to the ‘character’. Our stain color is a combination of 2 parts Concord Honey/1 part Ginger Bread. We love it! It also matches our Golden Retriever, Maddie.”

The Crellins moved into their new home on Halloween of this year, after having sold their previous home rather quickly and needing to stay in a camper or five months. “Now we can barely see our beautiful floors for all the boxes,” Tassie wrote. “They are gorgeous and we are very happy with how they turned out.”

Warren and Tassie actually did all of the staining and oiling (a total of four coats) of the new floor in their 1,200-square-foot rec room, just to save on time. They left the rest of the floors to their builder and his crew. “The floors were easy to install and the overall staining process wasn’t bad,” she writes.

“We really enjoyed working with Carlisle and Shanon was always there to guide us through the decision process, making sure our flooring was just what we wanted!”

The photo above shows Warren installing the flooring in our rec room. Below are a few more photos from the family album.

Posted on Nov 30, 2009 AT 01:53 AM in (0) Comments

What happens in Vegas….will include Carlisle Wide Plank Floors January 19-22

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

If you’re in the home building business and are anywhere near Las Vegas come January, you might want to stop over to the International Builder’s Show January 19 through 22 and see our floors up close and personal. Carlisle is participating in this trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is also featuring a wide variety of other products and educational seminars. Carlisle will be in booth #N2439. If you just want to see the exhibits, attendence is free if you first register here

Posted on Nov 27, 2009 AT 01:31 AM in News & Events • (0) Comments

Carlisle helps create California (condo) dreamin’ ...

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

The dreamy photos below show what the combination of Eastern White Pine and Bradford Umber stain can do for a condominium in Aliso Viejo, California. The floors were prefinshed and delivered ready to go.

The customers, Christopher and Carrie, found Carlisle on the web and worked with Wendy, in our Los Angeles Design Center. Christopher had grown up with wide plank flooring and wanted the same for the condo they had purchased.

The 5- to 9-inch premium style Eastern White Pine was glued directly to the slab.

There was enough wood left over from the downstairs reflooring to do an upstairs hallway and they’re contemplating doing a set of stairs as well.

Posted on Nov 20, 2009 AT 11:26 PM in (0) Comments

Thinking “green” sometimes means looking at the product that lasts

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. In a recent inquiry from a potential customer, M. Carroll, Ms. Carroll noted to our Sales and Design Consultant Dan O’Neil that the “green” way to go may mean buying a quality product that lasts, not one that is going to wear out or look dated after a short time. She wrote:

“…the greenest thing one can do is choose quality that lasts a lifetime, or two. I have a background in Ecology that goes back 30-plus years. Your products are as green as it gets.”

Thank you, M. Carroll!

These days we often get asked about bamboo as a flooring material. Bamboo is a sustainable product, but Dan points out that it hasn’t proven itself over time, like sustainably grown trees have. He likes to stress the “proven timeless quality” of our floors.

Read more about Carlisle’s environmental commitments here.

Posted on Nov 18, 2009 AT 02:17 AM in Green Building • (2) Comments

Synergy Homes finds Carlisle on a fateful trip to Florida

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

Synergy Homes & Design of Salt Lake City discovered Carlisle floors at the International Builders Showroom in Orlando in January 2008. It was the start of something big.

According to Dominique Powel-Naccarato, Vice President for the company founded by her husband, Kyle Naccarato, they’d been searching locally for something that was “over the top” unique for a current project, The Chateau, that would be showcased in the Parade of Homes in June. Their search brought them to that Orlando trade show and Carlisle’s floors.

“We just loved what we saw,” says Dominique.

Shortly thereafter, Carlisle’s representative met with the Naccaratos in Salt Lake City, and then they, in turn, visited Carlisle’s Denver showroom. Together they settled on 6,200 square feet of Eastern Heart Pine to install in several rooms, plus on a staircase and the ceiling of an octagon-shaped parlor. Every room got a different stain and finish—which Dominique says fools people into thinking four or five different species of wood were used— in random widths from 10 to 16 inches. “That’s really what makes Carlisle stand out. Nobody does those wide widths,” Dominique said.

Still, the Naccaratos had some apprehensions. “We didn’t have a lot of time and you worry when you order something from out of state,” she said. “The Carlisle process went smooth as can be. Our installers here said they loved working with it. It installs and lays so perfectly, and the big planks make it go quickly.”

“It was just an awesome process to integrate those floors into this home,” she said.

Even more awesome? The Chateau ended up winning “Best of Show” in the Parade of Homes event.

Since the Chateau, Synergy Homes has worked with Carlisle on a number of smaller homes. Another 10,000-square-foot home is planned, where 80 percent of the floors will be Carlisle
Of all the vendors they saw at that Orlando trade show, Carlisle is the only one they’ve since used, Dominique said. “We were so happy we made that trip. Finding Carlisle made it so worthwhile.”

Below is the Chateau which won the People’s Choice Award for Synergy.

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 AT 05:30 AM in Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments