Surface Blog

Welcome to Surface, a blog by Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. Join us in discussion about hardwood flooring wood grains & styles, home decor, green building products, trends and more.

Family Trees: A Father-Son Sawmill Operation Brings Eastern White Pine from the Forest to Your Wide

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By Tarryn Guarino
For Peter Glidden, a long and busy work day begins at sunrise -- and he wouldn't have it any other way. For him, there is no typical "day at the office" -- he and his father Larry operate a small, family owned sawmill in rural Maine. And that means Peter's work days are as unique as each of the eastern white pine timber planks he mills alongside his dad.

"We sort of stumbled into this business about four years ago, and it's been nothing but busy ever since," he explains. "My dad, Larry, he came home with the first portable mill. He used to say he couldn't saw enough wood in a year to make a picnic table . . . but not anymore!"

So, what's the best part of owning and operating your own sawmill?

"I really [enjoy] going out to view and buy the wood," Peter says. When the big trees come down, local foresters contact the Gliddens to come out and take a look at the timber. The premium pine is chosen from trees that have fallen naturally, a process known as selective harvesting. This is an environmentally friendly practice that provides perfect timber, while remaining sensitive to the natural growth of the forest and avoiding deforestation. Peter has no problem scouting out choice timber from these fallen pines.

"I hand pick everything, based on the quality of the wood and what I know we need," Peter explains. To create the handcrafted wide planks for Carlisle, he personally selects the wood he knows will provide the perfect finished product. The Gliddens operate two small sawmills, and while the work can be a bit noisy, the job also allows for plenty of time outdoors in the natural wilderness.

"The actual sawmills are indoors, but we do a lot of our work outside," Peter explains. Whether heading out into the forest to survey some potential timber, or admiring the finished boards outside of the workshop, the Gliddens are truly connected to nature -- and their craft.

Peter's genuine love of the land and the wood is clear from the moment he starts talking. When asked about his favorite part of the job, he answers without any hesitation, "The craftsmanship, definitely. I take a lot of pride in the grading of our wood. It's all hand done. Eastern white wide planks are a great quality wood, and I take a lot of pride in the work that we do."

To see the Glidden family's sawmill firsthand and learn a bit more about their work, check out their http://www.wideplankflooring.com/video.aspx?cat=Relationships&Num=0).">video on the Carlisle Wide Plank Floors website.

Posted on July 16, 2008 at 02:17 PM in Green Building • Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments
Green Cleaning: Eco-Friendly Solutions for Your Home (and Floor)

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By Nancy Shohet West

Until very recently, it was something of an oxymoron - two irreconcilable opposites - to look at cleaning products as environmentally friendly. Many of us are accustomed to thinking that clean equals germ-killing, and killing germs might not be compatible with preserving all other life forms. When you go into a hospital, you smell bleach; when you pick up clothes at the dry cleaner's, you smell...well, we're not sure what the smell is, but it definitely connotes a pristine wardrobe, even if it's not an aroma found in nature.

In other words, in the past it was almost taken for granted that in order to rid surfaces and substances of pollutants - whether the item to be cleaned was wood flooring, dishes, household appliances or clothing -- a certain amount of eradicating might be necessary. Sometimes you have to prioritize, we believed then, and let your ecological principles lapse a little if it meant getting your home germ-free.

Fortunately, that kind of thinking has changed. With more and more people feeling guilty about pouring chemicals into the groundwater every time they mop a floor or polish an antique, the demand grew for environmentally friendly cleaning products, as this article on green cleaning explains. So now, it really is possible to do both: preserve the environment and protect your home from germs and dirt.

Of course, the best way to keep things clean is not to let them get dirty in the first place. Your most environmentally correct choice when it comes to a cleaning substance is to avoid cleaning substances altogether. In the case of floors, there is a lot you can do to prevent the need for stringent cleaning. Bearing in mind that the three most powerful foes of wood flooring are dirt, sand and water, consider these very easy tips that promote "holistic" - i.e., non-chemical - cleaning:
- Encourage the removal of shoes as people enter your house by placing a mat or a durable runner made of indoor-outdoor carpeting just inside your front door. Even more generous is to have extra pairs of slippers handy in a basket by the door for visitors.
- Sweep your hardwood floors regularly, using a natural or nylon bristle broom with slightly frayed ends. Doing this every day if possible will make a huge difference in terms of the quantity of grit that gets ground into your wood floors on a regular basis.
- Clean up liquid spills right away, including water, which often comes into the house in the form of snow clumps.
- Dry-mop with a terry-cloth dust mop. Dry-mopping provides the benefits of buffing and polishing without the harshness of cleaners.
- If you have pets, keep their toenails short.
- Avoid dragging heavy objects across your wood floors.
- Place felt casters under furniture legs.
When you do need to go the extra mile and wet-mop or polish, there are several environmentally friendly products designed for use as wood floor cleaners. For example, Floor Kleener from Earth Friendly Products has been specially developed for cleaning a variety of flooring, including sealed hardwood floors. Another good example is Envirorite Hard Floor Cleaner, which uses soy in place of chemical substances and can also be used on sealed hardwood flooring surfaces. Envirorite boasts the added advantage of being safe for people with allergies, asthma, and chemical sensitivities, which is also important if you have babies or toddlers crawling on your floors. You can find these products and more at the Floor Cleaners and Kokopelli's Green Market websites.

Posted on July 15, 2008 at 02:22 PM in DIY • Green Building • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
If These Hardwood Floors Could Talk: Secrets of Antique Lumber and Reclaimed Flooring

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By Tarryn Guarino

There is something really amazing about an antique floor. If the wood beneath your feet could tell a story, what would it have to say? Who has walked these boards before us?

To find out exactly how exactly these wide planks get from an old barn to our bedroom floor, I spoke with Rich Marilla at Old Dominion Antique Lumber. The company purchases materials that are salvaged from old barns or antique structures and repurposes the wood for use in new homes and buildings. This practice has the added bonus of being environmentally sustainable, which means Carlisle's antique timber floors are FSC 100% Chain-of-Custody certified. But before this antique wood can be resettled in a new home, it must first get a mini-makeover.

Posted on July 14, 2008 at 02:55 PM in Green Building • Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments
“What a beautiful house - Does anyone actually live here?”

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By Nancy Shohet West

It was allegedly the Duchess of Windsor who said that no woman could be too rich or too thin. The Duchess probably did not do her own decorating, but if she did, she might well have added that no house could be too tidy or too elegant.

A lot of homeowners would agree that there's no such thing as a too-perfect home. Don't we all want our abodes to look ready for the photographers from Architectural Digest to arrive at any time? Hardwood floors gleaming, fresh flowers perfectly arranged in their cut crystal vases, glossy magazines at just the right angle on the coffee table.

Except that many of us who have attended upscale house tours or even realtors' open houses would concede that there is such a thing as a forebodingly beautiful house. Remember the grandmothers of previous generations who would put plastic slipcovers over the "good" furniture - making them completely unusable? Most interior designers agree that the tradition of museum-quality home décor is long gone. Just as many homes now forego formal dining rooms in favor of well-lit, welcoming kitchens with a center island around which hosts and guests alike can cluster, the trend in home décor is veering away from the too-perfect look.

So suppose you already know how to do the hard part: the beautiful presentation. Your hardwood floors gleam with a burnished glow, your end tables stay clutter-free, and no one ever leaves coffee mugs or sports bottles in the foyer. (Really? Maybe you'd consider doing an on-site neatness training for my family. But I digress.) Now that you've accomplished that challenging goal, it's time to make your home look not just magnificent but also used and enjoyed - by a real live family. Below are a handful of decorators' tips:
- Small rugs accent polished hardwood floors nicely, breaking up the perfect-ness with a splash of color and texture. But you can also get color and texture by choosing a wide plank hardwood flooring style with so-called "imperfections." Note the knotholes and wavy lines in these examples (Chestnut and Heart Pine) and how they keep the floor from looking overly formal.
- Window treatments light enough to react to a passing breeze or circulating fan acknowledge nature in a way that cordoned swags do not. Curtains made of light, gauzy material, or lightweight blinds, make a room look much more "alive" than drapes so heavy that they never move. Good advice on choosing a window treatment is available here.
- Oversized oil paintings can work well in a large formal room, but smaller drawings or artsy photos can be very effective in breaking up the formality. For example, in this picture, note how quickly the cluster of framed pictures draws the eye.
- Use books as decorations. We've all seen the coffee tables with the perfectly arrayed copies of Town and Country or the tomes on Impressionism, but books such as favorite collections of poetry, memoirs and biographies, and travel guides look both pretty and "real" - as if someone has read and savored them, rather than just arranged them there.
- Memorabilia: Too much of it can multiply into clutter, but placed carefully, it looks unique and clever. Favorite high-quality trophies or medals, vintage sports accessories, antique jewelry or purses, your grandfather's cigar box, your great-aunt's perfume bottle. The authenticity of well-loved objects will show through. And authenticity is ultimately the goal. Your home should reflect your personality, not your decorator's talents. So enjoy that beautiful home - and let your guests see that there are real people living inside!
Posted on July 11, 2008 at 03:04 PM in Hardwood Flooring • Home Decor • (0) Comments
The “Hart” (House) of New England, and Other Refurbished Colonial Buildings

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By Sean O'Reilly

British comedian Eddie Izzard once quipped, "I'm from Europe-where the history is," and then went on to parody how short a time span Americans consider "historic." And many people, both Americans and foreigners, seem to share that view-that the U.S. is too young to have acquired much history. But if there's one place in the U.S. where the accumulation of history can be felt, it's in New England, in the old-style architecture, the surviving examples of colonial houses with their sturdy hardwood floors and rustic, endearing ambiance.

In my own community, I was surprised to discover how many examples survive of this colonial era architecture, many with most of their walls and floors still intact. One of the best examples is the Balch House (just see the history soaked into those well-worn floor-boards!) once thought to be the oldest surviving wood-frame house in the United States until dendrochronology dated the oldest timbers to 1679. But it just so happens that Massachusetts has quite a few colonial-era wooden houses, including three in Ipswich and three in Salem (including the famous House of Seven Gables). Just walking around in these houses, hearing the wide-planked hardwood floors creak comfortingly under your step, can convince you that you've traveled back in time to the colonial era: you're standing on floors that someone's hands painstakingly built, and built well.

One of my favorite colonial houses is the 1640 Hart House in Ipswich, not least because it's been turned into quite a nice restaurant. And what makes it so nice? It's not the food, although that's good, or the air conditioning, which is sometimes on too strong for my taste; no, it's the ambiance, the atmosphere of a house that's steeped in history, that's witnessed centuries of inhabitants and guests walking over its still sturdy floors. And it's remarkable how much of that atmosphere is literally grounded in those hardwood floors, from how they feel underfoot to how they look and even how they smell. If I just wanted a nice meal, I could go to any number of restaurants, but if I want to have a historical experience, nothing beats the 1640 Hart House.

Interestingly, there are a number of historic buildings that have been refurbished with Carlisle wide plank floors in recent years. One example is the Jethro Coffin House in Nantucket. Another is the Saugus Iron Works in Saugus, MA, and a third is the Milleridge Inn in Jericho, NY. These three structures, while not quite as venerable as the Hart House, give examples of how even modern remodeling efforts can retain that historic feel, and a comprehensive list of such buildings restored by Carlisle is available on the Historic Wood Floor Restoration Projects section of the website.

Does anyone else have stories of colonial houses in their area, and what it feels like to walk around (or eat lunch!) in them? I'd love to hear them, if so! And for anyone curious to learn more about colonial architecture, I'd recommend Within These Walls, a virtual exhibit offering various interactive activities and explaining all about colonial house construction, from their hardwood floors to their rooftops.

Posted on July 11, 2008 at 09:43 AM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments