Surface Blog

Samples of Antique Hickory make for satisfied customer

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

We thought you’d enjoy see these photos of a recently completed project. They show Carlisle’s Antique Hickory, set down in 8-inch widths and prefinished with Amber stain, and were sent to us by Laura Leier, our Sales and Design Consultant in Denver. We worked with a builder—Todd Gourley of Powder River Construction in Breckenridge, Colorado—on this project and he has already ordered another floor from us!  We give a lot of credit here at Carlisle to the folks who work in our sample shop.  They carefully match stain and wood to the customer’s needs and send out samples for approval.  This process ensures a very satisfied customer when the project is complete. 

Posted on Apr 17, 2009 AT 03:05 AM in (2) Comments

Carlisle employee chooses to work on his day off

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

Design and Sales Consultant Gary Ryer, in our Stoddard offices, shared this story with the whole company recently and we thought it was worth sharing with you. Gary writes:

I just wanted to share a recent experience with one of our builder/customers in Kennebunkport, Maine. (Carlisle’s) John Rafuse was delivering a floor to that customer last Friday morning.  Unfortunately, the builder’s crew was unable/unavailable to help him unload the 1,000 square feet of antique oak and premium white oak during that delivery.

Small world that it is, Matt Morin of our Swanzey Mill (Geographic note: Swanzey is in New Hampshire, probably 140 miles from Kennebunkport) happened to be there on a day off with his girlfriend (apparently Matt has family up there) and they both helped unload the order and answer questions for the customer….Matt, I want to thank you personally for taking your own time to give a very good customer a very positive experience.  Keep up the good work! With an attitude and a spirit like that, you have earned the respect of us all!—Gary

Posted on Apr 13, 2009 AT 03:04 AM in (3) Comments

We love solving problems for Carlisle customers

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

We got a nice note from Tammy England, a customer of ours who is building a new home in Indiana.  She had Carlisle’s premium grade hickory floor, in random widths,  installed and finished with our Gingerbread stain, sealed with our traditional finish.  After noticing a few problems with the floor, Tammy worked with our Stephanie Buckley to get the issues resolved. The floors needed a little more sanding and a refinish, which we took care of. Tammy wrote to tell us how much she now loves her floor and called herself "blessed" to work with us.

Well, Tammy, we’re blessed to work with you!

And, she was kind enough to send along this nice note with these photos of the finished floor:

Here are some photos of the floor!  Thank you all so much for helping us get it fixed.  You don’t know how much it means to us.  We are very blessed to work with such a wonderful company.—Tammy England

And, if we do say so ourselves, those floors are beautiful!

Posted on Apr 10, 2009 AT 03:03 AM in (0) Comments

Did you hear the story about the guy with one sock?

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

Glen, who works in Carlisle’s Stoddard, New Hampshire offices, got a call the other day from Bill Stratton, a builder based in Chatham, New York, who often uses Carlisle floors in his many building projects.  Turns out Bill’s crew on a construction project over in Canaan, New York (above), was having trouble matching the Carlisle Bradford Umber stain he was applying to the new Carlisle hickory floor he had installed.  The stain just wasn’t matching the sample he had been sent by us.  So, Bill called in and consulted with Glen and Rick Menard on staff here, who suggested Bill make sure his guy was mixing the stain well enough and applying it properly.  Well, Bill decided to go on up to the project site himself and see what he could see.   When he got to the house, no one from his crew was around (see below), and no one else either. He wanted to try the stain, but he had nothing with which to apply it.  So, Bill took off one of his nice wool socks and applied the stain to a test area, wiping it away as he went.  Bill was happy to report back to us that the stain was now a perfect match. It had all been a matter of not stirring the stain enough before application.

And builder Bill spent the rest of the day walking around with just one sock. 

It’s nice to know the builders we work with will go the extra mile to make sure our floors look as good as they can!

Posted on Apr 08, 2009 AT 03:00 AM in (0) Comments

Carlisle design consultants meet homeowners in Boston last week

• Posted by
• Christine Halvorson

Carlisle’s team of Design Consultants from our Stoddard, New Hampshire offices—serving the New England Region—were excited about attending the 2009 Residential Design & Construction Show  last week in Boston, MA.   On the first day, our Tim Buckley and Shanon Sterrett attended, and then Mark Nichols and Lynne Rafuse were on hand the second day. This was the first time Carlisle had a display at this show and we’re thinking it’s one of the best we’ve ever done in the New England Region! Shanon sent along these notes about her experience:

This show was so good, in part, because it had something we often don’t get at trade shows—direct contact with the homeowners, the people who are normally behind the scenes when we work directly with the professionals such as designers, architects and builders.  At this show, homeowners brought their designers, architects, and/or builders along, so we had a great experience of interactive and collaborative design research all at one show.  Thanks to all the new homeowners and professionals who took the time to visit the Carlisle area and ask your questions about our floors. 

Many existing clients stopped by, too: Denis Leonti, a great craftsman, artist, and installer out of Bristol, RI;   Lisa, who has been working with Crystal here at Carlisle for almost two years and is now getting ready to do her floors;  and our newest customers, Diane and Ruth, who chose a floor inspired by our very own Don Carlisle (his great kitchen) and ordered their floors right at the show!  They also chose to have the team at our Custom Shop finish the floors for them for their new kitchen.  Not only does this save them a lot of time since our Custom Coat floors do not need to be acclimated, but there is no finishing needed on site once installed. Diane and Ruth also liked the idea that, unlike traditional Oxide finishes, the Carlisle finish can be touched up over the years, so it truly will last for the life of the home.

A favorite among those who stopped by was our Long Leaf Heart Pine. 

Of course we can’t forget about the beautiful hardwood and Antique floors we offer – people really fell in love with the Wide Plank Hickory we had installed.  People constantly commented on the fact that "I’ve never seen Hickory look that good" and we could educate them about how Northern Grown Hickory which we use exclusively produces boards with lots of heartwood, tight sound character and a much more cohesive look than most Hickory you see today that is coming from southern grown stands that grow much too quickly.  There is never a shortage of fans of the American Walnut (understandably so!)…but I have to see the newest favorite was the "Driftwood" look … created by our own James Hebert in the Sample Shop and featured in a gorgeous home in Rhode Island (installed by Denis Leonti).  Below is our Driftwood Hickory.

Thanks to all our new and existing clients for making this show so successful and we look forward to working with you, keeping in touch with you, and being a part of your projects. 
The New England Design Team
Crystal, Mark, Shanon, Lynne, and Tim

Posted on Apr 06, 2009 AT 03:00 AM in (3) Comments