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.

Installing a Carlisle unfinished or Custom Coat floor can be a do-it-yourself project

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Anyone with basic do-it-yourself skills can install a Carlisle floor, but it’s entirely up to you whether you wish to do it or have a professional come in. If you do it, we’ll send along complete instructions before your floor order arrives and we’re available seven days a week for your questions. Every member of our sales and design staff has had hands-on training in the most up-to-date installation applications and techniques. If you encounter a problem or have a question, we are only a phone call away at 800-595-9663. We want this to be a fun project for you and that the results will be something you’ll be proud of.

In addition to the time, here’s a list of supplies you’ll need to install the floor yourself. You might want to take a sneak peak at the PDF document we have that provides detailed, step-by-step instructions.

For Installing Your Unfinished and Custom Coat™ Floor:
- Power nailer or pneumatic stapler
- Chalk line
- Tape measure
- Chop, circular or radial arm saw
- Caulking gun
- Square
- Utility knife
- Rubber mallet
- Nail punch (if you are using face nails)
- Finishing nail gun
- Sawhorses
- Subfloor adhesive
- Concrete adhesive
- Floor straps and weights (for direct glue installation)
- Square notch trowels (for concrete installation)
To read a little more about the do-it-yourself process, click here.

Posted on November 12, 2009 at 01:50 PM in DIY • (0) Comments
Sometimes wood reclaimed by Carlisle becomes not a floor, but a beautiful kitchen cabinet

Posted by Christine Halvorson

We’ve written here several times about our relationship with one of our neighbors here in New Hampshire—“Crown Point Cabinetry”:http://www.crown-point.com/. Crown Point, headquartered in Claremont, New Hampshire, specializes in customized cabinetry for period style kitchens, baths, offices, laundry rooms, home bars and more, and they sell direct to the customer. We think all their work is just stunning. Their customers are often requested reclaimed wood for their customized cabinets these days and when that happens, Crown Point turns to us here at Carlisle for supplies from our various reclaimation projects.

Here’s a recent stand-out example of how reclaimed wood can be used to create a modern, sleek and definitely cool look—even when it’s made from what was once an old barn here in New England. Crown Point took the grey barnwood to make the posts and horizontal runners of this kitchen island, and they combined it with cabinetry made of wood but painted black. Stunning, don’t you think?

Posted on November 11, 2009 at 08:33 AM in Green Building • (0) Comments
Callison architects trust Carlisle to meet tight schedule for Philosophy stores

Posted by Christine Halvorson

“The pre-finished saved time and the baseboards meant we didn’t have to think about the floors at all. We could avoid any last minute hassles,” Tracy said. “With Sarah’s help, we knew we’d meet the production schedule.”

Philosphy needed floors that could, of course, withstand heavy foot traffic, but they also needed to withstood today’s heavy-duty strollers. The answer was Carlisle’s Ash, “perfect for any commercial application,” Bergren says.

The pre-finished, 10-inch planks would be sealed on all sides with Custom Clear Coat. “Callison wanted to leave the floor unstained so the natural variations would be very visible,” Bergren said.

Philosphy customers have said their stores have a “calm and clean” feel and Woods believes the wide planks contribute. “They really open up our narrow spaces,” she said. “Ash has a lot going for it. It works so well with the other store fixtures.”

The Santa Monica Philosophies store celebrated its Grand Opening in November of 2008.

“Carlisle exceeded our expectations on all fronts. We experienced no problems and it was done as seamlessly as we had hoped,” Tracy said. “Sarah was just outstanding. We can’t wait to work with her on future projects.”

Read More…

Posted on November 10, 2009 at 03:46 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Helping Green Living Smart Living Take the LEED

Posted by Chad Cassin

When Kimberly and Joe Hageman decided to build a state-of-the-art LEED-H certified green home on the Rhode Island coast, they researched both cutting-edge new technologies and various companies that had long been known for supplying green products.

Carlisle Wide Plank Floors of Stoddard, New Hampshire, and its 100% FSC Certified Antique Reclaimed Flooring quickly became part of the mix. Working closely with the owners, Carlisle found just the right old barn, which had been slated for demolition, carefully dismantled it and a created gorgeous wide plank milled barnwood from the re-milled timbers. It covers almost half of the home’s 4,400 square feet and qualified for full LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) H points.

“Carlisle became one of our favorite partners,” says Kimberly. “They really care about getting everything right and have a long history of green environmental practices.”

Carlisle President Don Carlisle adds, “All our floors are custom crafted one board at a time, utilizing either newly sawn wood harvested from sustainably managed forests or true antique timbers from structures that would otherwise be demolished. We’re the number one supplier of FSC Certified Antique Reclaimed Wood in North America, and opting to use this precious commodity reduces the overall embodied energy of a floor and puts less stress on our natural resources. Plus, you get a wonderful look and feel that resonates like no other floor.”

The home, which took well over a year to complete, isn’t merely a living residence. It is a showcase home offering a hands-on demonstration site where builders, architects, designers, schools, members of the media and the general public are invited to tour and learn about all the latest innovations in eco-friendly sustainable living.

Foremost among the home’s features is an energy control system that uses various sensors to constantly monitor energy usage and maximize efficiencies. A geothermal system will provide all the home’s heating and cooling, via a 1,000-foot well. Small wonder that the home has already received strong endorsements from the green press and trade publications that cater to the construction and design industries.

An open house for the public will be held Saturday, December 12 that will feature tours and demonstrations. For details, contact Ashley Daigneault at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

About Carlisle Wide Plank Floors

Carlisle Wide Plank Floors® is a unique wood flooring company. First and foremost, every Carlisle floor is custom—literally created one board at a time, tailored for each specific customer, by skilled New England craftsmen. As such, it is an authentic representation of an American folk art—a family heirloom to be treasured for generations.
Secondly, we are a family operation, started in the early 1960s by Dale Carlisle, who made floors by first making friends. And we were green before green was popular. Now run by Dale’s son Don, we remain that way today. In fact, we think of our customers as part of our extended family—a family that also includes small, local saw mills, and sawyers who share our commitment to quality, plus second and third generation foresters and antique barn and mill reclaimers who share our ideals in preserving the environment.

About Green Life Smart Life

The RI-based Green Life Smart Life project was created to demonstrate real-life applications in creating sustainable living and healthy environments in conjunction with custom electronics that embrace today’s smart home technology. A showcase of the latest advances in green building techniques and environmentally friendly materials alongside innovative technologies for complete home control and state-of-the art entertainment, the Green Life Smart Life project is showing homeowners the full range of just how attainable smart and green living can be.

Posted on November 9, 2009 at 03:57 PM in News & Events • (0) Comments
Beautful floor, with just one bucket of waste

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Customer Sally Smith sent along these photes of a recent remodeling job she did with Carlisle’s pre-finished original Hickory, in 5- to 10-inch widths. This is the third floor Sally has done with Carlisle. These photos are from her second home in the Adirondacks and their first was for their New Jersey home. The natural colorings in the wood turned out to be quite distinct down the center of Sally’s hallway. She writes: “Our friends laugh at the ‘runway strip’ we put down the center of the hallway – Dave (her husband) says if we fight there’s his half, and my half.”

What we like to see in these photos is the small, one bucket of waste that was produced with the project!

Read more about our pre-finished floors here.

Posted on November 9, 2009 at 12:30 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments