Surface Blog

Men from Mars, Women from Venus - that may be true but we can find a floor you both like!

• Posted by
• Shanon Sterrett

He wanted a contemporary, loft-style home crafted with concrete and steel. She wanted a historic house with a traditional feel. With the help of architects Julie Fisher and Rachel Crowl of fcStudio, a Chicago couple turned a rundown house in the Wicker Park Historic District into a home that suits both their tastes. We’re delighted to note they chose Carlisle White Oak floors to help bridge the gap between historical and contemporary styles.

Chicago Home + Garden magazine wrote about the house in a March-April 2011 feature story titled Best of Both Worlds. The story includes lots of terrific photos of the house, both interior and exterior.

“They were looking for a cleaner, more contemporary overall look but wanted a species of wood and color tone that grounded the floors to bring a warmth and ‘home-like’ atmosphere,” remembers Glen Ranagan of Carlisle’s sales and design staff, who handled the project from our end.

“The color and grain was very important, and after working with the designer on just the right color to achieve the look they wanted, it was our Quartered and Rift-Sawn Northern White Oak with our custom Sturbridge Brown stain that was a perfect match!,” Glen continues. He notes that the 7-inch wide plank were installed over radiant heating systems.

If you’re in the area, visit us at our Chicago showroom.

And click here to read the story and see the photographs.

“What a beautiful home…..and floors!” says Glen.

We couldn’t agree more.

Posted on Dec 06, 2011 AT 02:51 AM in Doing Business with Carlisle • Hardwood Flooring • White Oak • Illinois • Contemporary • (0) Comments

Save the date! October 27, Doylestown, PA: Wide plank floors, kitchens, and radiant heat

• Posted by
• Jane Eklund

Attention, designers and homeowners in greater New York City and Philadelphia: Have we got an event for you! Carlisle is linking up with Superior Woodcraft,, a premier custom cabinet/kitchen shop, and Warmboard, a radiant flooring technology company, for an evening devoted to kitchens, flooring, and radiant heat. Stop by Superior Woodcraft’s shop in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 27, 2011, to get an overview of wide plank flooring, custom kitchens, and radiant heating systems.

Dan McMillan and Shanon Sterrett of Carlisle’s sales and design staff will be on hand (with sample panels of some of our new textures!), as will Greg Pine of Warmboard and Patrick Kennedy and his staff from Superior Woodcraft. E-mail Shanon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information or to RSVP.

Click here to see examples of Carlisle floors in kitchens.

Click here to see examples of Carlisle floors installed over radiant heat.

And check out our poster, below, for more information on the October 27 event. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Posted on Oct 18, 2011 AT 11:47 PM in Doing Business with Carlisle • Eyes On Carlisle • News & Events • Pennsylvania • (4) Comments

Cherry flooring: Warm and inviting, its lustre deepens over time

• Posted by
• Jane Eklund

Looking for a floor that’s warm and inviting? Want something that will age gracefully alongside your home?

Take a look at our Cherry flooring. Early American fine furniture makers loved to use cherry, which can be polished to a deep, glowing red. Those lustrous hues darken over time, maturing to a rich, burnished auburn. Cherry also has a subtle, distinctive, and flowing grain pattern.

We get our Cherry exclusively from high-quality, sustainably harvested trees in Pennsylvania. The wood is also very versatile: it comes in an engineered flooring or as solid wood flooring, and is approved for installation over concrete and over radiant heating systems.

Here are some samples:

Cherry Sitting Room, Fairfield, Connecticut, installed over concrete

Cherry Living Room, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, installed over concrete

Cherry Living Room, Connecticut

Cherry Chevon Dining Room, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, installed over concrete

Posted on Oct 16, 2011 AT 09:50 PM in Hardwood Flooring • Cherry • (0) Comments

Our custom beams will have you beaming

• Posted by
• Jane Eklund

We can floor you, but we can also make you beam.

Yep, the puns are intended. What they’re intended to do is draw attention to the fact that while flooring is our primary focus, we we have a couple of other offerings, too, including custom beams. Whether you want to use them as a design element or as a structural element in a timber-frame building, you’ll love our beams, which we can provide in virtually any of the woods we use in our floors. They come with a variety of surfaces, too: rough-sawn, hand-planed, spoke-shaven, or hand-hewn with an adze.

If you want a look that’s historical, consider our Reclaimed Beams, which have been recycled from old barns and buildings. Like our Reclaimed Wood Floors,, they have the Forest Stewardship Council’s 100% Post Consumer Antique Reclaimed Certification.

Here are some examples of the hand-crafted finishes we can provide for your custom beams. And click here to learn more about our beams! We’re sure they’ll have you beaming!

Rough-Sawn

Hand-Planed

Hand-Hewn

Reclaimed

Posted on Oct 13, 2011 AT 10:30 PM in Green Building • Home Building & Contracting • Beams • (3) Comments

Rustic, eco-friendly floors your grandfather would love—and you will, too!

• Posted by
• Jane Eklund

Looking for a rustic, authentic reclaimed floor that’ll lay the groundwork, so to speak, for an eye-catching room? Take a look at Carlisle’s Reclaimed Grandpa’s Flooring. It has a rich, mellow feel, it’s not afraid to show its age, and it’s environmentally sound: Like all of our Reclaimed Floors, Grandpa’s has earned 100% Post Consumer Antique Reclaimed Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council.

Grandpa’s Floors are made from Longleaf Heart Pine flooring that’s been reclaimed from the portions of old buildings that have taken the most wear and tear over the years: old floor boards or structural floor joists that we carefully clean, inspect, and preserve with minimal milling. The result is a “reborn” floor whose original primitive beauty was once covered up by ground-in dirt, debris, and years of abuse. The aged blend of rich pumpkin and deep charcoal color tones is amplified by the original stains, watermarks, and saw kerfs. It’s our most unique and rustic floor.

Have a look at some examples!

Grandpa’s Floor billiard room, Stoddard, New Hampshire

Grandpa’s Floor living room, Keene, New Hampshire

Grandpa’s Floor hallway, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Posted on Oct 11, 2011 AT 10:34 PM in Green Building • Rustic • (2) Comments