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.

Monday Morning Mailbag: New home in California a “must-see” with installation of Hickory wide floors

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Here’s a glimpse at a vacation home in Portola, California, where customer Kathleen Schonder had ordered a Hickory floor in 5- to 10-inch widths. The home was build by Jeff Litz of Litz Construction. Kathleen originally heard about Carlisle floors through Country Living magazine. Carlisle prefinished the floor in Gingerbread. The floor is installed over concrete and radiant heat. (Read more about installing over radiant heat here.) Kathleen worked with our own Laura Leier, our design and sales consultant, to get the look she wanted.

Kathleen wrote us this note: “Awesome. Couldn’t be happier. A must-see!”

Posted on February 22, 2010 at 02:26 PM in Customer Stories • Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments
Milled Barnwood shines in Delaware home

Posted by Christine Halvorson

A customer sent in these photos of her new floor in Middletown, Delaware. The floor is done in 9- and 10-inch widths using Milled Barnwood. It is finished with Tung Oil.

Posted on February 19, 2010 at 11:55 AM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
Small, independent sawmills assures Carlisle gets the best wide plank floor boards

Posted by Christine Halvorson

You might wonder how we select and process the trees that will become the boards that will become the floors we sell here at Carlisle.

In today’s “grow big or die” driven economy, it has become harder and harder for small, independent sawmills to survive. We use small, independent sawmills because we know they can assure us of getting the best boards cut from the best parts of the tree. The smaller sawmills can meet our special needs and our demands for excellence. Over the years, we have built a network of small, independent sawmills and built relationships with the sawyers who work at them. We consider them part of the Carlisle family. These sawyers carefully check each plank they cut for us, up and down and over and under, before they send it along for us to use.

Our boards are also the longest and widest you can find on the market. We also happen to believe they are the prettiest. Here’s a story about just one of the small sawmills we use.

Posted on February 18, 2010 at 04:10 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
It’s all about the character when customers choose reclaimed wood floors

Posted by Christine Halvorson

It’s not uncommon for a few customers of ours to choose an Antique or Reclaimed wood floor based on our samples and then be distressed when the actual floor boards arrive. Often those reclaimed boards are full of what we call “character marks”—the nail holes, dings, knots and other marks that are clear indications that this wood has been used before for different purposes. So, a panicked phone call is not unusual and, after a discussion with one of our sales and design consultants, the customer usually is convinced to sit tight and wait to see what the floor looks like in place, stained and finished.

Well, we had another of those experiences lately with a home in White Lake, New York. The floor that the customers, Raj and Chris Mundkur, had ordered was Milled Antique Barnwood, in 5- to 12-inch widths. The Mundkurs had come to us through a recommendation from their builder. However, the builder was a bit apprehensive with the boards actually arrived—too much character! But now everyone involved in the project is quite happy, as you might guess from the looks of these photos, below. The Mundkurs wrote us:

“The floors are in, finished and look spectacular! …Thanks for your patience and guidance in selecting the floor and stain. We love them and it was well worth the effort. Raj.”

Posted on February 17, 2010 at 02:59 PM in Green Building • (0) Comments
New search engine helps architects, builders target the right suppliers

Posted by Christine Halvorson

We got wind of this new search engine that helps architects and builders find the suppliers and supplies that they need for their projects. We thought we’d pass it along, complete with a note from an architect who recommends the service:

As a licensed Architect, I am faced with the same challenges you are – finding and selecting the right products for my projects. I’m so excited about the new search engine I’ve found, I had to email you and let you know that it really works…and it is amazing!

It’s called BPM Select. No irrelevant returns like the major search engines provide, just a profusion of pertinent results every time. Plus, I can easily find general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers – right from the search results screen!

Don’t take my word for it, try it – BPMSelect.com. If you like it or have comments, please let me know what you think. As a fellow architect, I thought this would be a good site to share!

Karen Christensen
Registered Architect

Posted on February 16, 2010 at 11:50 AM in Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments