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.

One happy Carlisle customer helps out another

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Our customers sometimes rely on each other for advice on their flooring, as evidenced by an exchange among two Texans and personnel here at Carlisle. We love it when customers agree to be “references” for us. It’s sort of like we’re applying for a job—which we are, kind of!

So, Rodney Stephenson of Hempstead was thinking about a rustic wide plank floor that would have to be glued directly to a concrete slab. He also had questions about the softness of the pine.

With the help of Carlisle, he got advice from customer Jonnie Steffek in Richmond, who had installed her floor not that long ago. She told Rodney about an installation of Eastern White Pine.

Said Jonnie: “I went with the unfinished wood rather than pre-finished. My reason for that is, I like floors to show wear/pathways/knot holes.”

Carlisle supplied information to the client about gluing to the slab and the softness issue.

Jonnie wrote: “As far as being ‘soft’, that may be; however, in my book, ‘dings’ add character. I had a friend long ago, that would buy an antique, then refinish it to the point that it looked like it came direct from a furniture store…We have a few antiques scattered throughout the house, but they are old, and they look old.”

Jonnie invited Rodney over to her neck of the woods to see her floors for himself. We are indebted!

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 08:23 PM in Customer Stories • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Hit or Miss Eastern White Pine with Bradford Umber

Posted by Chad Cassin

We get compliments all the time about the floor. People love it and can’t get over the fact that I did it myself. It’s funny, some people just go on and on about it. We’re very pleased.”
—Jim Dotson

Posted on July 21, 2009 at 08:56 AM in Customer Stories • (1) Comments
Brown Maple holds up to wheelchair pressure in this home renovation

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Some times you need a really hard floor--like when wheelchairs are involved. For this home in Cumberland, Rhode Island, the design firm Inclusion by Design, used Carlisle's 8-inch Brown Maple boards, which were finished at the home site with a Gingerbread stain and tung oil. Inclusion by Design, based in Providence, Rhode Island, specializes in making homes and businesses accessible to people with disabilities and they take on some projects where renovations need to be made because of new, limited mobility. The Carlisle Mill in Swanzey, New Hampshire handled making this floor with the design work of Crystal Knowles in our Stoddard, New Hampshire offices. The Brown Maple is a great option for those who like the look of an older pine, but need to have a much harder floor.

Posted on June 15, 2009 at 02:09 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
Inspired by installing a Carlisle floor, one man now uses them throughout his spec home

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Laura, from Carlisle's Denver showroom, sent along these photos of a recently completed project featuring 7- to 12-inch Heart Pine. Seth, a person who installed the floors at the Denver showroom, fell in love with our dark Heart Pine at the time. When he ventured into designing and building a home to sell, he of course chose the Heart Pine, as you can see here in his kitchen (above) and dining room (below). This past spring, when the house was complete, he put it on the mark and it sold within three weeks. Dare we say it was the floors that did it? Well, maybe...or Seth's beautiful design and craftmanship throughout. Seth has a degree in architecture, owns a floor installation company and now is designing and building--as you can see.

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 02:08 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
Three very different offices, same Carlisle floor

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Gary Ryer in our Stoddard offices sent along these photos from a repeat customer based in Fairhope, Alaska. Customer Gary Cox sent these along to show us the Carlisle floors he had installed in three offices in his company. Each of the offices is a bit different, but they all have our Country Premium White Oak, in 4- to 6-inch widths. We think they all look smashing. You? The customer says the first thing any visitor comments on is his floors.

Posted on June 1, 2009 at 01:22 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments