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.

High-end builder has high praise for Carlisle floors

Posted by Christine Halvorson

We got a nice note from Von Salmi in April, letting us know he had a new website. He builds and designs homes and is based in Westminster, MA. Mr. Salmi wrote:

I have worked with Carlisle Wideplank Flooring and Rick Menard for almost 10 years. It has been a pleasure to work with such a professional organization. I work on very large homes with very discriminating clients who look for the unusual and most beautiful floors that we can install. I had an instance where the client wanted a mahogony floor in a master bath. Traditional Honduran Mahogony was the wrong look and Rick provided an Asian Mahogony as an alternative that completely fulfilled the interior designers' and clients' needs.

I have purchased everything from 4-inch White Oak quartered and rift sawn, quartered Walnut Herringbone, Custom Oak parquet to antique all Heart Pine flooring and Carlisle has delivered consistantly in quality and time on every order.

Whenever I am asked who I use for my flooring there is only one name that comes out of my mouth, Carlisle Wide Plank Flooring. I hope it is the only name that I will ever have to say.

A very satisfied customer,

Von Salmi, Pres.
Von Salmi and Associates, Inc.
Construction, Consulting and Design
P.O. Box 425
Westminster, MA 01473

Well, we're very satisfied when we hear this kind of thing from folks we've worked with over the years. Thanks, Von!

Posted on May 6, 2009 at 01:46 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
All-American oak floor from Carlisle makes its way to New Zealand

Posted by Christine Halvorson

The team of designers in Carlisle's West Hollywood offices, including Dan O'Neil, recently got involved with something a little out-of-this-world. Okay, it was only half-way out of this world, all the way around the globe from Carlisle's headquarters to New Zealand and a home flooring project where the home owner wanted something a little out of the ordinary. He needed something that was big enough and unique enough to set off his marvelous view (see below).

The team created a series of samples and sent them, as well as photos and emails, to the homeowner. Ultimately he settled on a 12-inch wide, super long-length version of our White Oak flooring. The surface was finished with a light wire brush as well. The floor will ultimately be finished with some natural oils to keep them supple and able to move with the seasonal changes and the moist climate of New Zealand. The oils will keep them looking good as well, according to O'Neil. The boards were shipped by sea and allowed to acclimate to their new environment before they were installed, as usual. The photos here were taken by Peter Jones, who helped with the installation.

Posted on April 27, 2009 at 01:40 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
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 April 17, 2009 at 01:35 PM in Customer Stories • (0) 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 April 10, 2009 at 01:33 PM in Customer Stories • (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 April 8, 2009 at 01:31 PM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments