Carlisle Wide Plank Floors

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• DIY: Eastern White Pine with Plymouth Pumpkin Stain in Pennsylvania

  Posted by Megan Sprague

  This is a nice letter paired with photos from a couple who installed their own floors: our wide plank Eastern White Pine with our custom Plymouth Pumpkin Stain

  Dear Scott,
  
  Here are the photos. We have yet to upholster some furniture as you will see. That will be our next project.  Any chance Carlisle does upholstery???! Thanks for the great floor!
  
  Jill

  Before
  

   

  

   After
  

  

  
  
  

  Posted on September 24, 2008 at 03:24 PM in DIY • (1) Comments

• DIY: Hardwood Ash flooring with a stain in VA.

  Posted by ChadCassin

  Shanon Sterret shares this personal email from her clients in Virginia!

  
  
  

  Hi Shanon,
  I am sorry to take so long to get back to you.  We have been just crazy busy.  I am sending you some of our photos.  We have a lot more   I will send five pictures in each email. We love our floors and we love the look it gives our home.  My hardwood floor installer, AKA my husband Roland, is out of town for another week.  When he gets back we will write our account of the installation process.
  
  Thank you,
  Michelle and Roland Hankey
  

   

  Posted on September 2, 2008 at 02:09 PM in DIY • (1) Comments

• DIY: Walnut wide plank floor installation in Colorado

  Posted by Megan Sprague

  Sarah Bergren of our Denver office shares this information and personal letter from her clients Stan and Tracy!

   

  Sarah -
  We installed the floors this weekend. They look great. Everyone was impressed with the quality product. Installation went smoothly. I had to leave before we started to apply the oil, but Tracy has been able to get a couple of coats down. It looks like the brochure! Magnifico! You can check out our pictures here:

  We're calling in a friend (professional) to do the stairs in a couple of weeks. Next up, new moulding and casing that we can match to the floors. Your advice is certainly welcome on that topic.

  Thanks for helping me get through this. Let me know when you're coming up to Summit, and we'll get you in to take a look.

  Regards,
  Stan and Tracy
  

   

  Posted on September 2, 2008 at 07:00 AM in DIY • (0) Comments

• Green Floor, Clean Floor: Natural Cleaning Solutions for Hardwood Floors

  Posted by GuestBlogger

  By Albert Waitt

  If a homeowner is environmentally conscious and chooses to install a wide plank hardwood floor, it's easy for them to remain consistent and "go green" when caring for that floor and keeping it looking its best.  Whether one has chosen a responsibly forested white pine or an antique reclaimed hickory, a green approach to upkeep and cleaning will benefit the homeowner and their wood floor.

  When considering how to maintain and clean hardwood floors,

  The American Hardwood Information Center offers the following advice:

  • Place floor mats and throw rugs at entrances to trap dirt.

  • Sweep floors weekly with brooms that have fine, exploded ends.

  • Weekly vacuuming will also keep hardwood floors clean.

  • Wipe up spills, pet accidents, and other liquid mishaps as soon as possible.

  • It is important to remember that water exposure can harm a hardwood floor.

  Instead of relying on commercial floor cleaners that may have toxic ingredients, the consumer has green alternatives when choosing materials to keep a wood floor clean and lustrous.   The first step is to determine what kind of finish is on the hardwood floor. 

  For hardwood floors finished with polyurethane, Greenerchoices.org, thedailygreen.com, and Martha Stewart  recommend damp mopping with a solution of one cup of vinegar per gallon of water.  The mop should be barely wet, just enough to pick up dust and dirt, but not enough to leave water streaking on the floor itself.  

  For wide plank hardwood floors and soft wood floors with a penetrating finish, such as Carlisle's Tung Oil Finish, water should be avoided during maintenance.  In addition to sweeping, dry-mopping, and vacuuming, Care2.com's Live Green Producer

  Melissa Breyer recommends a natural Citrus Solvent be sprayed on the floor in a light film and then dry mopped off with a micro-fiber or regular dust mop. 

  New green cleaning products are being rolled out on a daily basis and there's no doubt that consumers will have more choices in green floor care in the coming years.  But the tips offered here (and now) are safe and effective.  Through these simple practices, a homeowner can preserve their floor and protect their planet at the same time. 

   

  Posted on August 9, 2008 at 07:05 AM in DIY • Green Building • Hardwood Flooring • (3) Comments

• Installing Hardwood Flooring: One of the Safer DIY Projects

  Posted by GuestBlogger

  By Phil Johnson 

  I'm not a big Do-It-Yourself guy. Generally, my DIY activities are limited to painting, wallpapering and unclogging the toilet. Other than that, my main handyman skill is writing a check. It's no surprise, then, that the thought of installing my own wide plank hardwood floors seems about as doable as building the space shuttle.

  However, after a little research, I've come to think this is the kind of project that even I could handle. At the very least, it's less life threatening than other home improvement projects like:

  Plumbing – Plumbers use blowtorches. Can you say, "burn unit"?

  Electrical – They use electricity to execute convicts. No thanks.

  Roofing – I'm not afraid of heights; I'm afraid of falling from heights.

  So far as I can tell the odds of installing hardwood floors and living to tell about it seem relatively high!

  If you're thinking of installing a hardwood floor yourself, there's lots of helpful information out there about it – even videos tutorials! After careful review, I get the feeling that, with a little patience and free time, I could actually handle it.

  For starters, nowadays you can buy prefinished flooring – even for wide plank flooring – eliminating the need for sanding, staining and sealing. Since using a drum sander sounds about easy as operating a Zamboni, this reduces the project complexity – and potential medical co-payment costs - quite a bit.

  Next, the tools involved aren't all that complicated. They include – among other things – a hammer, a crowbar, a floor nailer and a miter saw. Now, sure, a power saw sounds a little dicey, but I figure you can lose a digit or two and still maintain a high quality of life.

  As for the actual hardwood floor installation, it sounds quite reasonable, and has been described as a weekend project. It involves some variation of the following basic steps:

  Remove any existing baseboard – Heck, even I can take stuff apart.

  Prepare the floor base – You can put hardwood flooring on top of a plywood sub-floor, an existing hardwood floor or even concrete! Usually, you put down a plastic or felt vapor barrier to keep the moisture out.

  Install the floor - Start laying planks or boards from one wall, nail them in place using said floor nailer (try not to do this) and work your way across the room. Be sure to stagger the seams where the boards join!

  Edge special room aspects - If the room has floor vents, fireplaces, or some such thing, make sure to edge them, which requires a few extra cuts, no biggie.

  Replace baseboards, sweep up and enjoy your new floors! At this point you may want to enjoy a celebratory beverage of your choice (in my case that'd be beer).

  The more I think about this, the surer I am that I'm going to have give this project a go! Now I just need to convince my wife that I won't maim myself doing it …

  Posted on August 8, 2008 at 07:19 AM in DIY • Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments

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