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.

A do-it-yourself project: beautiful Ash floors before and after

Posted by Christine Halvorson

We’re thrilled when clients are kind enough to send us photos when they complete a Carlisle flooring project by themselves. Back in April, Carlisle’s Lauren Fanti got photos from her client, JoAnn Johnson, after the Carlisle Premium Grade Ash floors had just been installed. JoAnn had applied the Bradford Umber stain and the Tung Oil finish herself. Now JoAnn and her family are fully using their rooms and their new floors. So, here they are again, this time completely lived in. Client JoAnn writes: “Love the floors, as does everyone who sees them.”

Posted on July 9, 2009 at 01:36 PM in DIY • (0) Comments
At Carlisle, we hate problems, but we like happy endings

Posted by Christine Halvorson

This is one of those happy ending stories. A Carlisle customer, a homeowner in Pennsylvania, had completely stained and tung oiled his floor his new floor. Then, he called us here at Carlisle because he had a problem. A pretty big problem, as it turns out. His lovely new floor was dotted with fuzz embedded in the tung oil! The fuzz was coming from the lambswool applicator he had used to apply the oil. When Gary Ryer, our design and sales consultant in the Stoddard offices, heard this, he suggested to the customer that he try washing the lambswool applicator in a washing machine and letting it dry thoroughly to help get the loose lambswool out of the pad. Well, that made the problem even worse! The customer got even more fuzz in the finish. When all was said and done, we learned that the customer had spent just $4 on the lambswool applicator and that perhaps it was of very poor quality. Gary Ryer suggested he purchase a better applicator pad for about $7. Well, that did the trick very well—but only after the customer and his wife spent about 13 hours scrapping off the fuzzy spots, giving the finish a light sanding, cleaning the floor and then applying the tung oil again with the good pad. The customer was quite reasonable about all this and says he really could see the difference in the two products! Happy ending and a nice looking floor. Here are the before and after pictures of this project.

Posted on July 1, 2009 at 02:03 PM in DIY • (0) Comments
Customer stains and finishes Ash floors herself

Posted by Don Carlisle

A customer, JoAnn Johnson, sent us these photos of the Premium Grade Ash floors she had just put in. She reports that she did the staining and tung oil finish herself, and that she had a lot of fun choosing which of the many boards to "highlight" in each of the rooms she finished. Besides these two rooms, she's also undertaking a new floor in her Great Room. Way to go, JoAnn!

Posted on May 8, 2009 at 01:54 PM in DIY • (0) Comments
Yes, you can glue Carlisle Walnut floors directly to concrete

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Homeowners Kim Keast and her husband in Houston, Texas set out to directly glue a Carlisle Walnut floor, with 5- to 10-inch widths, directly to concrete, and they worked with Robert Plut out of Carlisle's Denver offices and showroom. We got photos from them while they were in the middle of their project and another set and a nice report from them when they were done with the installation.

[Above: The dining room, left, mid-project and the finished piece, right.]

Here's the note Robert got from Kim right after she and her husband finished the installation.

Hi Robert,

I have attached a few pictures of our home. A view from the upstairs to the foyer, my dining room and then my path to the master bedroom. Thanks for all of your help and we'll be in touch about our next Carlisle project in 2010! Now that's it's done, it's hard to believe we laid it ONE board at a time! It's absolutely beautiful! Exactly what I had pictured in this brain of mine!

THANKS! KIM

p.s. We had only 6 - 8-inch boards left of different lengths and very little scrap. We used every 10-inch and 5-inch board that you sent to us! I had so few left over that I could stack them in my clothes closet for when we get to our kitchen project next year! Great estimating!

[Above: The concrete floor of the foyer, left, and the finished foyer, right.]

Posted on May 1, 2009 at 01:43 PM in DIY • (0) Comments
Do-it-yourselfers on Whidbey Island do a great job with their Carlisle floor

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Our Sarah Bergren got a nice note from Diane (and Bob) Billingsley from Whidbey Island, Washington. They ordered a Carlisle floor about one year ago--a 3" to 7" Anitque Oak and, as a cost-saver, they installed the floor themselves and did the final finishing with Tung Oil. Good for them! Here's the note from customer Diane:
Hi Sarah:

I am not a photographer but these will give you some idea of how beautiful the floor came out in the kitchen. We still have not put the great room floor down or the stairs and landing. Do you think the wood will be 'acclimatized' sufficiently? We hope to get it all down within the next month or so....

We went to see a house that is being remodeled here on the island yesterday and one of the gals with us remarked on the floor. It was a simple, tight knot (she said) pine, stained and sealed. The owner said she was disappointed with the floor, that it was not a "Carlisle" but she had to live with it. I didn't say anything, didn't want to make her feel any worse, but I was beaming inside and Bob (my husband) and I exchanged a wink. She and her husband are coming over to see our progress next Saturday...
Ciao,

Diane

Posted on March 5, 2009 at 08:03 PM in Customer Stories • DIY • (0) Comments