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.
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Yes, you can lay wide plank flooring over concrete
Posted by Christine Halvorson
One question that comes up often around here is whether our wide plank floors can be laid over concrete slabs, and the answer is, “Yes!” (Above, we did it at the Oak Park Hyatt in Washington, D.C.)But it’s a qualified yes. Yes, you can lay wood floors over concrete as long as you are using the superior products from Carlisle.
There are three essentials to laying floor over concrete. We’ve already covered No. 1—use Carlisle wide plank flooring. The other two essentials are:
2) The concrete must be dry.
3) A vapor barrier should be installed over it to guard against seasonal fluctuations.Wood will shrink or expand, depending on the temperature and humidity conditions it’s exposed to. But the Carlisle wood will remain flat and stable because our wood comes from trees with tighter, denser grains; its sawn from the heart of the tree where the wood is dryest and most dense; and it’s air dried for a year before it’s kiln dried then milled under the high quality control conditions.
With 40 years of experience, in all types of climates from one coast to the other, Carlisle and its team of of highly trained sales representatives can offer advice and put you at ease.
And the guarantee to second to none: If there’s ever a problem relating to the quality of our wood or our manufacturing process, we will handcraft a new floor for you free of charge.
For complete information about this, check our the Installing Over Concrete section of our web site.
If you really want to get into the nitty gritty, check out these installation documents.Posted on November 19, 2009 at 09:41 AM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
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Callison architects trust Carlisle to meet tight schedule for Philosophy stores
Posted by Christine Halvorson
“The pre-finished saved time and the baseboards meant we didn’t have to think about the floors at all. We could avoid any last minute hassles,” Tracy said. “With Sarah’s help, we knew we’d meet the production schedule.”
Philosphy needed floors that could, of course, withstand heavy foot traffic, but they also needed to withstood today’s heavy-duty strollers. The answer was Carlisle’s Ash, “perfect for any commercial application,” Bergren says.
The pre-finished, 10-inch planks would be sealed on all sides with Custom Clear Coat. “Callison wanted to leave the floor unstained so the natural variations would be very visible,” Bergren said.
Philosphy customers have said their stores have a “calm and clean” feel and Woods believes the wide planks contribute. “They really open up our narrow spaces,” she said. “Ash has a lot going for it. It works so well with the other store fixtures.”
The Santa Monica Philosophies store celebrated its Grand Opening in November of 2008.
“Carlisle exceeded our expectations on all fronts. We experienced no problems and it was done as seamlessly as we had hoped,” Tracy said. “Sarah was just outstanding. We can’t wait to work with her on future projects.”
Posted on November 10, 2009 at 03:46 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
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A word about engineered floors, from Don Carlisle
Posted by Christine Halvorson
And because our engineered boards are also the longest and widest in the industry (sound familiar?), they’re amazingly strong and stable—without the “jigsaw puzzle look” that’s typical of most engineered flooring.
Best of all, they’re right in terms of the environment. Our construction and installation adhesives are virtually VOC-and formaldehyde-free, as are our traditional Custom Coat™ stains and topcoats. So there’s no “off gassing” and degraded indoor air quality, either during installation or in the years to come.
Because Carlisle Engineered Floors are amazingly stable and moisture resistant, they are ideal for both concrete and radiant heat applications—both of which are fast-growing markets for us.
So what’s it all mean? Simply that we now are able to offer the cost-effectiveness and ease of installation which have become synonymous with engineered flooring, plus all the solid advantages that Carlisle has long been noted for.
Pretty exciting stuff, if you ask me.
Don Carlisle, president
Read more about Carlisle’s engineered floors here.
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 11:47 AM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
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J. Crew turns to Carlisle’s reclaimed wood to make its retail stores stand out
Posted by Christine Halvorson
agreed and Peter got the Carlisle mill crew on the task of meticulously grading the boards. “I’m thinking some 35 pairs of eyes probably inspected and re-inspected the board choices for the first J. Crew floor,” Peter said.
In the end, no one could tell the difference between the two woods, thanks to the grading and to the WOCA white oil. “The guys in the mill just love this type of work. They love the challenge of it,” Peter said.
Carlisle completed the Madison Avenue floor for J.Crew—done up in 4-inch wide planks and installed in a Herringbone pattern—in August of 2008.
Shortly thereafter, the project manager for the Madison Avenue store contacted Peter again. This time they were thinking of J. Crew’s Malibou, California location and wanted a pre-finished floor to save time. Peter agreed that Carlisle would apply the stain at its custom shop and ship the floor ready to install.
“But it turned out to be tough to get the hand-rubbed look they wanted using a pre-finished stain,” Peter explained. Again, they mixed two woods to keep costs down—Premium Old Growth White Oak and Antique White Oak, for a total of 6,000 square feet.
“We just worked through all the problems,” Peter says, “and that’s what makes this a good relationship.”
Which takes us back to New York City. Carlisle was enlisted for two more J.Crew stores—one at 1200 Madison Avenue and one at 44 Broadway. For 1200 Madision Avenue, they chose a mixture of Antique Oak and White Oak, and for 44 Broadway, a hand-graded Milled Barnwood was used. Another store planned for the Stroughton/Hampton area will also use Milled Barnwood.
Peter says the J. Crew stores are a challenge he relishes. “You have to work fast. You have a short time period to get in there and get it installed right,” he said. “When retail is closing for remodeling, they’re not making any money, so there isn’t any down time.”
Posted on November 3, 2009 at 03:16 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
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MONDAY MORNING MAILBAG: Perfectionism noticed in Carlisle floor installation
Posted by Christine Halvorson
We made happy customers out of Jackie and Paul Duso down in Carrolton, Georgia, where we recently installed our prefinished Birch and Cherry with a custom-coat that was meant to look like Tung oil.
Thiese customers found us when doing a search on the web and they were helped by our Matt Farhm, who also arranged to have his firm, Farhm Fine Floors, install the new floor in this remodeling project. Farhm Fine Floors travels all over the country to do floor installations and has apparently installed over 50,000 square feet!
Here’s what customer Paul had to say about his experience:
“Matt—You are right, we do love our floors. It is surprising to me that we get the most ooooohhhhs and aaaaaahhhhhs from our birch floor in the bedroom. I really can’t decide which I like the best, both are outstanding. I couldn’t believe how easily they were able to fit the wood to the walls and in the bedroom around the glass block wall. It looks fantastic. (Installer) Chris was here most of the time with Micah coming on the last day and I must say he was a joy to work with and be around. Carlilse is lucky to have you guys. You are all such perfectionists.”
Read more about our prefinished floor options.Posted on November 2, 2009 at 09:11 AM in Customer Stories • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
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