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.

Hickory adds to beauty of northern Minnesota cabin

Posted by Christine Halvorson
Beautiful northern Minnesota just got a little more beauty added to it, with this floor that was installed in a small cabin there. Scott Ogden of our Midwest offices sent these photos along from his client, Richard Fursa, who had a 4" - 12" Hickory floor, pre-finished in our mill with Amber poly. Though Richard did a great job with the photos, Richard says-and Scott agrees-that the photos just don't do the floor justice. Here's what Richard had to say about his new floor:
We like the floor very much and are happy that we chose hickory. Its grain patterns are very striking. That coupled with the wide/long boards give the floor a look one will never see in the flooring sold at the various home improvement centers.
The photos, however, don't really do it justice. If you have ever been to the Grand Canyon and have taken photos, you will know what I mean.

Posted on February 6, 2009 at 09:56 AM in Customer Stories • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Beautiful Ash for beauty products store Philosophy

Posted by Christine Halvorson

We got some great photos from Sarah Bergren of our Denver offices, showing us the finished product at a brand new Philosophy Cosmetics Store in Santa Monica, California. The store is one of some 35 to 40 Philosophy Cosmetics retail outlets that will be opening soon and many of them, under current plans, will be featuring Carlisle's 10-inch pre-finished premium Ash flooring, with a clear coat--as you see in these photos. It's a beautiful floor to set off the beauty products sold there, we think. Check out these photos from the Santa Monica Philosophy store. Another store will open soon in Newport Beach, CA, and we'll try to give you a peek at that one, too, and its great Carlisle floors when they're ready.

Posted on February 4, 2009 at 08:44 AM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Beautiful Walnut: Los Altos, California

Posted by Megan Sprague

Here's a nice letter and photos that Dan O'Neill of our West Hollywood Design Center received from his clients in Los Altos, California.

Hi Dan,
How are you doing? We moved into our place this past summer - the floor looks great and everyone that comes in admires how it looks.
Thanks,
Mike

Posted on November 7, 2008 at 11:40 AM in Customer Stories • Hardwood Flooring • (1) Comments
Our friends at Classic Hardwood Floors

Posted by Megan Sprague

We've been working with Classic Hardwood Floors for over ten years now. Here's a nice letter from owner, Joe Boos.

Although it is my profession and can be challenging and stressful at times, I thoroughly enjoy being the owner/operator of Classic Hardwood Floors. In 1998 my brother Eric and I formed our business and had the best time of our life working together for 10 years. A person seriously could write a book about all of our experiences. We did have a few employees throughout the years, most notably our other two brothers and our father. Imagine a customers surprise after contracting us to work in their million dollar + houses based only on phone conversations and a written proposal; only to have a truckload of 18-24 year olds show up at their door on day one to install a beautiful, expensive wide plank floor. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked how old I am, when my dad or boss was showing up, or where is the guy I talked to on the phone. Of course the outstanding results continue to be a testament to the beauty of Carlisle’s wood and our commitment to perfection. Eric has recently moved on to bigger and better things (design consultant for this company called Carlisle Wide Plank Floors), however I still enjoy installing floors with my employees Jeff and Eddie.

Originally our business was a general wood floor operation (strip flooring, sand and poly, refinishing, etc). Thanks to the expertise and knowledge of so many at Carlisle we transformed into specializing in the installation and finishing of wide plank floors. Many quickly conclude they are one and the same, and although wide plank flooring contains many of the same aspects of “wood flooring”, in my opinion it is in a league of its own. You could liken it to the difference between arithmetic and algebra. A mathematician cannot learn algebra before the groundwork or basics are laid (arithmetic,etc). I feel as if we went from being nailers and sanders to craftsmen and artists. We went from installing and finishing floors that looked good to creating timepieces that make a house.

The first floor we did with Carlisle was a face nailed, stained, and tung oiled eastern white pine for John and Randee Malmberg. Randee could not find the floor she had seen in a magazine picture. No one in the area could. After extensive searching we stumbled upon Carlisle. Todd Waterman and Chris Sy were tireless in their efforts to insure we gave Randee the floor she wanted. Thank goodness they were! What a difference this floor was from what we were used to. No conventional sanding? No way! Face nail the face of the boards with antique square cut nails? No way! However, it turned out great and because of our commitment to quality and a number of referrals from Carlisle and the Malmbergs our wide plank career took off.

Since the Malmbergs we have installed and finished 111 wide plank floors for Carlisle. We have done many eastern white pine and heart pine, along with red and white oak, hickory, maple, ash, walnut, cherry, antique woods, saw kerf surface, hand scraped surface, barnboard, and many others that I am likely forgetting.

Among my favorites are the antique woods. The warmth and character in antique wood cannot be beat. One of my all time favorites is probably the antique sweetgum (an extremely rare antique wood with grain and color being similar to a mix of hickory and cherry) we installed in Lakeside, MI. Beautiful!

We also, because of being specialists, have had the privilege of working a large territory and discovering so many great places to visit, restaurants, and wonderful people. Carlisle floors have brought us to downtown Chicago, many of the suburbs, on the lake in Michigan, and rural Wisconsin, and many other places.

Over the past 10 years we have worked with so many great people at Carlisle. I truly view it a privilege and honor to be a part of crafting your beautiful floors and working with you guys. Without your help and support we would never had made it, and we sincerely thank you for everything! The relationships formed through the years are far more than simple business ties. We view you all as friends and family. So here is to 111 or more outstanding works of art!

THANK YOU!

Here's a few photos of floors that Classic Hardwood Floors' has installed over the years!

Birch

Hand Scraped White Oak with Stain

Posted on October 28, 2008 at 08:57 AM in Customer Stories • Green Building • Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • Restoration Projects • (0) Comments
Carlisle Joins the Log and Timber Show, Chantilly, Virginia

Posted by Megan Sprague

We exhibited at the Log and Timber show over the weekend in Chantilly, Virginia! It was a neat show and we had the chance to meet with many people.

Before the show started, one of our preferred installers, Aaron Penney installed our wide plank Eastern White Pine and Heart Pine floors.

Here's a photo of Aaron putting the Antique Cut nails into the Eastern White Pine floor.

Once the show started, visitors stopped by the booth to look at our beautiful solid wide plank floors. Here's a photo of Janel from our DC Design Center chatting with one of our guests! They're talking about our hand scraped hickory floors.

Here's a few close up shots of the booth in between visitors stopping by.

This is the Custom Coat Pre Finished heart pine floor!

Here's a nice shot of our wide pine floor, this has our signature Gingerbread stain!

Posted on October 28, 2008 at 08:10 AM in Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • Home Decor • (0) Comments