Carlisle Wide Plank Floors

Surface Blog

• Inspiration for choosing Carlisle pre-finished floors came from the dogs

  Posted by Christine Halvorson

  Former Carlisle customers who installed our wood flooring and stained it themselves have returned as customers. But, because of their dogs, they decided to go with pre-finished this time.

  Marsha and Gregg Martin of Raleigh, N.C., had used our Longleaf Heart Pine Flooring on a previous project about three years ago and did the staining themselves.

  This time around, they reported, with three dogs in the house they couldn’t imagine going through the week-long staining process that our unfinished floors would involve. (But, rest assured, our floors stand up to dogs, as you’ll see below.) The Martins chose a pre-finished floor in Autumn Leaf and, as the pictures attest, the results are spectacular. And the Martins may not be done yet. “Never know,” they said in an e-mail, “we may talk to you again soon.”

  But, while we’re on the subject of dogs, if you’re thinking of installed hard wood floors in your home and you have some rambuntious dogs in residence, you should know that the our wood floors finished with Tung Oil are very durable. The oil penetrates into the wood and strengthens and protects your floor from within. Its pliability allows the finish to “give” with scratches from Spot’s nails, effectively withstanding hours of fetch and tug-of-war.

  One of the greatest benefits of Tung Oil is its ease of maintenance, especially for dog owners whose floors require more upkeep. Tung Oil makes your floor stain- and water-resistant, allowing for easy clean-up when Fido drips water from one end of the kitchen to the other. For daily cleaning, simply vacuum up the dog hair and damp-mop the paw prints using warm water and vinegar. Depending on how active your pooch is, you may want to refinish your floors every few years. To freshen up your floor, simply clean it and mop on another coat of Tung Oil. Sanding is never required, and you can also spot-apply the Tung Oil to touch up Buddy’s favorite play area on the floor. It truly is that simple! We have designed our floors and Tung Oil finish to be lived on and enjoyed by the entire family. The result is a floor that is both beautiful and low maintenance, which our extended Carlisle family dogs can attest to!

  Posted on December 3, 2009 at 10:12 AM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments

• Carlisle floors no problem over radiant heat

  Posted by Christine Halvorson

  If you are thinking about a new or re-do flooring project, but have some concerns about installing wood over radiant heat, just take on this mantra: “No worries.”

  Carlisle has a wealth of experience — and endorsements — in the application of its wide plank flooring over radiant heat systems in homes.

  One such endorsement comes from Shawn Sweeney of Sweeney Design Build in Shelburne, Vermont:

  “I recommend Carlisle Wide Plank Floors to all my clients because of the stability of their wood over such a wide range of installation conditions and temperatures. Especially for radiant applications, it is far superior to any other wood floor — wide or narrow— on the market.”

  Another endorsement comes from Warmboard Radiant Subfloor one of the more popular manufacturers of radiant heat.

  Lots of homeowners like the efficiency and cleanliness of radiant heat, but may wonder how that distribution of heat directly under a floor might affect the floor over time.

  Here are some things to remember:
  ·Wood breaths and moves, so once you’ve chosen the correct, properly cured Carlisle application for your home, it will constantly adapt to its ever-changing environment, yet will remain flat and stable;
  ·The quality of our boards makes a big difference: Ours are cut from heartwood for a strong, straight vertical grain and they have low moisture content– another reason why heartwood is more stable;
  ·We have a lot of experience — more than 40 years — of installing wood floors over radiant heat in all types of environments from one coast to the other;
  ·And we’ll guarantee the work: If at any time during the life of your Carlisle floor there is 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 more information, check out our website section entitled Installing Over Radiant Heat.

  Posted on November 26, 2009 at 10:08 AM in DIY • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments

• 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

• 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.”

  Read More…

  Posted on November 10, 2009 at 03:46 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments

• 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.

  Read More…

  Posted on November 5, 2009 at 11:47 AM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments

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