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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Synergy Homes finds Carlisle on a fateful trip to Florida
Posted by Christine Halvorson
Synergy Homes & Design of Salt Lake City discovered Carlisle floors at the International Builders Showroom in Orlando in January 2008. It was the start of something big.
According to Dominique Powel-Naccarato, Vice President for the company founded by her husband, Kyle Naccarato, they’d been searching locally for something that was “over the top” unique for a current project, The Chateau, that would be showcased in the Parade of Homes in June. Their search brought them to that Orlando trade show and Carlisle’s floors.
“We just loved what we saw,” says Dominique.
Shortly thereafter, Carlisle’s representative met with the Naccaratos in Salt Lake City, and then they, in turn, visited Carlisle’s Denver showroom. Together they settled on 6,200 square feet of Eastern Heart Pine to install in several rooms, plus on a staircase and the ceiling of an octagon-shaped parlor. Every room got a different stain and finish—which Dominique says fools people into thinking four or five different species of wood were used— in random widths from 10 to 16 inches. “That’s really what makes Carlisle stand out. Nobody does those wide widths,” Dominique said.
Still, the Naccaratos had some apprehensions. “We didn’t have a lot of time and you worry when you order something from out of state,” she said. “The Carlisle process went smooth as can be. Our installers here said they loved working with it. It installs and lays so perfectly, and the big planks make it go quickly.”
“It was just an awesome process to integrate those floors into this home,” she said.
Even more awesome? The Chateau ended up winning “Best of Show” in the Parade of Homes event.
Since the Chateau, Synergy Homes has worked with Carlisle on a number of smaller homes. Another 10,000-square-foot home is planned, where 80 percent of the floors will be Carlisle.
Of all the vendors they saw at that Orlando trade show, Carlisle is the only one they’ve since used, Dominique said. “We were so happy we made that trip. Finding Carlisle made it so worthwhile.”Below is the Chateau which won the People’s Choice Award for Synergy.
Posted on November 17, 2009 at 04:00 PM in Home Building & Contracting • Wood Grains & Styles • (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.
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 11:47 AM in Wood Grains & Styles • (0) Comments
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 Stains & Finishes • Wood Grains & Styles • (0) Comments
Carlisle’s Quarter Sawn White Oak: It’s A Grain Thing.
Posted by Christine Halvorson
White Oak is a very unique wood because its grain lends itself to a variety of different looks, depending on how it is sawn.
Normally, a log is plain sawn, i.e. it is first cut into a rough square by taking off four sections of the outer bark and sapwood, and then sawn with a series of parallel cuts — as if a loaf of bread were cut lengthwise to yield long slices. Grain-wise, this typically gives a floor a little bit of everything: straight lines as well as a variety of swirls and “cathedral patterns” — several swirls inside one another. This is the way most floors are cut.
Quarter sawn cuts generally only apply to Oak and a few other hardwoods. They are made by first cutting the log into four pie-shaped wedges and then making a series of cuts which are more or less perpendicular to the tree rings, which produces straighter grain. Without getting too technical, let’s just say that quarter sawn White Oak produces more “rays” or “flecks,” which is the hallmark look of Mission furniture/cabinetry. In addition to being visually interesting, this grain pattern produces extremely stable boards.
Various stains can then be used to further enhance the grain or make it more subtle.
This Long Island, New York residence features a beautiful mixture of quarter sawn, rift sawn and plain sawn White Oak. Note the contrast between the various grain patterns.
Posted on October 29, 2009 at 03:23 PM in Wood Grains & Styles • (0) Comments
Hit-or-Miss is a not a miss in this family cottage
Posted by Christine Halvorson
Roya and Ian Young, a custom-cabinet maker by trade, chose Carlisle’s Eastern White Pine to create a great, casual look in their cottage. The floor was done with a hit-or-miss technique. Hit-or-miss is just one many handmade surfaces that Carlilse’s woodworking team can create.
Posted on September 9, 2009 at 01:44 PM in Wood Grains & Styles • (0) Comments
Antique Heart Pine Beams
Keene, New Hampshire
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