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.

Slow growth is a good thing when you’re turning trees into floors

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Ever wonder where the wide planks for the floors we create here at Carlisle actually come from? Primarily we get trees from sawyers who harvest them in New England, the upper Midwest, the Ohio River Valley and portions of the Appalachians. The reason for this is that the relatively cool, short summers of these regions allow the trees to grow very slowly. It takes years before they reach their maximum height and circumferences and that means their grains are tighter and more dense. It also makes them incredibly beautiful for use in woodworking, cabinetry and, well, wide plank floors.

Like the trees themselves, the relationships we’ve developed with local foresters and sawyers are a result of slow growth. It has taken us time to get to know the right people, those who share our environmental vision and goals of producing the best hardwood boards possible from forests grown and managed in a totally sustainable manner. These much-cherished relationships mean that no matter which Carlisle hardwood you choose, it will be the choicest and most beautiful that America can grow.

Posted on February 25, 2010 at 04:29 PM in Green Building • Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
Monday Morning Mailbag: New home in California a “must-see” with installation of Hickory wide floors

Posted by Christine Halvorson

Here’s a glimpse at a vacation home in Portola, California, where customer Kathleen Schonder had ordered a Hickory floor in 5- to 10-inch widths. The home was build by Jeff Litz of Litz Construction. Kathleen originally heard about Carlisle floors through Country Living magazine. Carlisle prefinished the floor in Gingerbread. The floor is installed over concrete and radiant heat. (Read more about installing over radiant heat here.) Kathleen worked with our own Laura Leier, our design and sales consultant, to get the look she wanted.

Kathleen wrote us this note: “Awesome. Couldn’t be happier. A must-see!”

Posted on February 22, 2010 at 02:26 PM in Customer Stories • Home Building & Contracting • (0) Comments
Milled Barnwood shines in Delaware home

Posted by Christine Halvorson

A customer sent in these photos of her new floor in Middletown, Delaware. The floor is done in 9- and 10-inch widths using Milled Barnwood. It is finished with Tung Oil.

Posted on February 19, 2010 at 11:55 AM in Customer Stories • (0) Comments
Small, independent sawmills assures Carlisle gets the best wide plank floor boards

Posted by Christine Halvorson

You might wonder how we select and process the trees that will become the boards that will become the floors we sell here at Carlisle.

In today’s “grow big or die” driven economy, it has become harder and harder for small, independent sawmills to survive. We use small, independent sawmills because we know they can assure us of getting the best boards cut from the best parts of the tree. The smaller sawmills can meet our special needs and our demands for excellence. Over the years, we have built a network of small, independent sawmills and built relationships with the sawyers who work at them. We consider them part of the Carlisle family. These sawyers carefully check each plank they cut for us, up and down and over and under, before they send it along for us to use.

Our boards are also the longest and widest you can find on the market. We also happen to believe they are the prettiest. Here’s a story about just one of the small sawmills we use.

Posted on February 18, 2010 at 04:10 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
It’s all about the character when customers choose reclaimed wood floors

Posted by Christine Halvorson

It’s not uncommon for a few customers of ours to choose an Antique or Reclaimed wood floor based on our samples and then be distressed when the actual floor boards arrive. Often those reclaimed boards are full of what we call “character marks”—the nail holes, dings, knots and other marks that are clear indications that this wood has been used before for different purposes. So, a panicked phone call is not unusual and, after a discussion with one of our sales and design consultants, the customer usually is convinced to sit tight and wait to see what the floor looks like in place, stained and finished.

Well, we had another of those experiences lately with a home in White Lake, New York. The floor that the customers, Raj and Chris Mundkur, had ordered was Milled Antique Barnwood, in 5- to 12-inch widths. The Mundkurs had come to us through a recommendation from their builder. However, the builder was a bit apprehensive with the boards actually arrived—too much character! But now everyone involved in the project is quite happy, as you might guess from the looks of these photos, below. The Mundkurs wrote us:

“The floors are in, finished and look spectacular! …Thanks for your patience and guidance in selecting the floor and stain. We love them and it was well worth the effort. Raj.”

Posted on February 17, 2010 at 02:59 PM in Green Building • (0) Comments