Rick Menard

Hi all, My name is Rick, and I am an account manager for Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. I have been here for many years and I will be helping with discussions ranging from quality of wood, installation, radiant heat, concrete slabs, builders time tables, customer service, and anything else you want to talk about. Installing and finishing my own floors, and many of my family and friends' floors also, gives me a great appreciation for the trades, as well as the do-it-yourselfer. I have been a woodworker since 1980, building furniture for family and friends. One of my favorite tv shows is New Yankee Workshop, and I had the pleasure of visiting their studio and watching an episode being taped. Having lunch with Norm Abram and Russ Morash was a thrill I will never forget. I love wood, anything to do with wood, including antique woodworking tools from the 30's to the 50's. I have built a DN ice boat, a sail powered vehicle that skates across ice, one of the hardest woodworking projects I have taken on.

My passions now include, (beside my wife and two seven-year-olds), building a 31' Ford Model A Streetrod, hiking and snowshoeing the New Hampshire woods, wildlife photography, and many other outdoor activities including coaching little league baseball, hunting and fishing. I have started a photo collection of very unique trees I come across in the woods with the goal of making a coffee table book some day. Working here at Carlisle gives me the chance to work one-on-one with customers, fulfilling my need for helping out people and interacting with some amazing flooring projects. One of the biggest kicks I get is seeing photos of homes people have remodeled or built, using wide plank flooring.

I look forward to hearing from everyone,

Rick Menard

Posted on January 9, 2008 at 01:21 PM in (10) Comments

Comments

Sandra Haase said…

Are there some do’s and don’ts regarding the use of radiant heat and Carlisle flooring? Are some woods better than others? Are some widths and/or lengths more desirable? Is a particular milling technique (tongue & groove, shiplap, etc.) better when contemplating radiant heat? What kind of “warranty” applies when flooring is installed over radiant?

Posted at 03:24 PM on January 25, 2008
Rick Menard said…

Hi Sandra,

Thank you for taking the time to ask these questions, as there is a lot of mis-information out there about wood floors over radiant heat, and I would like to help educate people on this subject. Let me briefly touch on this subject for now. I will be doing a much more in depth blog soon, so please keep an eye out for it.

There are do’s and don’ts installing floors with ANY type of heat, radiant heat included. Understanding the type of radiant heat being used can clarify exactly what will be needed to be done.

Some woods do move more than others, and depending on the look you want to have, you may even want some of these woods in your home for an older look. The key here is using the best quality material to start with and working with people who understand the proper installation methods. We do floors up to and including 20” wide, over radiant heat, that are just as stable as flooring with any other types of heat. To view a video about the stability of our boards, click here:
[url=“http://www.wideplankflooring.com/video.aspx?cat=StraightTalk&Num=1” rel=“nofollow”]
Straight Talk on Stability - Video [/url]

http://www.wideplankflooring.com/video.aspx?cat=StraightTalk&Num=1

The width of your planks as well as the type of your radiant heat will determine weather you need to use a ship-lap or a tongue & groove installation method.

Carlisle Wide Plank Floors offers a Lifetime Assurance on all of our flooring. The key here is to install the flooring properly to begin with, and to set the proper expectations.

Our floors are now being installed over radiant heat in over 30% of our clients projects, especially here in the northeast. We are well versed in all types of heating systems, and we will work with you on your specific project.

Your are welcome to contact me directly to help in your specific installation. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Rick

Posted at 10:52 AM on January 28, 2008
Donna Cote said…

Hi Rick,

Great Web site and blog, thanks for sharing the link with me at your brother Doug’s birthday party. Please contact me via email as I’d like to share some pictures with you and I don’t know your email address.

Thanks,
Donna

Posted at 10:30 AM on February 02, 2008
TED HOWARD said…

Rick,
The old Texas boy here again. I read your bio and found other areas of interest in common. I have a 29 Model A Ford coupe in need of restoration. I am an antique purest when it comes to working on my 1898 house or 1929 A. I also have a 1959 TR3 Triumph. My problem is too many projects and too little time. I too work at a lumber business but ours is mostly SYP construction grade. We are wholesale brokers for the mills and volume customers. I am the Comptroller.
My dream is to go ocean kayaking and to build a wooden kayak.
Your snow shoe picture takes me back to some cross country skiing I did in Red Wing, Minnesota on the Mississippi.

If you know of a place to go ocean kayaking, let me know.

Ted Howard

Posted at 02:25 PM on April 03, 2008
Denham Ward said…

Hi Rick,
We are in the process of renovating our family homestead in Maine (cira 1840) and have installed a “Warmboard” subfloor for radiant heat. We would like to install a eastern pine random width (say 8-16”). specifically I was wondering about whether the planks should be butted or shiplaped? We realize that we will get spaces between the planks that will be changing with the seasons.
Thanks for your help.
Denham

Posted at 08:40 PM on April 03, 2008
Rick Menard said…

Hi Denham,

Thank you for your interest in our traditional wide plank flooring. I would ship-lap your floors for a more traditional feel, and to hide the subfloor when you get a slight shrinking in the very dry time of year. Would you like me to craft any samples for you? Please e-mail me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Have a great day,

Rick

Posted at 11:45 AM on April 04, 2008
Jim said…

Hi Rick,

I have a question for you in regards to producing antique reproduction wide pine flooring. I was in the woodworking industry for about 25 years before switching over to real estate sales full time. I started out in the early 70’s making antique reproduction pine furniture up in Maine. We hand planed all the exposed surfaces of the cupboards in order to replicate the look and feel of a true antique. I was wondering if you think there is a market for wide pine flooring that is hand planed? I would guess that as far as labor goes it would take one man about 4 hrs to hand plane and sand about 100 sf of flooring.

Jim Marshall

Posted at 06:50 PM on August 03, 2008
Rick Menard said…

Hi Jim,

Being an amateur furniture maker myself, I can really appreciate what
you were crafting back then. I just love the old hand planed pine. The
inconsistent surface, the tear-out around the knots, the way the grain
is raised in certain areas, it just adds to all of the character in
those wide pine planks.

There is a market for hand planed pine floors, but beware, it isn’t as
easy as just taking a hand plane to pine. Flooring is a whole different
surface to think about. From the timber we start with, to the way we air
dry our planks, and the way we set the blades on our hand planers, we
have worked for many, many years to perfect every cut of the wood fibers
in order to replicate a look that is reminiscent of our forefathers
craftsmanship. Each floor is very unique and truly handcrafted by each
individual craftsman that is working on it from beginning to end.

Have a nice day,

Rick

Posted at 11:06 AM on August 13, 2008
pam said…

Hi Rick,

We live in Florida on the ocean in a condo. We are thinking of putting wood in every room. Can you suggest a wood that doesn’t scratch, that is hard, we want a light color. And that is easy to maintain. We like some of the bamboos but it seems to scratch easy. Should we have it pre-finished our have someone finish it for us.

Thank you. We are confused.
Pam

Posted at 01:43 PM on January 18, 2009
Rick Menard said…

Hi Pam,

Thank you for your interest in our traditional wide plank flooring. I
hope you enjoyed browsing our web site as much as we enjoyed designing
it.

When I speak with clients about their concerns involving scratches, I
always want to make sure we are setting the expectations realistic so
they will be happy for many years to come. To do this, I would need to
know how the home is going to be lived in, as in kids, dogs, cats, beach
sand, do you take your shoes off when you come in, and so on. All of
these will affect the way your floors wear. The good news is by picking
a light colored floor the character will be less prominent.

It is very difficult to eliminate any scratches in any floor, wood or
tile. So the next best thing to think about is a finish that is easier
to maintain and not so hard that it does scratch easily. You mentioned
the bamboo you saw shows scratches easily. The problem is actually in
the finish they probably are using, an all aluminum oxide, which is
indeed very hard but also scratches quicker and is much more difficult
to repair.

All of these 25 and 50 year warranties give homeowners the false hope
that they won’t have to do anything to their floors for that time
period. The truth is this finish won’t scratch down to the bare wood in
normal living, but it will show scratches quicker then a softer finish
and the softer finish can be maintained without sanding back down to
bare wood and starting over after just a few years. Harder is not always
better, especially on wood floors.

So, the bottom line is just about any of our lighter colored floors will
work perfectly, if the proper finish is used to make maintaining your
floors easier in the long term.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. I look
forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Rick Menard

Posted at 12:05 PM on January 19, 2009