Handmade Surfaces
Want a floor with the footworn look of an 18th-century Boston tavern? Or maybe the rough-sawn flooring surface found in a pre-Civil War cotton warehouse? Or maybe just the softly worn appeal of a fine old Cape Cod floor from Colonial New England? Carlisle can recreate these and many more centuries-old looks with a variety of handmade surface treatments, each bringing its own distinctive character to a floor.
Hand-Scraped Edge
Our craftspeople gently hand-sculpt the edges of each board, a practice started over 200 years ago with the first pine floors in America, to straighten the boards when machinery was not available to do so The scraped edge is the best and most affordable way to gives each board a perfectly aged feel. This distressing technique is popular for restoration projects or to tone down the formal look of more refined floors.
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Hit or Miss
This treatment is reserved only for Eastern White Pine floors. It is the most sought after distressing techniques used to recreate an antique-looking floor at a fraction of the cost, in both residential and commercial projects.
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Brushed
This is our most subtle surface treatment but one that can have a dramatic impact on the look of a floor. Carlisle craftsman use brushes specifically designed for Carlisle, to accentuate the most desirable characteristics of the wood. This texture is sought-after for both Pine and Hardwood to make them harder and more beautiful.
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Watermill
Until modern milling techniques were developed boards from early sawmills contained sawmarks or “kerfs”. Our experts authentically recreate this look with a unique milling technique, unique to Carlisle, and then enhance it with our Brushed Surface to creates a the most authentic, subtle worn surface causing the entire floor to appear as though it were “worn in” from years of existence. The kerf marks will absorb stain differently and create striking contrasts. This texture is sought-after for both Pine and Hardwood to make them harder and lend more design options so you can create any look with any floor.
Footworn
As floors are walked on, you will notice that each board wears differently so they begin to develop distinctive undulating patterns. This is due to a variety of reasons – the wood type, heartwood and softwood from board to board. Machine scraped floors that populate the flooring market today come no where near recreating this look authentically, but here at Carlisle we use specialized tools, and craftsman hand-sculpt each board to recreate these subtle patterns literally one board at a time.
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Custom Distressing
When we say we make every floor to order we mean it, and that is why you can choose a customize level of distressing if one of our designs won't work for you. Some clients want a very rough Hand-Scraped Face, and others just want a deeper Hand-Scraped Edge. Whatever you need just ask and we will make it happen!
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