Do It Yourself

Stacking the planks

Anyone with basic do-it-yourself skills can install a Carlisle floor. We’ll send along complete instructions before your order arrives, and we’re available seven days a week for your questions. We want this to be a fun project that results in something you’ll be proud of.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

Having an assistant will make the job go much faster and easier.

The cost of professional installation can often be as much as for the wood itself. The money saved by doing it yourself allows you to upgrade your wood selection — or simply put it in your pocket.

It takes the same amount of time to install a 4-inch wide strip floor board as it does a Carlisle board that is 12 inches or more in width and up to 16 feet long. So each of our boards will take up a lot more space, which means you are installing significantly fewer boards and having to deal with fewer joints and seams.

Lamb’s wool applicator

The personality of each board makes the job more fun than installing homogeneous boards that have come off a mass production line. You are designing your own floor, choosing your favorite planks to put in prominent areas of the room and creating the unique look you want. The installer usually isn’t thinking in these terms and is more concerned with simply getting the job done.

All the tools you’ll need are readily available today in all local rental and hardware stores. You may already have most of them — a nailing hammer, a rubber hammer, a pry bar, a miter or box saw, a glue gun, etc. — so that all you will need to buy is our recommended glue and then make a trip to the rental store for a power floor nailer and nails.

Because our boards are milled to such fine tolerances, you’ll find that the tongues and grooves fit tightly together without extensive wedging or pulling. If you purchased your floor unfinished, the surface will not need sanding before you apply the stains and/or topcoats. This is a huge advantage, since floor sanding often calls for an experienced professional.

You can call your personal Sales Representative as often as you like and he or she will gladly walk you through the job. This is our favorite part of the sale! We have all installed our own floors and can give you the confidence and encouragement you need.

What You’ll Need

For Installing Your Unfinished and Custom Coat™ Floor:

For Finishing Your Unfinished Floor:

Unloading Carlisle Eastern White Pine

Unloading Carlisle Eastern White Pine

New Hampshire

We get complements all the time about the floor. People love it and can’t get over the fact that I did it myself. It’s funny, some people just go on and on about it. We’re very pleased.”
—Jim Dotson