Home » What Makes a Carlisle Wood Floor
"My family has been the steward of this 30,000-acre plantation for three generations.
Through careful management, we're able to farm and harvest slow-growing mature trees-a natural regenerator, as well as a renewable resource-and ensure this forest will be here for generations to come.
Just as our fathers did before us, Don and I walk the plantation several times a year, and carefully select the trees that we'll harvest for Carlisle. We choose only mature timber that is mostly heartwood from the straightest trees; because the straighter a tree is, the straighter the board it will produce.
I know that Carlisle will bring out the unique qualities and beauty of each timber, crafting floors we can all be proud of."
...John Crosby III
Newly Sawn Wood
We source our wood from the areas of the United States where the soil and growing conditions produce the most stable, prettiest and highest quality wood for each species. For example, our Old Growth Walnut comes from a part of the country that produces the most beautiful Walnut and, our Old Growth Eastern White Pine is grown in an area with the longest coldest winters, resulting in the largest logs with the tightest, most stable grain structure, and our Old Growth Heart Pine is harvested from a special family-owned plantation where the soil grows trees with the most brilliant amber heartwood.
Our relationships with the sawyers who find and cut timber for us has spanned two family generations. They are committed to finding the trees that will produce the most beautiful Carlisle floors. Because each type of wood has its own unique set of criteria, these relationships are with families like ours who are focused in one particular wood- and like us, have a passion for it that also has spanned generations.
These families also have respect for the forest and its ecosystem. Through careful management, they each farm and harvest slow-growing mature trees- a natural regenerator, as well as a renewable resource- and these practices ensure that the forest will be here for years to come.
We source our wood from the areas of the United States where the soil and growing conditions produce the most stable, prettiest and highest quality wood for each species. For example, our Old Growth Walnut comes from a part of the country that produces the most beautiful Walnut and, our Old Growth Eastern White Pine is grown in an area with the longest coldest winters, resulting in the largest logs with the tightest, most stable grain structure, and our Old Growth Heart Pine is harvested from a special family-owned plantation where the soil grows trees with the most brilliant amber heartwood.
Our relationships with the sawyers who find and cut timber for us has spanned two family generations. They are committed to finding the trees that will produce the most beautiful Carlisle floors. Because each type of wood has its own unique set of criteria, these relationships are with families like ours who are focused in one particular wood- and like us, have a passion for it that also has spanned generations.
These families also have respect for the forest and its ecosystem. Through careful management, they each farm and harvest slow-growing mature trees- a natural regenerator, as well as a renewable resource- and these practices ensure that the forest will be here for years to come.
Antique Wood
The process for recovering old wood can be a challenge. We work hard to keep improving the techniques we use to recover and manufacture this material, and to keep waste at a minimum. A typical salvage includes locating a structure that is slated for dismantling, then taking core samples of the timbers and boards to determine the age of the wood, the character of the product it will yield and what the recovery process will entail.
100-150 years ago, different buildings were built using different timbers for their structure. Antique Heart Pine typically comes from old factories or mills that were built at the turn of the 20th century during the Industrial Revolution; Antique Oak is generally found in old dairy barns in the Ohio River Valley as is the Antique Barn Siding; Antique Chestnut, now the only way to preserve this now extinct wood, is also found in old barns and farmhouses.
The stories of these buildings as part of our American history can be fascinating and we are happy to tell you about them! Just call and ask!
The process for recovering old wood can be a challenge. We work hard to keep improving the techniques we use to recover and manufacture this material, and to keep waste at a minimum. A typical salvage includes locating a structure that is slated for dismantling, then taking core samples of the timbers and boards to determine the age of the wood, the character of the product it will yield and what the recovery process will entail.
100-150 years ago, different buildings were built using different timbers for their structure. Antique Heart Pine typically comes from old factories or mills that were built at the turn of the 20th century during the Industrial Revolution; Antique Oak is generally found in old dairy barns in the Ohio River Valley as is the Antique Barn Siding; Antique Chestnut, now the only way to preserve this now extinct wood, is also found in old barns and farmhouses.
The stories of these buildings as part of our American history can be fascinating and we are happy to tell you about them! Just call and ask!
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The single most important aspect of our manufacturing is the fact that we hand craft each plank, one at a time.
When we say we craft one floor at a time, we mean it literally. Although we continually reinvest in our manufacturing facilities to ensure that we always remain ahead of the curve in crafting the highest quality wide plank floors, no matter how accurate our straightening machines, how slowly we feed the boards or how sharp our knives, the single most important aspect of our manufacturing is the fact that we hand craft each plank, one at a time. This is why every floor is unique to the home in which it is going and to the family that will be living on it.
Manually handling every plank many times throughout the manufacturing process drastically increases quality overall- nothing mass-produced can compare with the beauty of something painstakingly hand crafted.
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