Wood Flooring

An introduction to wide plank wood flooring from Carlisle.

Wood flooring is a popular option for residential and commercial spaces. As your considering what kind of wood flooring to install in your home or business, you’ll have many hardwood species to choose from and many options for customizing your solid wood flooring.

Here’s a brief introduction to everything you need to know about wood flooring, and about the wide plank wood floors available from Carlisle Wide Plank Floors.

What is wood flooring?

Wood flooring is made of strips or planks of wood that are attached to a surface such as plywood or concrete to create a stable and aesthetically pleasing surface. Wood flooring may be made of hardwoods like Hickory, Oak or Maple, or of softer woods like Pine. Wood flooring is typically sanded and finished with several coats of polyurethane to seal it and protect it from wear and water damage. Wood flooring may also be stained to a specific color.

What is wide plank wood flooring?

Wide plank floors are a type of wood flooring made with floorboards that may be as much as 20″ wide. Wider planks mean there are fewer seams in the floor, giving it a more spacious and elegant field. Wide plank floors also allow the personality and grain patterns of the wood to play out more fully on the floorboards.

Types of wood flooring available at Carlisle

You’ll find a wide variety of wood flooring options at Carlisle, including 10 hardwood species, 3 pine floors and 6 options for reclaimed floors.

  • Red Oak is a popular wood flooring option that features deep salmon tones in the heartwood with tight, consistent grain patterns.
  • White Oak is a hard and resilient wood with light, nutty brown tones and dramatic grain features that range from simple and sleek to intricate swirls.
  • White Maple hardwood flooring boasts strikingly beautiful grain patterns reminiscent of flowing water, with natural color tones and cleaner and lighter hues.
  • Walnut has rich chocolate hues with surprising auburn undertones and complex grain patterns that create a spectacular floor with or without stain.
  • Rift & Quartersawn White Oak features boards with straight parallel lines for a strikingly beautiful floor. Because rift sawn and quartered oak are cut at a 90-degree angle from their growth rings and produce more waste during cutting, these floorboards typically are more expensive than plainsawn timbers.
  • Birch floorboards combine blonde outer edges and warm amber portions, with varying grain patterns that range from highly figured flames to subtle swirls.
  • Ash is prized for its interesting grain patterns, striking hues, amazing density and unique elasticity.
  • Cherry floors have a rich inviting warmth thanks to lustrous red hues that mature into rich, burnished auburn colors.
  • Brown Maple hardwood floors feature rich hues of brown, gold and amber with subtle and consistent grain patterns.
  • Hickory floors have rich cocoa brown and beige hues with lighter blonde sapwood.
  • Eastern White Pine features smooth grain with beautiful knots and versatile finish capabilities.
  • Heart Pine has a warm patina with colors that range from amber and pumpkin to dark modern hues.
  • Hit or Miss Pine floors use distressing techniques to reproduce the saw marks on boards that were cut and milled a century ago.
  • Reclaimed flooring options are Oak, Heart Pine or Chestnut floors made from planks that are salvaged from old buildings like farms and factories to produce an antique-looking floor.
Carlisle Walnut Flooring

Frequently Asked Questions

What is distressed or textured wood flooring?

New wood flooring can be distressed or textured with a variety of techniques that make the floorboards appear to be decades or centuries old. Distressing a floor is a more affordable way to get the look of antique or reclaimed wood. Distressing techniques include adding saw marks or hand scraped edges. Carlisle offers several proprietary techniques that gently wear down portions of the wood to recreate the look of boards aged by weather, time and foot traffic.

What is antique or reclaimed wood flooring?

Antique and reclaimed hardwood flooring (the terms are synonymous) refers to floors which have been made from boards salvaged from old buildings – often barns, warehouses, factories or homes that are soon to be demolished. These aged timbers typically have cracks, splits, nail holes, saw marks, discoloration and other markings that give them added texture and character. Reclaimed floors are popular for the instant authenticity and visual interest they add to a room.

What is engineered wood flooring?

Engineered wood flooring is fashioned from multiple layers of material that are glued together to form a strong core. An engineered wood floor has a veneer of hardwood on top that is glued to several layers of plywood, pressboard, fiberboard or another kind of hardwood. This type of construction makes the floorboard more impervious to large changes in temperature and humidity. Where solid wood flooring would tend to contract or expand under such conditions, engineered wood flooring is designed to minimize such reactions. Consequently, engineered floors are often installed in basements, over radiant heating systems, on concrete slabs. Engineered wood floors are not appropriate for locations that may experience relative humidity below 30%.

What is prefinished wood flooring?

Prefinished floors are finished (sanded, stained and sealed) at a manufacturer’s facility before they are delivered to a home or business for installation. By choosing prefinished floors, you can avoid the mess of sanding and staining on site and the inconvenience of having to vacate your premise while the floors are sealed. Working with prefinished floors also helps to speed and reduce the cost of installation. Prefinished floors can be ordered in a variety of hardwood species, such as prefinished Oak flooring, Maple flooring, Cherry flooring or Ash flooring.

What are best practices for how to clean wood flooring?

The easiest way to clean wood floors is with a simple mixture of vinegar and water – 1 or 2 ounces of vinegar per 2 gallons of water. Vinegar’s natural acidity helps to loosen and wash away dirt and contaminants, and the solution is safe for the environment.

Can wood flooring be stained to any color?

Yes. At Carlisle, we offer a virtually unlimited assortment of color possibilities, with stains that can transform any wood flooring.

Why customers choose wood flooring from Carlisle.

Carlisle has been a global leader in handcrafted wood flooring for more than half a century. Every wide plank floor we produce is a masterpiece, slowly and painstakingly handcrafted to be the perfect expression of the home or business owner’s sense of style and beauty. Carlisle wood flooring becomes a central design feature of any space – a stunning surface that sets the stage for life at home or work.

At Carlisle, our customer service is as exceptional as our floors. From working with you to select wood and stain color to customizing your wide plank floor with textures, grades and patterns, our team offers expert guidance and unparalleled service throughout the process to make the creation of your Carlisle floor a true pleasure.