Wood Grade & Character

GIVE YOUR FLOOR JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CHARACTER

Carlisle’s proprietary custom flooring grades can create any look.

Carlisle Wide Plank Floors has been hand-crafting wood floors since 1966.  With this knowledge, built on decades of experience, we have developed proprietary flooring grades that capture the highest quality characteristics of every type of floor we make.

Carlisle’s proprietary wood flooring grades reflect the aesthetics of the floor. When it comes to quality, all of our grades are of equal quality, stability and performance. This allows you to choose the grade that will work best for the look you wish to create without having to be concerned with quality or stability.

Every plank is sawn from the first 20’ of a log, cut only from mature timbers that have grown in the best climates. Like a fine, rare wine, aged over the years, Carlisle wood flooring grades produce the best quality – so you can choose the floor you love most based on the look.

Regardless of which grade of flooring you choose, Carlisle offers a unique, and competitive advantage that makes your floor more beautiful and more stable.

  • Proprietary grading created by, and specifically for, Carlisle flooring
  • Cut from the oldest, most mature timbers
  • Each plank is cut from the best part of the log to maximize stability performance and beauty
  • Choose based on the look you prefer, all grades always the highest quality
  • Exceeds common industry lumber grading standards
  • No fill used to maintain plank width and length
  • Custom milled to order with over 30 sets of eyes inspecting each plank
  • Graded for only sound knots and character

When combined with our extended drying processes and custom manufacturing capabilities, Carlisle wide plank floors offer many unique benefits:

  • Improved overall beauty in the color and grain
  • Longer average lengths – 6’ versus 3’ long
  • Wider average widths – 8” wide vs 5” wide
  • Custom milling for a more precise fit and easier installation
  • With proper installation, the best performance wood flooring in environments like humid and dry climates
  • Enhanced performance and stability in wide plank dimensions
  • More installation options including radiant heat, direct to concrete slab, at, above or below grade
  • More stain and finish option for a custom look

Original Grade

Hand selected by Carlisle craftsmen to reveal more of the natural character from the tree including color and grain variation, knots and other character which give the floor a more relaxed and rustic look

Original Grade Hickory Flooring
Carlisle Hickory Floors Original

Heirloom Grade

Hand selected by Carlisle craftsmen to create a custom wood floor with a truly luxurious and refined look.  Planks are graded for less variation with smaller and fewer knots for a more formal look.

Carlisle Hickory Floors Heirloom

Signature Grade

Looking for the best of both worlds, let the Craftsmen Carlisle style a floor for you using our Signature Grade. We hand select planks with the perfect balance of Original and Heirloom grade characteristics.  Through this proprietary grading technique, the floor truly “tells the story” of the tree from which the it was made, and is reminiscent of the floors of our forefathers, when nothing went to waste, and they used the entire tree.


Learn more about our other custom flooring options.