Hardwood Flooring Category Archive
Lauren Power of our New Hampshire design team received this photo and letter from her clients in Walpole, NH! The floor is unfinished… but GORGEOUS just the same. We hope to get some additional photos once the finish is applied!
Hi Lauren. Hope this email finds you and the baby in good health. Thought I would send you a small section of the floor. As of yesterday, it is all in. Moe and I are so pleased. It is absolutely beautiful!! Thank you so much for your time and your help through the process. We will never forget all you did. Are you all settled into your house?
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: November 12, 2008 at 4:27 PM
Filed under: Customer Letters, Customer Service, DIY - Do It Yourself, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Flooring Choices, Regions, Wood Grains & Styles
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Here's a nice letter and photos that Dan O'Neill of our West Hollywood Design Center received from his clients in Los Altos, California.
Hi Dan,
How are you doing? We moved into our place this past summer - the floor looks great and everyone that comes in admires how it looks.
Thanks,
Mike
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: November 7, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Filed under: Customer Letters, Hardwood Flooring, Home Flooring Choices, Regions, Wood Grains & Styles
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Tags: california, DIY, narrow widths, walnut
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We've been working with Classic Hardwood Floors for over ten years now. Here's a nice letter from owner, Joe Boos.
Although it is my profession and can be challenging and stressful at times, I thoroughly enjoy being the owner/operator of Classic Hardwood Floors. In 1998 my brother Eric and I formed our business and had the best time of our life working together for 10 years. A person seriously could write a book about all of our experiences. We did have a few employees throughout the years, most notably our other two brothers and our father. Imagine a customers surprise after contracting us to work in their million dollar + houses based only on phone conversations and a written proposal; only to have a truckload of 18-24 year olds show up at their door on day one to install a beautiful, expensive wide plank floor. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked how old I am, when my dad or boss was showing up, or where is the guy I talked to on the phone. Of course the outstanding results continue to be a testament to the beauty of Carlisle’s wood and our commitment to perfection. Eric has recently moved on to bigger and better things (design consultant for this company called Carlisle Wide Plank Floors), however I still enjoy installing floors with my employees Jeff and Eddie.
Originally our business was a general wood floor operation (strip flooring, sand and poly, refinishing, etc). Thanks to the expertise and knowledge of so many at Carlisle we transformed into specializing in the installation and finishing of wide plank floors. Many quickly conclude they are one and the same, and although wide plank flooring contains many of the same aspects of “wood flooring”, in my opinion it is in a league of its own. You could liken it to the difference between arithmetic and algebra. A mathematician cannot learn algebra before the groundwork or basics are laid (arithmetic,etc). I feel as if we went from being nailers and sanders to craftsmen and artists. We went from installing and finishing floors that looked good to creating timepieces that make a house.
The first floor we did with Carlisle was a face nailed, stained, and tung oiled eastern white pine for John and Randee Malmberg. Randee could not find the floor she had seen in a magazine picture. No one in the area could. After extensive searching we stumbled upon Carlisle. Todd Waterman and Chris Sy were tireless in their efforts to insure we gave Randee the floor she wanted. Thank goodness they were! What a difference this floor was from what we were used to. No conventional sanding? No way! Face nail the face of the boards with antique square cut nails? No way! However, it turned out great and because of our commitment to quality and a number of referrals from Carlisle and the Malmbergs our wide plank career took off.
Since the Malmbergs we have installed and finished 111 wide plank floors for Carlisle. We have done many eastern white pine and heart pine, along with red and white oak, hickory, maple, ash, walnut, cherry, antique woods, saw kerf surface, hand scraped surface, barnboard, and many others that I am likely forgetting.
Among my favorites are the antique woods. The warmth and character in antique wood cannot be beat. One of my all time favorites is probably the antique sweetgum (an extremely rare antique wood with grain and color being similar to a mix of hickory and cherry) we installed in Lakeside, MI. Beautiful!
We also, because of being specialists, have had the privilege of working a large territory and discovering so many great places to visit, restaurants, and wonderful people. Carlisle floors have brought us to downtown Chicago, many of the suburbs, on the lake in Michigan, and rural Wisconsin, and many other places.
Over the past 10 years we have worked with so many great people at Carlisle. I truly view it a privilege and honor to be a part of crafting your beautiful floors and working with you guys. Without your help and support we would never had made it, and we sincerely thank you for everything! The relationships formed through the years are far more than simple business ties. We view you all as friends and family. So here is to 111 or more outstanding works of art!
THANK YOU!
Here's a few photos of floors that Classic Hardwood Floors' has installed over the years!
Birch
Hand Scraped White Oak with Stain
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: October 28, 2008 at 9:57 AM
Filed under: Customer Letters, Customer Service, Green Building and Eco Friendly Products, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Jen Fox, Regions, Restoration Projects, True Hardwood Story, Wood Grains & Styles
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We exhibited at the Log and Timber show over the weekend in Chantilly, Virginia! It was a neat show and we had the chance to meet with many people.
Before the show started, one of our preferred installers, Aaron Penney installed our wide plank Eastern White Pine and Heart Pine floors.
Here's a photo of Aaron putting the Antique Cut nails into the Eastern White Pine floor.
Once the show started, visitors stopped by the booth to look at our beautiful solid wide plank floors. Here's a photo of Janel from our
DC Design Center chatting with one of our guests! They're talking about our
hand scraped hickory floors.
Here's a few close up shots of the booth in between visitors stopping by.
Here's a nice shot of our wide pine floor, this has our signature Gingerbread stain!
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: at 9:10 AM
Filed under: Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Decor, Home Flooring Choices, Megan Sprague, Regions, True Hardwood Story
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Tags: DC area, events, floors over radiant heat, timber frame homes
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Here's a note from Lauren Power of our Midwest Sales team:
Thought you might like to take a look at this amazing PREFINISHED floor
we made for homeowners in PA.
It's a mix of 4-8" 'country' White Oak and all 8" 'country' rift and
quarter sawn white oak with gingerbread stain!
The best news is that the builder is now needing about 2000 SF of
prefinished Cherry for another home he's working on. This is a builder
who was VERY hesitant about our terms and didn't want to pay for the
floor before he saw it. I guess we proved ourselves the first time
around- thank you to everyone involved in crafting this beauty!
Enjoy
LP
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: October 21, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Filed under: Customer Service, Green Building and Eco Friendly Products, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Decor, Regions, Wood Grains & Styles
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Lisa and Keith Hatch purchased their Brown Maple floor (with hand scraped edges) earlier this year. They received the floor and proceeded to stain it with one of our custom stains, to match a sample that we had sent them. After a few rounds of the stain, it was turning out way too light.
Sales Manager Kevin Crowder remembers, "They were having trouble getting the same dark color on their floor that we had sent them in the sample. They called me with their concerns and I took good care of them. I paid them to have it sanded back down to raw wood. Once they did that it took the stain darker as the photos show."
Lisa and Keith are very happy with their floors! See this note that Lisa sent earlier this year:
Hi Kevin,
Our floors turned out great! It was a pleasure working with you and the rest of the Carlisle Wide Plank Floor staff. I will certainly recommend your company to others interested in exceptional wood floors.
I’ve attached pictures. I apologize for not sending these photos sooner. If you need additional ones, please let me know!
Many thanks again for everything!
Lisa and Keith Hatch
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: October 17, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Filed under: Customer Letters, Customer Service, Hardwood Flooring, Home Decor, Regions, Wood Grains & Styles
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Tags: dark floors, hand scraped edge, maple stained
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Over the years, we've partnered with Deltec Homes of Asheville, NC on many projects. One of the largest was the sponsorship of an Extreme Makeover Home Edition Home in New Orleans last year!
We received this letter and photos from David Ide of Deltec Homes this week. Our floors are featured in their model home!
Glen,
I need some more Carlisle literature to put on display. We have handed out all that I had left over from my parade from last year. We have had so many people asking about the floors, they are truly the highlight of the house.
I have attached some photos for you. I can’t tell you how happy we are with how the floor came out.
David Ide
Director of Customer Relations
Deltec Homes, Inc.
69 Bingham Rd
Asheville, NC 28806
1-800-368-7401
www.deltechomes.com
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: at 9:58 AM
Filed under: Customer Service, Green Building and Eco Friendly Products, Hardwood Flooring, Home Decor, Home Flooring Choices, Regions, Wood Grains & Styles
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Mark Nichols of our New England sales team, visited with his clients Elena and Lynn of Jewett Farms. We highlighted Jewett Farms last week on the blog with their newest studio in Newburyport, Massachusetts having Carlisle floors throughout. Lynn and Elena got the grand tour of Carlisle and nestled in at our design center and sample shop to talk about wood.
Here's Mark, Elena and Lynn chatting about the tight grain in this slice of Heart Pine.
This is the letter that Elena sent us following their visit:
Yesterday my colleague Lynn and I traveled from northern Massachusetts into the beautiful woods of New Hampshire – we lucked out and enjoyed a beautiful New England fall day. Our company, Jewett Farms, has become an exclusive partner with Carlisle and is distributing its wide plank floors from our new design studio in Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was very gratifying and educational to visit the Stoddard operation. We gained useful knowledge about the species, craft, and artistry of Carlisle flooring – so much of the language used to describe the work there resonated for us: it is the same language we use about the craft and art of our cabinetry. We were reminded each step along the way about the very special fit that seems to exist between Jewett Farms & Co. and Carlisle.
On a personal note, when I returned to my home in Massachusetts I realized I did not have my wallet and knew that I may have left it at Fiddleheads Cafe. I did not remember, in my panic, the full name of the Café so called Carlisle and explained my situation. Pat answered the phone – not only did she find me the contact information for the Café but offered, if my wallet was found there, to pick it up for me and send it back to me overnight. Previously I had remarked more than once about the friendly, courteous, and professional voices on the phone when I call Carlisle and Pat’s effort to ease my anxiety was above and beyond and much appreciated.
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: October 15, 2008 at 8:44 AM
Filed under: Customer Service, Hardwood Flooring, Home Decor, Home Flooring Choices, Megan Sprague, Regions, Wood Grains & Styles
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Hannah Greeley of our Georgetown, DC design center sent me this note and photos!!
So, I had a customer that wanted me to meet him at a new house because he LOVED the walnut floors they had and he wanted to match them... so I took a drive out and as soon as I walked in the door, I KNEW they were our floors, absolutely gorgeous!! Turns out after some digging, these ARE our floors and even sweetened the deal to my customer after knowing that!
Thanks to the mill for these gorgeous floors and to Glen for selling these particular floors that the customer can’t stop raving about, we got the sale!
I wanted to share the pictures I shot with everyone (sorry, not the best lighting) but I can’t stop staring at these pictures, absolute beauty!
Thanks to all! Enjoy!
-Hannah
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: October 8, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Filed under: Customer Service, Hardwood Flooring, Home Decor, Regions, True Hardwood Story
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A client of ours in California shares these photos and letter with his sales person, Dan O'Neill, of our West Hollywood Design Center:
Dan,
We're just about done with the remodel. Here's some photos of the floors about a week after install. Sorry!, didn't dust floor before these were taken.
Noneless, they still look great.
Charles.
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: September 24, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Filed under: Hardwood Flooring
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Tags: eastern white pine, stained pine floors, wide plank floors, wide plank pine
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In response to a few questions on the NWFA Listserve:
Your question regarding radiant heat is a great one. This type of heating continues to grow all over the country. Currently close to 30% of our solid hardwood floors are installed over radiant heat and in some markets the numbers are even higher than that. I would have all the confidence in the world putting our Antique Oak over radiant heat as we do it every day; however, you do have to be careful as the Antique Wood Market is very fragmented and the quality can range drastically.
Radiant heat—in and of itself—is not bad for wood floor. All floors, including antique wood, should be kiln dried and during this process they are subjected to much higher heat than any current radiant heat systems, especially given the radiant heat systems of today. You have the advantage of running your tubes closer to the floor which means it should be able to run at a lower temperature and still achieve the heat your require.
However, there are still many variable that will affect the temperature of your system: how close together are the tubes? How high are the ceilings? How many windows are there? Etc. Often people cut costs and reduce the tubing/wall insulation which forces the system to run at higher temperatures, which may cause a variety of problems if the temperature is too high.
All in all, I see the problems with wood floors and radiant heat falling into the following categories:
1. Far and away the most common problem is that the radiant substrate is not acclimated (allowed to come up to the temperature you plan to live at) prior to installing the floor with the Radiant Heat system turned on after the install. When the heat comes on it will push any excess moisture out of the substrate and into the finished floor. This will cause the floor to temporarily expand and potentially buckle. However, if the radiant system is turned on in advance of installing the floor it will eliminate the moisture before the wood is installed. Regardless of having radiant heat or not…the moisture content of your subfloor should be within 2% of the moisture content of your finished floor before starting the installation. This can be achieved by turning on the radiant heat.
2. The second most common problem is Improperly dried wood flooring. This is especially common with antique wood as people think kiln drying is not necessary given its age. However, we have 200 year old wood that still has a moisture content of up to 18%. The trick is how to get all of the pieces at an even moisture content. Simply kiln drying it won’t work as it will dry some of the boards to the proper moisture level of 8%, but the higher moisture content material won’t be dry enough. To fix this problem, we actually introduce moisture into all of our antique wood to bring it up to the highest common denominator and then dry it down, to guarantee consistency. Without using this technique, you may put boards into your floor with a 15% moisture content that, when they dry out, will cause large gaps to appear.
3. The third most common problem is using a poorly engineered radiant systems. People cut initial installation costs and spread the tubes out. The systems then have to run water through the tubes at a much higher temperature (120+°F) where, in a system that is properly engineered and installed, would run at 90°F.
Simply put, heat is not the “enemy” of wood, water is. If heat is causing excessive drying then gaps will appear, but if subfloor and finished floor achieve “live in conditions” prior to installing the floor the heat will not move any moisture and therefore will not affect your floor.
Acclimate your subfloor. Acclimate your system. Use a well designed radiant system and —most importantly—use a high quality wood floor that is properly dried and you can have the same successful results we have in over 1200 radiant heat install per year.
Continue reading "Radiant Heat Installation: Questions Answered" »
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: at 10:13 AM
Filed under: Hardwood Flooring
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Tags: air drying, antique wood, kiln drying, moisture levels in floors, NWFA, radiant heat, radiant heat systems, reclaimed red oak, solid hardwood, subfloors
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Carlisle's Wide Plank Walnut in Wisconsin Lakeside Home Featured in the October issue of Architectural Digest!
Architect Thomas R. Jones designs his parents, Ray and Janette, a cabin of their dreams on shores of Lake Superior. A beautiful combination of elaborate floor to ceiling windows, curved timber frame roof and other natural materials such as Carlisle’s wide plank walnut floors. Seen on page 170, the walnut floors are a natural fit with the Douglas fir beams and ledgestone.
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: September 12, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Filed under: Hardwood Flooring
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By Albert Waitt
Joshua Bodwell is a Maine writer and the Associate Editor of Maine HOME+DESIGN, a magazine dedicated to “capturing the interiors, exteriors, and heart of Maine homes.” From Revolutionary War-era farmhouses to rehabbed industrial lofts in downtown Portland, Josh Bodwell has seen and written about them all. The Surface caught up with the ever-busy Bodwell to get his thoughts on wide plank flooring.
You've seen a lot of great homes in your position as associate editor at Maine HOME + DESIGN, have you noticed the increased use of wide plank flooring?
Wood flooring is almost ubiquitous in great Maine homes. In a state that is so valued for its forests and connection to the outdoors, it is not surprising. Many Maine designers—whether they are architects or interior designers—use wood flooring to re-knit a home to the land beyond its walls.
Why do you think wide plank flooring is becoming so popular?
I think the rise in wide plank flooring’s popularity can be attributed to several factors.
First, I would note the obvious: it looks great. From a design standpoint, the long, continuous lines achievable with wide planks can be used as a room’s key design element.
Next, I would have to speculate that the power of nostalgia plays a big part when homeowners in Maine—whether they are year-round residents or second home owners—select this type of flooring for their project. This theory is based upon the dozens of conversations Maine HOME+DESIGN staff has had with countless people in the home building and design field. We hear time and again that there is just something so warm and memorable about wide plank flooring—I personally always relate it to the wide pine floors in my grandparent’s 150-year-old house.
Lastly, in a time when “sustainability” is on the tips of many tongues, using pine flooring that comes from forests that are being forested with sustainable practices is very appealing to consumers. Utilizing reclaimed wood for flooring is even better—this is not recycling, but upcycling, by which I mean, taking something that is already made and giving it a new, more valuable and sustainable life.
Statistics show that demand for antique flooring has doubled over the last ten years. Are you seeing more homes with reclaimed wood, antique floors, as well as more recycled or salvaged materials in general?
Yes, we see homes all the time with reclaimed wood, antique floors. In fact, two weeks ago I was visiting with the wildly talented furniture maker Eric Ritter of Ritter Furniture and we spent a long time talking about the reclaimed wood floors that he had laid in his 175-year-old colonial farmhouse.
Recycled and salvaged materials are constantly popping up in Maine homes. I think the state has a long history of this sort of smart frugality. These days, there are reasons beyond frugality to use such materials. Again, as I stated previously, consumers are becoming more savvy about where the components of their home come from, how they are manufactured, and how they impact the earth. Antique flooring scores high with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, or LEED, and many people give serious credence to their advice.
What kind of aesthetic do you find wide plank flooring giving homes on the coast? In the interior of the state?
As I said earlier, wide plank flooring seems to be a perfect fit for the Maine design vernacular—in the interior of the state, it offers echoes of old barns and farmhouses; along the coast, it epitomizes our ideals of the perfect beachside cottage.
The aesthetics possible with wood flooring are, as I also said earlier, limitless. A few examples of homes we’ve featured in Maine HOME+DESIGN come to mind:
Back in May, 2007 we featured a home in a piece entitled “Island Elegance.” In that home (which included Douglas fir walls and ceilings) the antique southern yellow pine floors gave the small island home an added level of sophistication.
In June of that same year we featured an early 1880s farmhouse in South Freeport where the homeowner (who is also an interior designer) picked old wide-pine-board floors and gave the space an almost French countryside aesthetic.
Lastly, a Goose Rocks Beach home featured in our new issue, “Land of Leisure” (August, 2008), has gorgeous wide pine floors throughout. While some could argue that pine isn’t “strong” enough to withstand the wear and tear of sand-covered feet, the homeowner and architect felt strongly that the natural aging of the wide pine would add beautifully to the beach cottage-meets-farmhouse aesthetic that they were aiming for.
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 13, 2008 at 2:35 PM
Filed under: Guest, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Flooring Choices
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Tags: antique wood, design magazines, home building, interior design, Maine homes, reclaimed wood, recycling, renovation, sustainability, wide plank flooring
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By Albert Waitt
Krista Stokes is one of Maine's hippest designers and the proprietor of Favela Chic Salvage Boutique and Design. She was of 14 professionals chosen to work at the exclusive Hidden Pond Resort in Kennebunkport, ME, where she created the "Lazy Days" cottage. Her work there was pictured in the Boston Globe and chronicled throughout New England.
The Floor
No Knock on Wood
Krista: Go for the hardwood, wide plank floor because of "the feel" of it. And the way it sounds. The feeling of wood is what I go for-everything else is secondary. You can do anything you want with it. It's a really versatile tool. You're not pigeon-holed into anything.
Taking Wide Planks One Step Beyond
Krista: I love going into a place that has a floor laid in an unexpected way. It gives people a chance to make the statement: "You know, I actually thought about my floor." Anytime you can say that in your home in a nice and easy way, it's great design.
For example, you can always take what one would expect a hardwood floor to be and change it. This ranch I'm doing now is really long. It already goes on forever. So instead of doing the floors lengthwise, we said let's cut the room in half and lay the planks short-wise. You enter through the French doors and on the other side of the room is York Harbor. The floor takes the distance of your eye and shortens it. Now you walk in the door and the wood takes your eye outside to the harbor because the floor is pointing you that way.
If I were a Carpenter:
Krista: Carpenters can lay your planks at an angle, do an original design, a compass rose, or parquet your floor. You can do anything you want. The sky's the limit if you can find somebody who likes to work with wood for wood's sake or craft's sake.
The Décor
Come Together:
Krista: Hardwood flooring is the most versatile thing in your house. It will do whatever you want it to. It's all about the décor.
You can take the same heart pine wide plank floor and:
Put a chrome table, with chrome and black leather seats, on that floor. Paint the wall bright red and hang motorcycle parts on it. Place a juke box in the corner. If you like that sort of thing, you'll be thinking, "Sweet." You've got a floor that is perfect for the room.
Then take all that away, and hang ship wheels on the wall. Place an old farmer's table in the center of the room, and put up a fireplace mantle with a boat on it. And wow, the floor's perfect for that room.
Clear those pieces out and bring in some Angela Adams elements like an area rug or print, an espresso nut dark wood table with white leather chairs, and a bowl of fruit and a side board. Now you're contemporary and funky, yet traditional. And the floor is still perfect.
As long as you are following other rules that balance out your design and balance out the objective of what you want the room to feel like, you're going to be successful with a wide plank floor. Everything adds up to create the atmosphere you want.
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 12, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Filed under: Guest, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Decor
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Tags: Angela Adams, contemporary home design, decor, design elements, Favela Chic, floor use, hardwood flooring, home design, Krista Stokes, Maine homes, vintage home design, wide plank flooring, wood floors
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By Albert Waitt
Krista Stokes is one of Maine's hippest designers and the proprietor of Favela Chic Salvage Boutique and Design. She was of 14 professionals chosen to work at the exclusive Hidden Pond Resort in Kennebunkport, ME, where she created the "Lazy Days" cottage. Her work there was pictured in the Boston Globe and chronicled throughout the region.
The Surface sat down with Krista to discuss aspects of decorating for spaces with wide plank flooring. For the record, the interview was conducted in a public place. It was also repeatedly (and pleasantly) interrupted by a number of Krista's clients who couldn't pass by without saying hello and talking about their homes. It's clear that Krista has the makings of a fan club on the Maine coast. And she has a philosophy when choosing flooring materials:
It's the Wood:
Krista: For me, it's the wood. It's part of the earth. When you walk into a room and see beautiful hardwood floor, it's a feeling that you get. I love the light reflection of it. I love the sound of hardwood. It's a great way to give a space energy. The wood has traveled long and hard. Regardless of its history, whether it came out of an old farm in Ohio or a forest in Brazil, it's traveled. Just to bring that into the home means a great deal.
Floors Tell Stories.
Krista: I recently went through a big debate with some clients. The wife really wanted a wide plank floor. The husband wasn't thrilled. They have a dog and he didn't want the dog's nails to scratch the floor. I said, "Listen guys, it's life. Let life screw up your floors. Don't get your floors and then want them to stay the way they are."
Floors all tell stories. It's getting harder and harder for us to instill history with the next generation. A lot of people want to leave a history for their children, but don't want to relinquish the control of modernity.
But, it's okay. Don't sweat it. It's a floor. It's supposed to be walked on. Kids are going to run across it. It's supposed to have dogs' paws on it. The wood has survived this long and it will survive much longer than us humans. The first thing you notice when you walk into a room with a wide plank floor is, "Wow, what a great floor." If you see where a child's toy car left a skid mark, then you might think, "Hey, what happened?" It's family history.
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 11, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Filed under: Guest, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Decor
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Tags: decor, family history, Favela Chic, floor use, home design, Krista Stokes, Maine homes, wide plank hardwood floor
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By Albert Waitt
Carpenters often refer to salvaged materials as coming from "the industrial forest." This somewhat comical slang indicates a growing awareness in the building industry of the importance of recycling classic wood and lumber. The US Forest Service reported:
"The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the equivalent of 250, 000 single-family homes is disposed of each year in the United States. This represents nearly 1 billion board feet of salvageable structural lumber per year, equivalent to about 3% of the current US softwood harvest. Much of the lumber available for salvage through deconstruction is from decades of old-growth harvest and represents a resource largely unavailable from any other source. As a result, much of the wood is of higher structural and aesthetic quality (higher density, slower grown, fewer defects) than is the lumber produced today."
Hardwood used in wide plank flooring can be salvaged from a wide range of sources. It has come from turn-of-the-century homes, old hotels, dilapidated mills, and even a 120 year-old, decommissioned 15 story grain elevator containing "the equivalent of an entire forest of antique, old-growth white pine in its walls." Where once this wood might have been seen as junk and discarded or burned, it is now recognized for what it is: An extremely rare natural commodity.
The wood salvage industry has expanded to harvest this bounty. The 2005 Forest Service study identified approximately 1400 businesses involved in salvaging, restoring, and building with reclaimed wood. It is a number that has steadily climbed.
Demand for reclaimed antique wood has also grown as homeowners have become aware of the look and ambiance it can provide. A National Hardwood Floor Association survey found that 56% of decorators and designers noted an increase in the demand for antique wood flooring over the past two years.
To meet this need, the hardwood flooring industry looks to the industrial forest. It's there that they can glean materials that are nearly impossible to find anywhere else. The American chestnut tree is nearly extinct, but one can enjoy the warmth it offers a home through salvage and restoration. Old growth pine harvested from a turn-of-the century farmhouse will show a dense wood grain with a tight ring pattern that just doesn't appear in virgin lumber. The aesthetics offered in reclaimed antique flooring are inimitable.
Barns that were once left to fall and rot are now seen as a valuable resource. Old houses that may have crumbled in disrepair are mined for irreplaceable flooring and fixtures. If one wants to create a period feel to a room or home, the most effective way to do so is with the materials of that period. Thanks to the industrial forest, the floors of the past live on today-and look as beautiful as ever.
(Survey results are available from The National Hardwood Floor Association:
http://woodfloors.org/consumer/contact.aspx)
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 10, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Filed under: Green Building and Eco Friendly Products, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Flooring Choices, Wood Grains & Styles
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Tags: Antique Lumber, Barn Deconstruction, Reclaimed Floor, Recycled Wood, Sustainable Building Materials, Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring
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By Albert Waitt
If a homeowner is environmentally conscious and chooses to install a wide plank hardwood floor, it's easy for them to remain consistent and "go green" when caring for that floor and keeping it looking its best. Whether one has chosen a responsibly forested white pine or an antique reclaimed hickory, a green approach to upkeep and cleaning will benefit the homeowner and their wood floor.
When considering how to maintain and clean hardwood floors,
The American Hardwood Information Center offers the following advice:
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Place floor mats and throw rugs at entrances to trap dirt.
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Sweep floors weekly with brooms that have fine, exploded ends.
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Weekly vacuuming will also keep hardwood floors clean.
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Wipe up spills, pet accidents, and other liquid mishaps as soon as possible.
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It is important to remember that water exposure can harm a hardwood floor.
Instead of relying on commercial floor cleaners that may have toxic ingredients, the consumer has green alternatives when choosing materials to keep a wood floor clean and lustrous. The first step is to determine what kind of finish is on the hardwood floor.
For hardwood floors finished with polyurethane, Greenerchoices.org, thedailygreen.com, and Martha Stewart recommend damp mopping with a solution of one cup of vinegar per gallon of water. The mop should be barely wet, just enough to pick up dust and dirt, but not enough to leave water streaking on the floor itself.
For wide plank hardwood floors and soft wood floors with a penetrating finish, such as Carlisle's Tung Oil Finish, water should be avoided during maintenance. In addition to sweeping, dry-mopping, and vacuuming, Care2.com's Live Green Producer
Melissa Breyer recommends a natural
Citrus Solvent be sprayed on the floor in a light film and then dry mopped off with a micro-fiber or regular dust mop.
New green cleaning products are being rolled out on a daily basis and there's no doubt that consumers will have more choices in green floor care in the coming years. But the tips offered here (and now) are safe and effective. Through these simple practices, a homeowner can preserve their floor and protect their planet at the same time.
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 9, 2008 at 8:05 AM
Filed under: Authors, DIY - Do It Yourself, Green Building and Eco Friendly Products, Guest, Hardwood Flooring, Home Flooring Choices
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Tags: Carlisle Floor products, green cleaning, green floor cleaning, green flooring, green products, hardwood floor cleaning, hardwood floors, Tung Oil
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By Phil Johnson
I'm not a big Do-It-Yourself guy. Generally, my DIY activities are limited to painting, wallpapering and unclogging the toilet. Other than that, my main handyman skill is writing a check. It's no surprise, then, that the thought of installing my own wide plank hardwood floors seems about as doable as building the space shuttle.
However, after a little research, I've come to think this is the kind of project that even I could handle. At the very least, it's less life threatening than other home improvement projects like:
Plumbing – Plumbers use blowtorches. Can you say, "burn unit"?
Electrical – They use electricity to execute convicts. No thanks.
Roofing – I'm not afraid of heights; I'm afraid of falling from heights.
So far as I can tell the odds of installing hardwood floors and living to tell about it seem relatively high!
If you're thinking of installing a hardwood floor yourself, there's lots of helpful information out there about it – even videos tutorials! After careful review, I get the feeling that, with a little patience and free time, I could actually handle it.
For starters, nowadays you can buy prefinished flooring – even for wide plank flooring – eliminating the need for sanding, staining and sealing. Since using a drum sander sounds about easy as operating a Zamboni, this reduces the project complexity – and potential medical co-payment costs - quite a bit.
Next, the tools involved aren't all that complicated. They include – among other things – a hammer, a crowbar, a floor nailer and a miter saw. Now, sure, a power saw sounds a little dicey, but I figure you can lose a digit or two and still maintain a high quality of life.
As for the actual hardwood floor installation, it sounds quite reasonable, and has been described as a weekend project. It involves some variation of the following basic steps:
Remove any existing baseboard – Heck, even I can take stuff apart.
Prepare the floor base – You can put hardwood flooring on top of a plywood sub-floor, an existing hardwood floor or even concrete! Usually, you put down a plastic or felt vapor barrier to keep the moisture out.
Install the floor - Start laying planks or boards from one wall, nail them in place using said floor nailer (try not to do this) and work your way across the room. Be sure to stagger the seams where the boards join!
Edge special room aspects - If the room has floor vents, fireplaces, or some such thing, make sure to edge them, which requires a few extra cuts, no biggie.
Replace baseboards, sweep up and enjoy your new floors! At this point you may want to enjoy a celebratory beverage of your choice (in my case that'd be beer).
The more I think about this, the surer I am that I'm going to have give this project a go! Now I just need to convince my wife that I won't maim myself doing it …
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 8, 2008 at 8:19 AM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Guest, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Flooring Choices
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Tags: DIY Floor Installation, Home Improvement, Project, Safe DIY Idea, Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring
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By Albert Waitt
Wise investment isn't limited to the trading floor of Wall Street. According to realtors and designers across North America, hardwood flooring adds to a home's value as well as its charm. Aesthetics and economics converge, and the homeowner reaps the benefits.
It's clear as to what a hardwood floor can bring to a space in terms of warmth and style. The Denver Business Journal reported that Colorado designers and homeowners are opting for more hardwood flooring than ever, as it is seen as "timeless," "classic," "elegant," and "adding style to any living area." The DBJ was also quick to note the accompanying increased resale value of a home with a hardwood floor. Home décor columnist Rose Bennett Gilbert of the San Diego Union-Tribune and RealEstate.com's renovation guide came to similar conclusions on the investment value found in hardwood flooring.
Agent Brain Madigan of Toronto, with over 5000 real estate transactions to his credit, believes that hardwood floors are "one of the few improvements that you can make to your house where the resale value may exceed the actual cost of the improvement. The return can easily amount to 150% to 200% or even more." Although Madigan's numbers represent a best case scenario, statistics from a 2006 National Wood Flooring Association survey of realtors further substantiate the value of hardwood floors.
The NWFA survey found:
99% of real estate professionals indicated that having hardwood floors either "greatly" or "somewhat" aided a home's salability.
90% of realtors suggested that homes with hardwood floors will sell for more money than homes with mostly carpet. (25% of the realtors stated that hardwood floors would add 6 to 10% to a home's resale value, while 12 % believed hardwood flooring would add more than 10% to the sale price.)
82% of realtors believed that homes with mostly hardwood floors will sell faster.
84% of home buyers who have lived in homes with hardwood floors are more likely to buy another home with hardwood floors.
By choosing hardwood flooring when building or renovating, homeowners can add to the attractiveness of their house, something they will be able to enjoy every day. They can also view their floor as an investment: When the home is sold, that hardwood flooring will pay real dividends.
(Survey results are available from The National Hardwood Floor Association: http://woodfloors.org/consumer/contact.aspx)
Continue reading "Investing in a Wide Plank Hardwood Floor" »
Author's Name: Guest Blogger
Posted Date: August 7, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Filed under: Authors, Guest, Hardwood Flooring, Home Building and Contracting, Home Flooring Choices
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Tags: floor renovation, flooring, flooring choices, Hardwood floors, home buyers, home buying attributes, home sales, home value, increasing home value, real estate, resale value
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By Todd Aalgaard
Now that you've had your home beautifully appointed with the wide-plank hardwood floor of your dreams, you're probably thinking of showing it off. And, of course, you've done all the arrangements: you've chosen some matching plants, arranged all the furniture just so, and that long, ornate oak table blends in just perfectly. All you need are guests.
We're not about to tell you what to cook, how to entertain, or where to place your guests' shoes when they come to visit; if you've consulted
