ANN SACKS® EXPANDS EXCLUSIVE FLOOR AND WALL TILE OPTIONS
THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH CONCRETE ARTISAN ANDY FLEISHMAN
PORTLAND, Ore.

(May 10 2005)

Ann Sacks, in collaboration with leading concrete artisan, Andy Fleishman, presented four completely unique floor and wall tiles at the 2005 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas.

Fleishman’s designs for Ann Sacks offer a visually striking alternative to complement the diverse Ann Sacks tile and stone collections. Fleishman, who started his career as a wood sculptor and cabinet maker in the 1970s, gravitated toward concrete as his primary medium. His designs for Ann Sacks include Diamond and Petal, two large-scale, geometric designs; and, Maximus and Tendril, two more intricate designs using floral themes.
A sophisticated color palette was chosen for the textural designs in Gray, Crème, Chocolate and Camel. The tile can be
Ann Sacks Andy Fleishman, customized by applying contrasting grout colors on the tile face, then, once set, wiping
the grout away from the tile surface to expose the tile’s dramatic, etched patterns.

Andy Fleishman concrete flooring designs for Ann Sacks® provide a smooth surface and creative durable solution for residential and commercial flooring projects. Fleishman’s designs can be used vertically on surfaces that accommodate a 3/4-inch thickness. The tile can be applied to outdoor projects dependant upon climate and installation method. Sold exclusively by Ann Sacks, Maximus and Tendril are available as hexagons, and Petal and Diamond designs are produced on squares – both shapes measuring 12×12 inches.

Founded in 1981, Ann Sacks offers consumers and design professionals a wide range of luxury tile, stone, plumbing, lighting and accessories for the kitchen and bath. Along with Baker Knapp & Tubbs, Inc., which includes Baker furniture, Baker Knapp & Tubbs Showrooms, and Baker Stores, and the McGuire Furniture Company, it is a part of the Kohler Interiors Group and a wholly owned subsidiary of Kohler Co., a global leader in kitchen and bath designs.

Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Kohler, Wis., Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately held companies. Kohler is a global leader in the manufacture of kitchen and bath products, engines and power generation systems, home interiors, and hospitality services.

Bamboo is a currently a very popular choice for flooring, but did you know it can be used for other things? One company, Bamboo Outfitters offers eco friendly items from clothing, to linens, to soap and bath products made of bamboo. Bamboo is useful in making these products because bamboo fiber is soft and strong and produces products that are durable, soft and breathable. Unlike other natural products, bamboo can be safely dyed in bright and bold colors.

Benefits of bamboo as clothing:

• It absorbs sweat quickly and evaporates quickly.
• Bamboo keeps you warmer in the winter and up to 2 degrees cooler in the summer
• Bamboo is antibacterial so it stays fresher and odor free longer.
• During the manufacturing process, no harsh chemicals are used so this product is ideal for people with allergies or sensitive skin
• Bamboo fiber is smooth and round so it does not irritate skin. It contains a naturally occurring antibacterial called bamboo-kun that resists the spread of bacteria on the skin without any adverse affects.
• Bamboo grows quickly and therefore has high water absorbency which aids in this process. This helps the fabric retain absorbency, in fact, 3-4 more than cotton. It keeps you drier because it wicks away moisture from the body, but doesn’t have the high prices that comes with sports attire with these same properties.
  
• Bamboo is antibacterial, anti fungal and anti static even after is has been washed.
• It’s better for the environment. For more information on bamboo, click here.
• No special care is required to maintain the clothing.

Not sure if bamboo fabric is for you or all that is advertised, Bamboo Outfitters will send you a sample!

Other products made from bamboo are found in the kitchen and bath. Some examples of products for the home made from bamboo are: cutting boards, soap, dish towels, bed linens, body washes, crib linens and bath towels.

Clothing for babies, kids, men and women:

Products for the home:

Do your part by choosing clothing and home accessories that are not only comfortable, better for your skin, anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti static but good for the world we live in!

With all of the focus on natural products and “green” floors, it’s no surprise that a company called Inhabitat is offering floors made from peach pits/pips. Talk about recycling!

According to Inhabitat, the floor consists of peach pips that are packed by hand onto a glued surface and filled with a silica sand and resin mixture, then sealed. The sharp edges of the pips are sanded off to expose the red hue of the pips and give the floor a natural wood feeling - making it warm, therapeutic and comfortable to walk on with bare feet. The floors are uniquely South African, natural and the design and color can be customized.

The house in Paarl is currently run as an art gallery (The Orange Mill) by Allah le Roux with his partner. After numerous requests and compliments regarding the floor, he decided to take it a step further and enter production of peach pip tiles as a business concept in the First National Bank Enablis Business Plan Competition, in which he was a finalist. In February 2007 the tile design and concept was registered. Today the endeavor is in progress as Stone Fruit Floors, creating job opportunities in the production of flooring rooted in sustainable materials and a traditional aesthetic.

Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

Terra Mai reclaimed hardwoods has just moved into a new location that is helping contribute to making NYC a greener place. TerraMai shares the space with two other progressive green companies, YRG Consultants and Deep Green Living. Sharing space with two of the top sustainability consulting firms in the country helps keep them connected to the latest and greatest in sustainable design and building. Setting up shop in Manhattan also allows them to better serve their growing group of New York and other East Coast clients.

You can give them a call at 800.220.9062 to schedule a presentation at your firm or to visit their new office.

New website

To go along with the new office is am updated version of the website. All designed to make it easier for visitors to find what they need. Or just be inspired.

• All new content.
• Same user-friendly graphics.
  
• Heaps of new images.
• Tons of new info.
  
• Loads of new features.

My favorite part of the website is the tag line introducing the floors found at Isla Restaurant. It brilliantly says, “One hour wait at Isla Restaurant…not bad considering it took 280 years to create the floor.”

New Projects:

TerraMai’s reclaimed Olive Tank Redwood paneling helps set a serene but sophisticated mood in the 1 Hotel and Residences Sales and Design Center in Seattle.

TerraMai’s teak flooring and Wine Tank redwood shelving and cash wraps add both warmth and elegance to this Dockers retail store in San Francisco.

Domino Magazine

The hip design mag spotlights TerraMai’s new Naturally Distressed Teak flooring in its current issue, which focuses on smart, fashionable ways to go green.

Bubbling in D.C.

TerraMai co-founder and president Richard McFarland was in Washington D.C. recently to testify before a Congressional subcommittee examining issues related to bottled water.

Sustainability

TerraMai was founded on a commitment to conservation.

The use of reclaimed wood helps preserve the world’s remaining forests and also combats global warming.

TerraMai has reclaimed more than 5 million board feet of wood since 1991. Much of this material was otherwise destined for landfills and burn piles throughout the U.S and abroad.

Education is a key part of our company mission. Wood is a recyclable resource. Treated properly, it offers many generations of use and beauty.

For more information on this company, see an earlier post from The Green Build Expo in Chicago.

These shower walls can be found at the breathtaking Kuleto Estate Winery in Napa, California. The detail in this shower is simply amazing. Notice the lighting in the upper rear corner and the unique shower fixtures. Notice, too how well the tile rolls over the front of the shower seat and how gracefully it curves along the walls. The designer of this shower did a fantastic job of designing a shower that looks and feels like the rest of the property. Nothing about the home looks new - it looks like it has evolved over hundreds of years of careful gathering and procurement.

In 1992, this winery was created overlooking Lake Hennessey, Pritchard Hill, Rutherford and St. Helena. This shower sits in the Tuscan Style home named Villa Cucina designed by Pat Kuleto who is also famous for designing some of North America’s most celebrated restaurants. There are so many amazing sites to see at this winery, when you take the winery tour they make you feel like you are part of the Kuleto family and this was all built just for your soul to absorb all of the amazing views.

Bamboo Flooring

• Another environmentally sound choice for flooring is bamboo. Bamboo is manufactured from processed strips of cane and compressed to be as hard and durable as a regular hardwood floor.

• Some bamboo is supplied in North America if the environmental impact of transportation is a concern.

Considerations:

• Bamboo floors that are less expensive may not have the highest quality UV protective finish as other floors.

• Radiant flooring can be used under bamboo flooring.

• Bamboo is technically a grass and not a hardwood tree. Don’t let this discourage you from purchasing because the manufacturing techniques make bamboo a strong, hard, durable and dimensionally stable surface.

• To give you an idea of the strength of bamboo, it has been rated to be almost as hard as red oak to slightly harder than red oak. The darker bamboo floors are reported to be softer than the lighter shades because of the heating process that darkens the color.

• The dimensional change with moisture content is also significantly less than that for most common hardwoods.

• Nearly all bamboo flooring sold in North America is produced in the southern Chinese province of Hunan, in an area known as “the bamboo sea” for its extensive bamboo forests.

• If possible to obtain the information, find out if the manufacturer of the bamboo flooring you are interested in allows the bamboo to reach full maturity. According to buildinggreen.com the shoots reach full size in one to two years, but it takes a third year for them to mature to the point where they are no longer feeding the plant. If the shoots are cut before that time, the plant suffers, while after the third year the shoot becomes “dead weight,” and the plant benefits from its removal.

• Contrary to the concerns of some, the harvesting in these forests is not a threat to Pandas, as they live at much higher elevations and eat a different species of bamboo.

Good for the environment:

• Bamboo matures in three years

• It regenerates without need for replanting

• It also requires minimal fertilization or pesticides

• There currently is no FSC certified bamboo so it is important to see what you can confirm about the bamboo you are interested in purchasing.

Options:

• Finish options include a Klumpp coating that comes with a longer warranty because of the quality of the ingredients.

• Klumpp coatings wear extremely well and are certified to be free from toxic substances.

• Bamboo floors are available with the following installation techniques: glue, nail, staple or floating in pre-finished or unfinished.

• The installation process is the same as the process to install hardwood flooring.

Design Options:

• Bamboo is offered in planks, tiles as well as handscraped.

• The handscraped products have limited availability.

• The grain of bamboo is either horizontal or vertical. Vertical graining is a thinner, more linear look while horizontal graining is wider showing the knuckles of the bamboo.

• With horizontal, the pieces are arranged and laminated side by side flatways. With the vertical type the slats are stood upright on edge and then laminated.

• The first colors that were introduced were carbonized and non-carbonized. The result were a natural, amber, brownish color as well as a yellow based color. The brownish amber color is achieved by pressure steaming the bamboo, which creates a darker color through carbonization.

• More recently, colors ranging from rich reds to mochas and blacks are available.

Maintenance

• Like hardwood flooring, bamboo floors need to be swept or vacuumed (without a beater bar) regularly to keep dust and dirt away. Dust and dirt can scratch the finish of the floor.

• Mats should be placed at every entrance to keep the dirt from entering your home.

• Spills should be cleaned up immediately. Spills that sit too long can penetrate the floor and permanently stain the floor.

• To avoid invalidating your warranty, be sure to check to see if a specific cleaner needs to be used. These cleaners can be recommended from the manufacturer.

• Rugs that are non rubber backed should be used to avoid discolorations on the floor.

• Chair and furniture protectors should be used to protect the floors. Fabric or felt types are recommended. Casters should be removed and replaced with felt floor protectors when possible.

• Because sunlight can fade bamboo floors, furniture and rugs should be rotated periodically. Rotating the furniture and rugs will produce a more even color. Use of window coverings also helps protect floors from sunlight.

• High heeled shoes can permanently damage bamboo with dents.

• Like the damage high heels can do, dragging heavy furniture or other items can permanently damage bamboo floors.

History

• Cork is not a new fad, it can be traced back to ancient Egypt. In the 18th century, Dom Perignon used cork for champagne making it a significant discovery that would lead to many other uses of cork.

• A law in the 1930’s called “The 9 Year Law” was passed to keep cork from being harvested any sooner than every 9 years. The tree has to reach 60 cm in circumference before it can be harvested. The first harvest from a cork tree can only occur at age 25.

• Portugal is the largest producer of cork today.

Harvesting

• Cork is harvested by hand from the bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus Suber) that grows primarily around the Mediterranean Basin no less than every 9 years.

• After the cork is stripped, the planks are sorted and stacked for 6 months in the forest. The exposure to air, sun, rain and wind during this time trigger chemical transformations that improve the quality of the cork. Then the bark of the mature cork trees are ground up, mixed with resin, processed into blocks, baked, compressed and cut into tiles or planks.

• Burning the cork before it is compressed in combination with varying granule sizes creates the different colors and patterns that make cork such a unique product.

• The tree is not destroyed or damaged when harvesting cork.

• The average life span of a cork tree is 150-200 years. The older the tree, the better quality of the cork.

• To complete the environmentally sound process, water based finishes and adhesives should be used.

Good for the environment:

• An environmentally sound choice for flooring.

• Better than a renewable resource because it is a harvested resource (only the bark is harvested from the tree)

• A recycled product because cork floors are made from the waste cork that makes wine stoppers.

Properties/Benefits:

• Cork is very lightweight and low in density.

• There are many different shapes, designs and colors available.

• It is very durable. It is often used in public buildings because of its durability.

• Cork is often used in libraries and churches because of its sound absorption qualities.

• Cork is more forgiving on your joints than hard surface floors because of the millions of air filled cells. This is what makes cork a great choice for kids playrooms, retail or other places where people are on their feet for hours at a time.

• If damaged, cork can be repaired.

• Cork is also a great insulator because it reduces the transmission of sound, vibration and heat. Air is sealed in each of the cells insulating from the adjacent cells with a moisture resistant, waxy like substance. A cubic cm of the honeycombed shaped cork cell contains about 40 million hexagonal cells. The cells are composed of almost 90% of an air like gas. This makes cork flooring a great choice for recording studios and other places where sound needs to be kept to a minimum.

• Cork also reduces heat loss in rooms because of the encapsulated air cells. Unlike ceramic tile, it never gets cold on your feet. It maintains an even temperature that is not too warm or too cold.

• A substance called Suberin that naturally occurs in cork makes it resistant to bugs, mold, mites and termites. Because of this substance, cork also will not rot. Also because of this substance, cork is naturally a fire inhibitor. Upon combustion, cork does not release any toxic gasses.

• People with allergies are big fans of cork floors because of their hypoallergenic properties. Cork floors do not absorb dust and are very useful for people with asthma and respiratory diseases.

• Cork is also very resilient. Because of those same air cells that help with heat loss, sound absorption and softness cork can return to its original shape even when exposed to heavy weight and pressure. This is an advantage over hardwood flooring.

Installation types:

• Cork comes unfinished and pre-finished. There are many different types of finishes that are both harmful and safe for the environment.

• In wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens, most manufacturers recommend a water based polyurethane sealant.

• Cork comes in tile shapes as well as plank shapes.

• These floors can be glueless and clicked together for installation, pre-glued or glued as long as the subfloor is dry and level.

• These floors can also be floated because of their tongue and groove

• Some floors have beveled edges that allow the floor to naturally expand and contract without buckling.

Care and Maintenance

• Cork is very easy to maintain especially with polyurethane coatings.

• Cork will fade if exposed to direct sunlight. Furniture and flooring should be moved periodically to even out the fading from sun and UV exposure.

• It will also react to humidity and moisture. Humidity should be maintained at 50-60%.

• Cork floors should be swept and vacuumed often to avoid the build up of dirt. Dirt can scratch the finish.

• Do not use abrasive cleaners or solvents, especially those that contain glycerin. These products can harm the finish making it impossible to refinish.

• A neutral PH detergent (PH of 6- should be used to clean cork floors either with a wrung out sponge or misted over the floor and damp mopped.

• Spills should be wiped up immediately.

• Chairs with casters should have minimum 2” casters.

• Mats should be used under chairs with casters to protect the finish from becoming dull.

• Furniture or chair feet should sit on wide coasters to prevent excessive indentation.

In a way, Mother Nature has taken care of your natural stone flooring for millions of years. Now it’s your turn. Here’s what you need to know about caring for your beautiful natural stone today and maintaining its timeless look for many tomorrows. Plus, knowing what’s expected of you regarding upkeep can be a determining factor in which type of natural flooring you choose to buy. Get to know exactly how to take care of your natural stone investment and it will reward you and your home for many years to come. Time spent caring for your stone floors will help maintain its classic beauty and unique personality for years to come.

• Use walk-off mats or area rugs on either side of exterior entrances. Be preventative! This will help collect loose dirt before it reaches your stone floor.
• Choose a mat with a non slip backing. Certain rubber backed mats can stain or discolor your stone.
• Mats need to be kept clean. So shake, shake, shake! Otherwise, the dirt doesn’t get removed and will make it’s way inside to scratch your floors.
• Sand, dirt and grit do the most damage to natural stone surfaces. This is due to their abrasiveness.
• Floors should be dust mopped frequently. Using a clean, non-treated dry dust mop or broom is the best method.
• Damp mop your natural stone floor. This will help keep it looking beautiful for life. Since one of the advantages of this type of floor is low maintenance, there is no need for heavy mopping.
• Do not use any acids with vinegar or household cleaners. Cleaners that are not specifically designed for stone can permanently damage the stone.
• Do not use products that contain lemon juice, vinegar or other acids. These products should not be used on marble, limestone or travertine. These products can permanently etch the stone.
• Avoid using products that contain abrasive cleaners, cleansers (dry or soft) or any ammonia-based cleaners. These products should not be used on ANY stone. These products will dull its luster.
• Do not use retail grout cleaners, scouring powders or bathroom tub and tile cleaners on your stone.
• Don’t mix bleach and ammonia. This combination creates a toxic and lethal gas.
• Rinse the floor thoroughly and dry the surface with a soft, clean cloth. Too much cleaner or soap may leave a film and cause streaks. Change your rinse water frequently. Dirty water also contains sand that can get in your mop and scratch the floor each time you move it across the floor.
• Always blot spills immediately. A neutral pH detergent or pure soap and warm water, can be used for spills or periodic complete cleaning.
• Vacuum cleaner attachments are also useful for hard to reach areas.
• To remove algae or moss from your stone in outdoor pool, patio or hot tub areas, flush with clear water and use a mild bleach solution.
• Call on your local retailer to suggest specialty products designed for use on your stone floors. If you are not sure what to use, ask a professional.
• It is your responsibility to properly maintain caulking in heavy water-use areas. This will prevent damage once your natural stone is installed.
• Take care when moving heavy objects across your stone floor. This is to avoid scratching or chipping. Once a stone floor is chipped, it is permanently damaged.
• Cover furniture and table legs with protectors to guard your floor against damage. Rolling chairs with wheels should be periodically cleaned so they do not scratch or damage your new floor.
• Each stone has different levels of susceptibility to staining. Each stone has its own level of porosity that makes some stone floors more susceptible to staining than others.
• Sealing your stone is a must. Based upon your lifestyle and the type of stone you choose, the appropriate stone sealer will protect your floor from wear and staining. Stone does not have a fired surface like ceramic and porcelain tile which do not need to be sealed.
• If you accidentally damage or stain your floor, products are available that may resolve your problem. Also, we highly recommend that enough material is purchased so that if a repair is necessary in the future you will have stone from your original order to use.

RESPECT FOR NATURE AND PASSION FOR WOOD
MAKE FOR BEAUTIFUL FLOORS

I’m Lindsay Barczuk with the Denver Office of Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. I have to be honest and tell you that when I started with Carlisle, I didn’t know the difference between oak and birch, a strip hardwood floor or a wide plank floor. Now after more than three years, I’ve learned so much about how trees grow, how to selectively harvest timber, and what goes into making a long-lasting and beautiful floor.

Stable Boards Come From Responsible Harvesters

I’d like to take this opportunity to write a little about custom crafted wide plank floors and, more importantly,
what you need to know when you are looking to find a responsible provider of wide plank wood floors. Many consumers
view wood as a commodity, and while some companies treat it as such, others recognize that this natural resource is
much more than that. When you find a company that understands the value and beauty of wood, you will most likely
find that their procurement, manufacturing, and finishing techniques differ from the mass producers.

The most fundamental aspect to any wide plank floor is obviously the wood. Not all wood is the same. Different
species of trees grow in very different climates and require different amounts of sunlight and nutrients. Some
species, like Redwoods, can live to be over a thousand years old and other trees, like White Oak, will only thrive
for 100-200 years. When you are selecting timbers for use as wide plank floors, it’s important to choose old, slow
growing trees. We’ve all seen growth rings on trees – the closer together the rings, the slower growing the tree
during those years. If a tree gets too much water or sunlight, the growth rings will be further apart. Yes, this
will lead to a bigger tree – but bigger isn’t always better. In the case of making wood floors, the tighter the
growth rings, the more stabile and durable the resulting floor.

Newly Sawn and FSC-Certified Antique Reclaimed Floors

Carlisle crafts two types of beautiful wide plank wood floors: Newly Sawn and Antique Reclaimed. Newly Sawn floors
come directly from the forest, while Antique Reclaimed floors come from old structures that are slated for
dismantling. With all Newly Sawn wood products, it is important to know where the wood originated and what methods
of foresting & harvesting a company chooses to use. We’ve all seen pictures of clear cutting forests that show
entire patches of trees being cut down at once. This approach is detrimental to surrounding ecosystems and exhibits
no long term sustainability. Carlisle will not work with foresters that use these practices, instead we are very
careful to only work with landowners and loggers that manage their forests well and use selective harvesting
techniques. This means that our vendors manage the sunlight, nutrients, and growth patterns of their trees. They
understand the process so well that they can map out their harvesting plans for decades to come – based on
generations of experience and a vested interest in the natural resource.

If you are thinking about purchasing a Reclaimed floor, there are a few things you should consider.

• First, was the material sourced from a structure that was past the point of restoration or did a reclamation company decide that,even though the building might be salvageable, there’s more money in the materials? Historic preservation is an important consideration and should be at the forefront of your provider’s mind.

• Secondly, it’s important to ask about the material itself – specifically, was the wood slow growing before it was used in the structure?
• How long ago was the structure built? Some companies reclaim flooring from, for example old high school gyms, and call the material Reclaimed. The resulting floors will look very different from a Reclaimed Antique Chestnut floor that was taken from an old barn in the Ohio River Valley.

Carlisle is the largest provider of Antique Reclaimed materials in the country and offers these floors as FSC certified 100% Post Consumer Reclaimed. This means that each and every board that goes into one of these floors came from an existing structure slated for demolition and is guaranteed to have had a previous lifecycle. These boards are more than just wood – their rich patina is the result of history.With every Antique Reclaimed floor, Carlisle will provide its customers with a certificate authenticating the floor and providing information on the original source of the material.

From Forest to Floor
Once your flooring materials – whether Newly Sawn or Antique Reclaimed – are brought on-site to be milled, there are even more steps to take!

• All newly sawn wood should be air dried for 10-12 months to slowly reduce the moisture content and to reduce the size of the water cells in the wood naturally.
• Then, both Newly Sawn and Antique Reclaimed materials must be kiln dried in a slow moisture reduction kiln. This process takes from 2-6 weeks and will gradually reduce the moisture level of the wood to 8%. With both of these processes, it is critical to work slowly because any shock to the wood is counterproductive to these steps, which further ensures stability to the wood.
• Once the materials are dried, the milling process begins. Carlisle also recommends creating floors made of random width boards; this technique best replicates the look of a traditional wide plank floor and will maximize the yield of raw materials – resulting in less waste.

When working with a company that custom crafts floors, you will have ability to specify the precise lengths and widths of your floor boards. After your floor is milled, you have just a few more choices to make regarding the installation and finishing process. When one finds a provider, like Carlisle, who takes the necessary steps in acquiring and drying your floor
carefully, you have the option of installing in a variety of ways, included over plywood, radiant heat, concrete, or
any combination within. You may choose to finish a solid wide plank floor on the jobsite or have your manufacturer
pre-finish the floor. For those who chose to have their floor pre-finished, it is imperative that the floor be
properly sealed to further ensure the stability.

Carlisle will custom craft samples – at no cost to the customer – to create the exact color, texture, and finish that will result in the exact look one seeks. They will then apply a customized combination of stain, hand-distressing, and finish to your entire floor before shipping it to the project site. Carlisle’s Custom Coat residential pre-finished floors are sealed on the top and bottom of the boards with a proprietary finish, which contains only a negligible level of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)- far exceeding state and green building guidelines. Plus, they incorporate a special additive which further inhibits mold, mildew and other unhealthy airborne microbes.

Timeless Architecture
Wide Plank Wood Floors are timeless in their architectural contribution to any design style. Carlisle takes the
extra steps to guarantee that your floor will be one of the longest lasting materials you use in your home. Because
of the effort Carlisle takes in custom crafting a floor, they stand behind their product 100% and offer a Lifetime
Quality Assurance on their floors. These floors are installed with ease – in fact, many of Carlisle’s customers are
homeowners who install their own floors with direct guidance from their professional staff available 7 days a week.
For the less ambitious, Carlisle will also be happy to recommend a local installer familiar with the Carlisle
installation process.

Thanks to Shannon and the Floor Talk community for providing me with this wonderful opportunity to share my
knowledge and passion for this company. For more information, check out Hardwood Surface or visit the Carlisle Wide
Plank Floors website.

This beautiful tile work adorns the floor at The Cloister Spa and Resort at Sea Island, Georgia. The linear detail you see to the left is actually water running through the lobby that flows into a fountain at the back of the room. This fountain flows through the wall into the adjacent room. The calming sound of water prepares your mind for the experience ahead in their world class spa. This venues floors change in nearly every room displaying some of the most beautiful patterns and natural stone you will find under one roof.