Chicago Wide Plank Flooring 101
Learn everything there is to know about Chicagoland wide plank flooring – from the personality of different hardwood species to the many choices available for width, color, grade, finish, texture, pattern, and more.
Installer: H&M Flooring Design
Product: Custom Rift & Quartersawn White Oak
ID# 11714
Product: Sincerity
ID# 12684
Builder: Loren Wood Builders Design Build
Designer: Loren Wood Builders Design Build Architect: Lucien Lagrange
The beauty of wide plank flooring
Wide plank hardwood flooring is a hardwood floor fashioned from boards that are much wider and longer than traditional floorboards. The widths of a wide plank floor may range from 4” to 20”, and the lengths of each plank may run as long as 16’.
The visual difference is significant. Flooring has hundreds of seams that produce a very busy look and that obscure the personality and grain of the timber. Wide plank flooring, on the other hand, preserves the distinctive grain patterns of the original hardwood and produces a more pleasing, harmonious look that can transform a room.
The benefits of wide plank wood floors
When compared to standard flooring, wide plank wood flooring provides:
- A stunning design feature. Rather than simply serving as a flooring surface, wide plank floors become a central design element in a space, lending greater elegance and visual interest to any room.
- A less “busy” look. With far fewer seams between boards, wide plank flooring looks less busy and cluttered than standard flooring.
- More durability. Wider, longer planks provide greater stability for floors.
- Easier installation. With fewer boards, the installation process for a wide plank floor may be quicker than with standard flooring.
Product: Custom Birch
ID#10800
Types of hardwood
Carlisle wide plank hardwood flooring for Chicago and the surrounding areas’ homes and businesses may be created from a variety of wood species.
Ash
planks feature hues that run from cream to light blonde and rich nutty brown. This hardwood is highly dense and has a meandering grain.
Birch
has a dramatic beauty created by blonde outer edges and warm amber portions. The grain pattern ranges from highly figured flames to subtle swirls with hues in blonde, warm amber, and rich reddish-brown.
Brown Maple
has clear, hard-flowing grain with occasional swirls. The colors feature rich brown streaks and striking variations.
Cherry
has a burnished auburn color with subtle but distinctive flowing grain patterns. Over time, the deep red tones in a cherry plank will mature into a rich, burnished auburn color.
Eastern White Pine
boasts beautiful knots, smooth grain, and versatile finish capabilities. As one of America’s most time-honored wood species for wide plank, you’ll find Eastern White Pine in everything from early American colonial homes to contemporary urban lofts.
Heart Pine
has a warm patina with rich colors that run from amber and pumpkin to darker, more modern hues.
Hickory
is one of the most durable hardwood floors available, with a tensile strength that rivals steel. Interesting grain patterns and hues that range from lighter blonde in the sapwood to cocoa brown and beige in the heartwood make Hickory floors just as handsome as they are tough.
Red Oak
is an extremely popular wood with pinkish, salmon tones. It offers tight, consistent grain patterns and comes in exceptional widths and lengths.
Walnut
is prized for its sumptuous chocolate hues, distinctive grain, and gorgeous color variations. Walnut creates a spectacular floor with or without stain.
White Oak
has a dramatic grain personality that runs from intricate, vibrant swirls to sleek and simple patterns with nutty brown hues. The dense fibers of this wood make it a highly durable floor with a versatile look that works for casual, formal, or contemporary designs.
Rift and Quartersawn White Oak
is cut at a 90° angle from a log’s growth rings to produce boards with uniform, vertical patterns and tight, straight parallel lines. This wood choice radiates elegance and traditional beauty.
White Maple
offers striking grain patterns that look like flowing water. The wood has cleaner and lighter hues with a more neutral finish.
Reclaimed wide plank flooring
For a unique and historic look for homes or businesses in Chicagoland, reclaimed floors are a great option. This type of wide plank flooring is made from floorboards and other timbers salvaged from centuries-old buildings, farms, and factories that have been scheduled for demolition. With character created by time, weather, and wear, reclaimed timbers give a wide plank floor a unique color and texture that brings richness, warmth, and a sense of history to any space.
Designer: Fox-Nahem Design
Product: Custom Reclaimed Oak
ID#10861
Wood grade
In hardwood flooring, a grade refers to the quality and appearance of the wood. This includes characteristics like the number and size of knots, the variation in color, and the presence of other natural features. Carlisle’s proprietary wood flooring grades are of equal quality, stability, and performance. This allows you to choose the grade that will work best for the look you want without worrying that your choice will compromise quality or stability.
Original Grade
These planks are hand-selected by Carlisle craftsmen to reveal more of the natural character from the tree such as color and grain variation, knots, and other character that give a floor a more relaxed and rustic look.
Heirloom Grade
This grade offers a truly luxurious and refined look for a Chicago hardwood floor. Planks are graded for less variation with smaller and fewer knots for a more formal look.
Signature Grade
This grade combines the best of Original and Heirloom characteristics for a wide plank floor that truly “tells the story” of the tree from which the planks were made. Signature Grade is reminiscent of the floors of our forefathers, when nothing went to waste and the entire tree was used.
Width and length
The widths of a floorboard in a wide plank floor may run as high as 20 inches, though 7” to 8” tends to be the average. Lengths may run up to 16 feet, with an average of 7’ for most hardwoods and 11’ for wider floors. Choosing random widths work in any décor — rustic or modern. Selecting planks of a consistent width provides a clean, consistent, linear look.
Structure: Solid vs engineered wood
When choosing Carlisle hardwood flooring in Chicagoland, you’ll have a choice of floors made with solid hardwood or engineered wood. Solid planks are cut directly from the tree. Engineered wood flooring is made by adhering a veneer of hardwood to multiple layers or plies of backing material. This structure is designed to hold up well in spaces that see greater fluctuation in relative humidity. It’s perfect for installations in basements, over concrete slabs, or on radiant heating systems. Both solid and engineered wood floors can be refinished, and both provide a beautiful surface that will last for years.
Color: Finishing Options
Selecting wood color for floors is a very subjective decision. You can start by deciding whether lighter or darker hues will best suit your vision for a room, and whether you prefer wood with more consistent tones or with a lot of color variation. Woods like Hickory, Ash, Birch, Walnut, and Brown Maple will show a lot more variation, while Cherry, White Maple, Red Oak, White Oak, and Eastern White Pine will have more consistent color.
You can also achieve color for your floor by applying a stain. At Carlisle, there’s virtually no limit to your choice for stain color. If you love the original color of the wood, our premium topcoat finishes enhance natural colors and are available in Semi-gloss, Satin, Extra Matte and Super Matte. Our UV Oil finishes are available in Super Matte. We also offer a range of traditional stain colors, and we can produce a stain that’s an exact match to a paint swatch, section of fabric, or a bit of tile you bring in.
Texture
Texturing a wide plank floor has become quite popular for homeowners looking to personalize their Chicago wide plank floor. At Carlisle, we offer a variety of hardwood floor texture options, including several proprietary techniques.
Wire-brushed
Wire-brushed treatments recreate the uneven contours of wood planks that have been worn down over the centuries. Using a wire brush, our craftsmen wear away the softer grains in the planks, leaving the denser grain to form ridges that look like natural aging.
Hand-scraped Edges
Hand-scraped edges are created with techniques that were common in woodworking 200+ years ago, when craftsmen would bevel the edges of planks before installation to ease the transition from one wood plank to the next.
Hit or Miss
Hit or Miss textures recreate the kerfs or saw swirl markings that were common on boards band sawn at early sawmills. These saw marks give planks a rustic appearance that’s similar to reclaimed flooring, but at a fraction of the cost.
Timeworn
Timeworn treatments use a proprietary process to recreate the natural patterns in floors that are gently worn by footsteps and the passage of time.
Footworn
Footworn treatments replicate the look of floors that were originally sawn and planed smooth by hand.
Site finished vs prefinished floors
Builder: Haegland & Schmidt Builders LLC
Designer: Greg Jagmin Associates
Architect: Elements Architecture Group
Product: Custom Walnut
ID#12129
Finishing a floor is the process of sanding the wood, applying stains, and sealing it with treatments that help to protect the floor over time. This process can either take place on site, or the boards can be prefinished at our factory before being shipped to your home or business. Traditionally, prefinished hardwood flooring looked cheap and felt inferior to floors finished on site. However, Carlisle has developed a finishing process that makes prefinished floors virtually indistinguishable from site-finished surfaces.
Prefinishing your floor offers several benefits. Installing a prefinished floor means there is no mess from sanding and no odors from stains and sealants. You won’t have to vacate the premises for several days to allow it to dry. Installation will be faster, and a prefinished floor can be treated with stronger sealants that offer additional protection, which is not available during on-site installation.
Designer; Enda Donagher Architect
Builder: Alphacraft Construction of NY
Photographer: Mark Roskams Photography
Product: Sanctuary 6” x 30” Chevron
ID#13012
Patterns
Hardwood floors with patterns, also known as parquet flooring, have become popular again after falling out of favor for several decades. Patterned floors first originated in the manors and castles in 16th century Europe and have been associated with stylishness and luxury ever since. At Carlisle, we fashion floors in a variety of different patterns, including Herringbone, Chevron, and Versailles. We also work closely with our customers to create stunning custom patterns.
Product: Haven 6” x 30” Chevron
ID# 11139
Carlisle Chicagoland Customer Stories
Carlisle floors, where to begin! As a design build firm, we love working with such a high-quality local vendor like Carlisle. When it comes to hard woods in the luxury market, Carlisle provides beautiful natural, and engineer wood options that run the spectrum. Scott and Alexandra are our reps and constantly provide consistent products and support no matter the size of the job.
ARIELLE
HOMEOWNER
HINSDALE, ILLINOIS
We are so happy with our flooring. The quality and overall appearance of the floor is amazing. I would purchase this flooring 10 times over again! Friends and family who have seen the floor love it.
LARRY
HOMEOWNER
LOVES PARK, ILLINOIS
Thank you so much for everything, Katie! You and Allie are the best to work with. Carlisle is my #1 wood flooring company and will always recommend you! With all the trials and tribulations of building, your support has always been with us. I look forward to the next stage and will send pictures in the future.
SUE
HOMEOWNER
JASPER HIGHLANDS, TENNESSEE
Thanks to the entire team at Carlisle Wide Plank Floors for excellent customer service and for delivering the most amazing handcrafted flooring! Our expectations were high and Carlisle delivered exceptional flooring. Carlisle committed to deliver on a specific date and delivered on the date, which is extremely impressive during a pandemic. Everyone at Carlisle was so professional – a first class operation! Carlisle stands behind its product, sales and commitment to excellence.
RUTH & CHRIS
HOMEOWNER
BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
Our Carlisle flooring is unbelievably great! It turned out better than we had visioned. Top quality
MARTY
HOMEOWNER
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
We did not know about Carlisle before we started to search for hardwood flooring for a complete home renovation. We stumbled upon them at the Chicago merchandise Mart. From the minute we walked into the store, we felt welcome, we met with extremely knowledgeable people, who did not push us to make decisions, and then over backwards to help us decide, offered us take-home samples as many as we wanted, explained the process in detail, and provided expert advice. It was evident to us as we compared different companies flooring that Carlisle stood above the rest. It was a better made product all around. Our floors look fantastic. We couldn’t be happier. At the end of the day, the flooring cost, while higher than what we were looking to spend was not that much higher than comparable companies.
LESLIE
HOMEOWNER
HINSDALE, ILLINOIS
Absolutely perfect floor. Tom from Red Oak was awesome too. I am so happy with the outcome. I can’t tell you how many people have come to my home and raved about the wonderful floors.
JANE
HOMEOWNER
HIGHWOOD, ILLINOIS
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