Quality Wood Products Since 1798: Wholesale Hardwood, Softwood, Plywood, Millwork

For most of us when you think of painting wood you think of Poplar.  This is probably the best species around for taking paint well with it’s good base color and close pores.  Very little if any priming is necessary and the paint flows smoothly across the surface.  Plus you just can’t beat the price of Poplar!  This is great for interior work but once you head outside Poplar doesn’t do so well.  Of course adding paint to any surface adds an element of protection but don’t expect things to look great after a year or two.  For the best [...] Read more »

Whenever someone learns that I work for a lumber company I am often greeted with questions about where our lumber comes from or how we are coping with waning supply.  The general perception is that loggers clear cut every tree in the last 200 years and there are so few trees left that how could an industry such as ours continue to operate. Whether this is because of an exhausted supply or in good conscience with our resources so depleted.  I want to take a moment and dispel some of these perceptions.  I will focus primarily on North American domestic [...] Read more »

One of our core value adds here at J. Gibson McIlvain is that we know a LOT about wood. Every day we help our customers pick the best species for their project and advise on care, installation, and maintenance. Recently it seems one of our would- be customers decided to test us to see how good we really are. It was a few weeks ago when one of the jolliest people you have ever heard called in.  He stated that he had an exterior project he was building that would be subjected to all manner of weather conditions and massive [...] Read more »

Over the last 6-8 months I have spoken with many of our customers and our sales staff in an effort to understand our place in the market and why people buy from us.  The stories and feedback I got were powerful and helped to crystallize some points that have been running around my head for several months relating to why someone should use J Gibson McIlvain as their wood supplier.  In every instance I was able to boil it down to 4 points that I believe are our key value adds. Wood Species Expertise J. Gibson McIlvain has been in [...] Read more »

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we are thankful for many things at J. Gibson McIlvain.  It is a blessing to be surrounded by so much beautiful wood and to be able to work with so many customers who are passionate about what they do.  Whether it be boats, homes, or furniture we are all bound together by the medium we work with: wood.  So thank you to all our suppliers, partners, and certainly our customers for allowing us to earn your business and sharing your passion with us. I thought it appropriate this week to take a detour from our usual [...] Read more »