Lumber Sustainability and Stewardship

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Poplar and Walnut Lumber Sheds

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 »

Teak Specifications are Different from Other Wood Species

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Teak interior millwork

Lumber users have come to expect certain general specifications from their wood such as commonly available lengths and widths. However when talking about Teak those specifications play by their own rules. The reality is that is not so much the tree’s natural limitations but the market driven price point that effects how Teak is available. Between sheer distance from forest to lumber yard and economic sanctions preventing purchases direct from the source, the Teak board foot price has been steadily climbing for decades. With most species premium quality will always demand a higher price while unstable, short, narrow, and defected [...] Read more »

Choosing the Best Wood: A Special Customer Request

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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 »

Wide Plank Flooring is Beautfiul but Tricky

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Lately we have been running into a lot of wide plank flooring jobs.  In high end remodeling and construction, these 12″ and wider planks are a popular choice.  Proportionally speaking, the bigger the room the wider the planks need to be to look “right”, unless you are looking for that bowling alley appearance.  The latest trend in reclaimed flooring and rustic flooring also plays nicely into this as many wide boards are available for a truly one of a kind appearance.  There is no question, these wide plank floors are stunning but they can be tricky to obtain and mill, [...] Read more »

Why J Gibson McIlvain

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Hardwood Lumber Grading in process

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 »

What Story Does Your Lumber Tell?

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Reclaimed Timber Frame

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 »

Sapele is the Cream of the African Mahogany Market

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Sapele Plywood Panels

Easily one of the most popular hardwoods in our inventory in the last year has been Sapele.  Each day we get requests for quotes and the Sapele species page on this site is one of the most clicked on.  In my opinion all of this attention is justified as Sapele is an outstanding African species that is only gaining in popularity because of it’s ease of use in so many applications.  Sapele has long been a known entity by the windows, doors, and siding manufacturers.  The more customers we expose to this wonderful hardwood, the more people who are blown [...] Read more »

Value Engineering Architectural Millwork Specifications

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Cypress Architectural Millwork

I’m decidedly biased in this statement but I’ll say it anyway.  Wood is beautiful.  I think many will agree with me as we are seeing an increase in millwork jobs and the design styles in vogue are starting to feature more natural wood.  The issue however is that for several decades the growth of composite and engineered materials made many forget that wood is grown not made.  You cannot always get the sizes and exact color match that you get with an engineered product.  An intimate understanding of the lumber industry is often required to ensure the designs in your [...] Read more »

Do you really Need Marine Grade Plywood?

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Any call or email we get for marine grade plywood results in a series of questions about why it is needed and how it will be put to use.  The term “marine grade” is used a bit too liberally by manufacturers to be trusted at face value.  In other words there are many shades of gray to it and and most likely a good product can be found for your project whether it be exterior home work, a marina, or a boat.  The standards required by APA- The Engineered Wood Association, for a product to be called “marine grade” are [...] Read more »

Hardwood Plywood Core Comparisons

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Hardwood Plywood Samples

Did you know that J. Gibson McIlvain sells plywood?  It came to my attention recently when visiting customers that this was not a well known fact.  Certainly hardwoods is where our legacy lies with hundreds of years in that market, but we decided to jump into plywood several years ago to offer some alternatives to our customers.  Despite plywood’s popularity, users tend to know very little about some of the features that distinguish a top quality sheet from the rest.  I know personally that I have had some bad experiences with this supposed “stable” material when a cheaper made sheet [...] Read more »