"I need some Teak for an upcoming project." "Great, how much do you need and what kind of specs?""800 board feet of at least 6" width, and I want it to be A grade stuff.""Okay, we have FEQ, that's First European Quality, Teak and the width isn't a problem; any length spec?""At least 12 foot lengths.""Okay, great, let me work up a quote, and I'll get you some numbers..."This conversation happens every day between lumber buyer and dealer hundreds of times. The species and … [Read more...]
How Much Will My Lumber Cost?
This is a question that probably is asked several thousand times a second in the lumber business. No matter whether the customer is buying hardwood, softwood, plywood, or even a milled wood product, it all comes down to, "How much will it cost?" I think the lumber industry has developed a bad reputation for keeping its cards too close to the vest on price, much to the chagrin of its customers. I can't tell you how many times I have walked into a lumber yard with no idea of how much I was … [Read more...]
Wait Before Installing Deck Boards
You just bought some decking or flooring (or really any lumber) and one of the first things you hear is that it needs time to acclimate to its new surroundings before installing deck boards. The maddening thing is you will rarely get the same answer twice when it comes to how long that particular lumber should sit around getting in touch with its feelings. If pressed for an answer to "how long should my decking acclimate?" I can answer with a solid "it depends". Trying to apply a universal … [Read more...]
Composite Decking Problems and Boardwalks
It seems that every year another boardwalk is being replaced. Whether the catalyst is a hurricane or just age, these monstrous projects keep coming up. When "boardwalk season" comes around, new construction bids and RFQs are on everyone's minds. Unfortunately, pressure is being brought to bear on city planners from environmental lobby groups to use composite decking to rebuild the boardwalks. I'm not going to try and pretend I'm unbiased in this ongoing fight between tropical decking and … [Read more...]
Things to Look For When Buying Teak Lumber
With the trade embargo lifted on Myanmar, Teak lumber buying is set to get very confusing very quickly with many new suppliers entering the market. It is still unclear whether this will lower the barrier to entry for those looking to get into the Teak game, but it is a safe bet that with the Myanmar government already talking about banning exports, many players will try to get into the market while they can. Previously, the serious buyer could always discount the lower quality lumber by … [Read more...]
Do you really Need Marine Grade Plywood?
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 … [Read more...]
Wood Moves, Get Over It
As if it were some kind of perpetual motion machine, wood will never stop moving. No matter how old it is, what has been done to seal it, fasten it, or restrain it, the wood will move. Accept it, and move on. Understanding how and why your wood moves is necessary if you are going to work with this wonderful medium. Understanding how a particular species and cut moves is even more important when it comes to figuring out the tolerances you have to work with.Think of wood as a bundle of … [Read more...]
Dispelling the Myth That Lumber Importing is Bad for the Environment
As an importer of record in many exotic species like Genuine Mahogany, Teak, and Ipe; J. Gibson McIlvain is acutely aware of the stigma attached to rainforest wood species and the spectre of global warming that looms over our industry. The facts are that deforestation is not a result of the lumber import trade, but in many cases caused by the disruption of it. Additionally, regulation by local, federal, international, and corporate entities provides a clear provenance of the lumber from forest … [Read more...]
Tigerwood Decking or Ipe or Cumaru: Tropical Decking Choices
Spring time is here and with it comes deck building season. This is the time of year when our millwork department spends 75% of the day grooving Ipe decking boards for hidden fasteners. At any given moment there are several trucks being loaded with Ipe or Cumaru or Tigerwood decking to be shipped off to our customers around the country. As we have written about on this blog earlier, Ipe is really an unrivaled decking species, but the price continues to climb every year. So it is that this … [Read more...]
Understanding Hardwood Lumber Grading
For more than a century, the hardwood lumber industry has held to a central grading standard established by the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA). Thanks to the foresight of the early founders of the NHLA in 1898, some order has been added to the chaos that had become the lumber trade. Finally there was a standardized system of grading to determine quality of lumber. Today we take this grading system for granted and it has become a universal way to quickly convey the quality of a … [Read more...]