Materials
We use only the highest grade woods, dowels, glue, and fasteners.
- Western Red Cedar (WRC) - Clear, vertical grain western red cedar is a light, strong, and rot resistant soft wood. Cedar has a wonderful patina, with colors ranging from light orange to chocolate. It is used for a wide variety of external applications, and as a decorative wood for interiors. WRC is generally too soft for high usage applications such as doors or shelving. We source all of our cedar from sustainably harvested forests in British Columbia.
- Sapele (SAP) – A tropical hardwood in the Mahogany family, Sapele has a rich reddish chocolate color, and is dense, stable, and rot resistant choice for interior or exterior applications.
- Poplar (POP) - Interior paint grade screens are constructed from poplar, a fine grained, cost effective hardwood.
Other species -We offer beech for interior stain grade applications, and other interior or exterior hardwood options, including walnut, redwood, white oak, and others. Call for prices and other species.
Finish
To protect our employees, neighbors, and the environment, we use only solvent free and low or no VOC finishes.
- Natural (N) - Natural western red cedar or panels can be left unfinished for natural graying (exterior), or site-applied finish. We recommend application of any off-the-shelf UV inhibitor to retard UV damage.
- Penetrating Old Growth Oil (OGO) - We use a zero VOC green product (Penefin Verde (TM) ) that creates a rich oiled wood option for interior or exterior. For exterior installations, maintain every 2-4 years by washing and applying Penefin (available in our accessories page) or equivalent exterior oil.
- Semi-solid Stains (SS) - A choice of two shades of gray(Gray-GY, Charcoal-BK) are available in our factory applied semi-solid exterior stains. Our process allows a hint of natural wood grain and color to show through. Maintain exterior installations every 2-5 years with application of a clear coat(available online).
- Primer (WPR)- To facilitate site application of paint, we can ship any of our products primed and ready for top coat.
- Interior Stains and Finishes – We can provide a wide range of stains and urethane or waterborne lacquer clear coats.
Craftsmanship
All of our products are fabricated with all-wood joinery.
- Lattice joints are flush, and joined with half laps and a blind dowel secured with non-toxic waterproof glue. This allows natural movement with temperature and moisture, and prevents splitting and loosening associated with steel screws and nails. Joints display the end grain of sticks for a decorative effect.
- Lattice-to-frame joints use mortise and tenon joinery.
- Corner joints use either mortise and tenon with pin, or hardwood dowels depending upon the application.