Expanding manufacturer sides with wood

THE OWNERS of Lazy S Lumber.

|. Beavercreek. Or.. and Columbia Cedar, Kettle Falls, Wa., are betting big on wood siding, by rolling out new lines of siding panels in western red cedar and in Okoum6 hardwood.

Four years ago, Ralph and Merry Schmidt opened Panel Crafters, Inc., as a specialty hardwood manufacturing plant in White City, Or.It recently began production of Cedar Craft siding panels. The line has earned the APA grade stamp for T1-11 sidings and is manufactured to APA 303 sidings specifications.

"We are in a very competitive market, and Merry and I have over 35 years in the cedar lumber industry with Lazy S Lumber and Columbia Cedar," said Ralph Schmidt. "It was a natural progression to bring that experience to our panel company."

The Schmidts have relocated from Kettle Falls to Eagle Point, Or., to spearhead the new company. "When we commit to a company, we do what it takes to make it successful," she said. "So the transfer was easy."

For the Cedar Craft line, said Ralph, the "skins come from selected cedar logs taken at Columbia Cedar. We've selected sound, secondgrowth, tight-knot logs, and shipped those to be peeled and composed, and then bring the skins to Panel Crafters, where they are graded, sorted and laid up into the Cedar Craft line."

What makes Cedar Craft unique is that the skins are exactly as nature made them. "We don't cut or blow out the knots and replace them with a synthetic putty," he noted. "We only repair the knots that fall out during the creation of the skins, so the natural look of tight-knot cedar is graded into our product line.

"The added rough saw will texture and pattern the panels exactly as specified by the APA. We've worked very closely with them to assure our customers are getting a product they are familiar with in construction, but unique and natural in appearance."

To be able to offer a more versatile selection, the Panel Crafters facility is also producing an Okoum6 hardwoodfaced line called Craftsman. "It's an A-grade Okoum6 panel that will have the same textured finish as the Cedar Craft panels, but is a true clear, light wood color," Ralph said.

Craftsman will be sold through sister companies Columbia Cedar and Lazy S Lumber. "Some of our customers have been misled to believe that Okoum6 is cedar," noted Columbia Cedar sales manager Chris Retherford. "I think it's important to know the difference. Okoum6 is an African hardwood and is also known as gaboon. It has a light salmon to tan color, and in veneers it rarely has knots. Our Cedar Craft panels are (Please turn to page 55)