Wood Supply Chain

Posted by Criswell Davis on

I want to start this edition of “Criswell’s Corner” by telling you all that the hiatus I took this winter was actually due to a cancer diagnosis I received in October of 2013. I have been focused on my treatment and recovery and am happy to report that two weeks ago I had a PET scan that was free of cancer.

It was a difficult period, but I am proud to say that Frank Miller Lumber stood by me and my family throughout the entire ordeal.  In the world of commerce, the character of a company is very important.  If I am going to align myself with a company who will play a crucial role in the outcome of a project, I want to align myself with a company of integrity and true character.  I have proudly represented Frank Miller Lumber for nearly 18 years, the first 14 as a salesman and the past 4 as an architectural marketing consultant.

Through good financial times and bad (we all remember 2008, right?) Frank Miller Lumber has consistently produced some of the world’s highest quality quartersawn hardwoods.  The company has never waivered and my cancer treatment showed the kind of commitment that the company makes to its employees as well as its customers.  If one is judged by the company they keep, I am proud to be judged by my association with Frank Miller Lumber.

As a designer or architect it is more important now than ever that if high quality hardwoods are an aesthetic feature of your project you should forge a strong alliance with a premium mill like Frank Miller Lumber.  Leaving the successful outcome of your project to the vagaries of the lumber market can often result in heartache and disappointment.

Unlike other materials that will be used in your project, many factors affect hardwood lumber supply.  Let’s look at the current situation in the market.  After the financial recession of 2008 many log suppliers went out of business, as did many sawmills.  The strongest companies, Frank Miller Lumber among them, stayed the course and remain healthy to this day.  The market for quartersawn hardwoods is stronger than ever as is the market for plain sawn lumber around the globe.  Supply is the problem now.  Demand has classically outpaced supply.  In September I was speaking to architects and designers in Saigon with a group of American Hardwood suppliers.  One hardwood mill representative told me that he was very anxious about going out the next day to talk to his customers because they all want plain sawn red oak for their furniture manufacturing and there was simply not enough wood to go around.  He was actually going to have to cancel some orders.  It is my guess that those companies who had not forged a relationship with him would be the ones to come up short in supply.

Developing a hardwood supply chain for your project early in the design phase is critical to a successful outcome.  Frank Miller Lumber is unique in allowing me to represent them to the design community.  Allow me to work with you to develop the crucial hardwood supply chain that you will require for your project.  Feel free to send me an email at [email protected] and I will be very pleased to assist you in whatever way I can.

Case Studies

Posted by Criswell Davis on

A friend sent me this picture of Patrick Stewart doing a one armed push-up and while that is an impressive feat, my eye was immediately drawn to the floor, which is rift white oak.  Now I want to find out more – is that Patrick’s house?  Who made the floor?  Who designed the space?  Could the lumber have come from Frank Miller?

I spend a significant amount of time thumbing through Architectural Digest and Architectural Record looking at the amazingly beautiful homes, hotels and other commercial buildings featured.  From time to time I see a gorgeous floor or built-in cabinetry that appears to be made from quartersawn white or red oak.  Rarely, if ever, is the flooring mentioned in the article.  I have, from time to time, tried to chase down the architects to see about writing a case study on the quartersawn lumber used in their design.  With a few exceptions, that effort has proved fruitless.

One perfect example of the futility of this effort is an 8,000 square foot residential space in Portland, Oregon where I worked with the architect on using rift white oak for the floors.  They were thinking of using an exotic wood for which there would be no sustainability paper trail and I convinced them to use rift white oak because it is FSC certified and was the most stable and beautiful floor they could lay in that space.  These conversations spanned many months and in the end the designers went with rift white oak and apparently were thrilled with it.  Naturally the goal was to have the rift white oak come from Frank Miller Lumber so that the quality could be monitored.  We fine-tuned the lumber specifications to align them with the realities of the resource and I followed the job from start to finish.  The missing link was the contractor who took the specs and delivered the flooring on time.  I tried repeatedly to talk to the contractor to find out who made the floors so that I might be able to determine if the flooring manufacturer is a customer of Frank Miller’s.  The contractor refused to reveal the source of the flooring as if revealing that information would somehow compromise his business.  I offered to have professional photographs taken of the project that he could use for his own marketing efforts.  All of my work was in vain.  I can reasonably assume that the lumber came from Frank Miller, but without knowing for sure, I can’t write a case study like we did for the Barnes Museum.  We know in that case that all of that lumber came from our mill.

The tricky thing is that because Frank Miller Lumber is not a flooring manufacturer we can’t say for sure where all of the lumber we produce goes.  When I suggest that designers and architects work directly with the mill, I mean that Frank Miller Lumber should be specified as the source of the lumber.  When that happens, all of the worries about quality, appearance and timely delivery are settled.  Frank Miller Lumber, when specified, becomes a partner in the project, one upon whom you can rely.  We can even recommend the best flooring manufacturers in the area surrounding the project to heighten your sense of security.  After the project is complete we can write a case study to tell the world about your beautiful work.

Sheer Volume of Projects

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As I travel all over the U.S. and around the world talking to architecture and design firms, I have been struck by the unbelievable volume of planned construction of five and six-star hotels in the next five years.  One hotel group has 80, yes 80 hotels scheduled for China in the next five years.  Another has 15 planned for India in the next five years.  These are only two hotel companies and two countries.  When added together, the scope of planned building is mind-boggling.  All of these hotel properties are massive undertakings.  For example, a hotel in China that is under construction will have its reception desk on the 101st floor.  I am advising on a large hotel in India, one in Saudi Arabia and another in Qatar.  When I consider the amount of man-hours and intellectual capital involved with the design and construction processes and multiply that by the number of projects on the books, I find it extremely hard to comprehend.  One large international hotel company with whom I am working established an office in Dubai in early 2011 and had 40 projects immediately and now, half a year later, they are working on an additional 40.

There is a place for American hardwoods in many of these properties as a sustainable and beautiful interiors material.  I was asked this week about using American hardwoods in environments that aren’t “controlled”, such as in Singapore, where I was speaking.  My natural reaction is to say that all indoor environments are controlled, but upon quick reflection, I realized that there are many living spaces in tropical climates where windows are open most of every day.  In those environments the most logical choice would be quartersawn Red or White Oak which will only shrink and swell in thickness rather than width as it adjusts to the moisture in the environment.

As all of these hotel projects take shape it is my mission to make sure that sustainable American hardwoods are considered.  There are significant opportunities in the next five to ten years and as an industry, we should be at the table.

Be Specific With Specs

Posted by Criswell Davis on

I have been assisting some designers and architects in the past year who find themselves up against the clock on a job where hardwood specifications aren’t being met. I tell them the problem is that it’s very rare that the people who are trying to get the job will actually tell the truth about what is and is not possible.

Imagine a scenario where you get three hardwood flooring companies together to bid on a job that is simply impossible to produce. This could be for myriad reasons — the widths and lengths aren’t in synch with the species, the color won’t be perfectly matched to your sample or the time line is simply too short. Now imagine that two of the company reps say they can absolutely produce exactly what you have specified. The third rep ponders for a minute and says that it can’t be done for any price or any time frame. My advice is to dismiss the first two people and talk to the last guy who was willing to walk away from the job.

Everyone wants work, and if someone is willing to pass on the job, they must have a good reason. They can help you re-imagine the space in such a way that it will be unique and beautiful, even if different than your original vision. It is much better to do this exercise at the very beginning of the project than find out at the tail end that the job was never going to look the way you envisioned it. No one wants to have to go back to the client 18 months into the project to renegotiate the look of the space, now based on reality. A bit of work up-front with experts will save a great deal of heartache later. Ask for a truthful evaluation of your hardwood specifications.

Connect to the Mill!

Posted by Criswell Davis on

When I talk to architectural design professionals about using sustainable quartersawn hardwood in their designs, I always stress the importance of connecting to the source of the lumber. By connecting to the source, you can develop specifications for the project that are based in reality. If left to the various contractors and subcontractors involved, the final project will often bear only a faint resemblance to the original vision.

As a designer, it is important to know the realities of the resource and rely on the experts to help you. If American hardwood has a place in your aesthetic vision, let Frank Miller Lumber help you to make it a reality.

Who Is Criswell?

Posted by Criswell Davis on

I have 25 years of experience in the hardwood industry, 16 of which have been as a representative of Frank Miller Lumber, the world’s largest quartersawn hardwood sawmill.

For the past several years I have been on a crusade of sorts as a consultant to architects and designers across the U.S., teaching them about the wonders and realities of sustainable U.S. hardwoods and the most beautiful form of those hardwoods, quartersawn. I tell architects and designers that it is my job to inspire the use of U.S. hardwoods in their designs where such inspiration might not exist. Further, I will teach them the differences between plainsawn and quartersawn hardwoods, helping to find the appropriate use for both.

The challenge is to take the unbridled imagination of designers and squeeze it through the funnel of reality so that the vision can be realized in the end. As is true of humans, every tree is unique, and there are limitations that need to be taken into account during the design process. Just because you can imagine 10,000 square feet of rift white oak flooring with a 10-inch face, all color matched with no medullary ray, it doesn’t mean it is possible to produce.

I will keep you apprised of my travels, observations and cautionary tales here in these blogs and on my Twitter feed, @QuartersawnGuru.