How is lumber made? Watch this video

Watch this video to see how lumber is made at Wightman Specialty Woods.

Coming Soon!

Visit Wightman Specialty Woods this winter in Albany and the Hudson Valley:

Great Northeast Home Show
February 6-8, 2009
Empire State Plaza, Albanyhttp://www.greatnortheasthomeshow.com/

BAHV - Trade Show
February 25, 2009
Anthonys Pier 9, New Windsor http://www.hvbuilder.com/

Fall Open House

Thank you to those who came out for our Open House last month!

Click here to view the winners of our woodworking competition.

Changing Seasons

It's that time of year again in the northeast. The leaves have fallen, the temperature has dropped, and the air has become dry. This time of year, many of us are thinking about "winterizing" our homes.

One thing to consider during this process is how to best control your indoor air moisture levels throughout the winter months. When air becomes too dry a variety of problems start to occur: our skin feels itchy, our eyes become irritated, and static electricity occurs. Dry air also affects wood by causing it to shrink which can result in cracks, squeaks or gaps in floors, cabinets and doors.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends indoor relative humidity levels at 30-50%. In winter months, it is common for our homes to become dry, in large part due to air leaks. When cold air from outdoors enters a home it is heated to the indoor temperature. Because cold air is not able to hold nearly the amount of moisture that warm air is, when these two mix, relative humidity decreases and the home becomes dry.

There are ways to mitigate this problem and maintain recommended relative humidity levels. It is important to seal and eliminate air leaks to reduce the amount of outdoor air coming into your home. Caulking and sealing around windows, doors, and any other seams, cracks and openings to the outside will make your home more air tight. This will help maintain your air moisture levels, reduce your heating requirements, and ultimately make your home more energy efficient. For more tips on sealing air leaks and to find out where air may be escaping from your home visit the U.S. Department of Energy.

Of course our homes will never be air tight - at the very least, we have to enter and exit our living space. Humidifiers will increase and maintain recommended air moisture levels and protect us from the adverse effects of low relative humidity. There are numerous humidification systems on the market from small, inexpensive humidifiers that can be moved from room to room, to whole house humidification systems that are built into heating systems.

We hope these tips will help you to enjoy a safe and healthy winter!

Our Commitment to Quality and Sustainability

The last time you purchased wood materials, did you know where the raw wood was sourced, or how your materials were manufactured?

At Wightman Specialty Woods we are committed to delivering our customers the highest quality wood materials, while leaving the smallest carbon footprint on our environment.

To reduce the harmful effects of transporting non-native species into our area, we source nearly all of our raw wood materials from our local forests of central New York State. Once raw materials arrive, they remain at our facility throughout the entire milling process.

In our day-to-day operations, we adhere to strict principles of conservation and preservation of resources. From our sawing, to drying to milling facilities, we use state-of-the-art equipment which allows us to generate the maximum amount of useable materials, while leaving little of our wood fibers to waste.

At Wightman Specialty Woods we also reuse or repurpose all materials that would have been waste. Our sawdust is primarily used as fuel for our boilers which heat our drying kilns; remaining sawdust is sold to local farmers. Bark and wood chip materials are sold to landscapers and regional manufacturers of fiberboard, wood pellets and other products.

Visit our website today to learn more about Wightman Specialty Woods' environmental commitment and get ideas for how to use our responsibly manufactured materials in your next project.

Endless possibilities: Square Edge materials

With the winter months fast approaching, now is the time you might be ready to start that woodworking project you've been talking about all summer. At Wightman Specialty Woods we stock a wide variety of northeastern hardwoods and softwoods to accommodate everyone from the professional cabinet maker to the do-it-yourself home owner.

Our S2S and S4S materials are available in a variety of dimensions and grades. Hardwood species include Basswood, Cherry, Hard Maple, Red Oak, Soft Maple, Hickory, Ash, Birch, Black Walnut and White Oak. Softwood species include Eastern white pine and Cypress.

The possibilities that square edge materials hold are truly endless. Our wood has been transformed into hand-carved cribs, intricate clocks, turkey calls, guitars, doll houses and so many more.

For those of you looking for larger quantities of S2S or rough materials, we also accept small lot wholesale orders (500 - 3,000 BF).

From stock to truly custom, Wightman knows moulding

When builders want solid wood baseboard moulding, they come to Wightman. When architects want one-of-a-kind custom crown moulding created from scratch, they come to Wightman. When museums want to replicate a small section of a historic chair rail, they come to Wightman.

In addition to substantial stock profiles in Eastern white pine and Red Oak, Wightman maintains a database of more than 400 custom profiles that can be milled in a variety of northeastern wood species. And if you still can't find the perfect profile, Wightman's skilled technicians can take a small section of an existing moulding or a detailed drawing, and grind new knives to create the unique profile that matches your specifications.

Unlike other mills, Wightman places no minimum required quantity on custom moulding orders.

Visit our website today to learn more about Wightman Specialty Woods mouldings and get ideas for your next project.

Custom-Joined Flooring Makes Installation a Breeze

A growing number of our customers and clients have caught on to the great value and quality of our Custom-Joined flooring and other products.

Wightman Specialty Woods' Custom-Joined flooring is pre-ordered to length, and because all our hardwood flooring is kiln-dried on site to a 6 to 8 percent moisture content, then stored in a climate-controlled environment, it can be installed on the day of delivery.

Wightman's Custom-Joined flooring can be ordered in 8'-16' lengths, in 1-inch increments. The length of the joined pieces ranges from 18 inches to 6 feet, with an average of 3 to 4 feet.

Custom-Joined products allow Wightman's lumber experts to trim away flawed sections of lumber, while salvaging high quality portions. These pieces are joined with joints that are precision cut and hydraulically pressed to ensure a tightly closed joint that gives a smooth, continuous appearance.

And there's almost no waste in the installation process, which can be anywhere from 3 percent to more than 10 percent in a traditional installation.

If you'd like to know more about the possibilities of working with Custom-Joined flooring and other Custom-Joined products, visit the Wightman Specialty Woods website.

Fall Events Right Around the Corner

A reminder that our summer plant tours are currently underway; please stop by and see us if you are in central New York this summer.

We hope you will consider our products when making the material selections for your next project.

To learn more about any of our products, visit the Wightman Specialty Woods website. If you would like a copy of our catalog mailed to you please send an email to natalie@wightmanspecialtywoods.com.

Although we're in the middle of summer, we're already looking forward to a couple of exciting fall events.

We'll be at The New York State Builders show Sept. 11-12 at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello. The show will be open from 4-7pm Sept. 11 and 10 am-4 pm Sept 12. For more information about the show, visit The New York State Builders website.

In October, make plans to come to our annual "Open house/Fall Family Festival," on Saturday, Oct. 11. Visitors will be able to tour the mill, and there will be a woodworking competition, seminars, and children's activities. Hope to see you there.

This month, we're featuring our Custom-Joined flooring, which is one of the many Custom-Joined products we manufacture. Clients love Custom-Joined because it's beautiful, incredibly durable and it cuts installation time in half.

Welcome to our blog

Welcome to the Wightman Specialty Woods blog!