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Historical Information

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Our Ageless End-Grain^® Blocks of oak, birch, and maple are manufactured from virgin growth timber cut down during the 1800s logging boom, left to sink to the bottom of lakes and rivers in the USA. Like any natural product produced in nature and affected by varying climatic conditions, Ageless End-Grain® blocks have their own unique character and color. Heart wood ranges from pale yellows to deep purple and reds, called sapphires. Tight grain and ring patterns clearly define the history of the trees' growth from seasons of extreme dryness through seasons of continuous rain. These logs were perfectly preserved underwater for 200 years, enhancing the look of each log, and ultimately each block that is made. This buried treasure is so unique that the mill will not regularly color match or cull out unique character elements as general practice. If your specification calls for color matching and a specific look, we will try to work with you to achieve the desired appearance, based on available inventories, processes, and installation timelines. If a custom look is required, we will require at least 30 days written notice of request for hand selecting and color matching, which of course will carry an additional premium price per square foot.

Point of Origin

Unlike our standard End-Grain Blocks manufactured from today's second growth timber, which is commercially harvested and readily available from many sources, our Ageless End-Grain® Blocks are manufactured from virgin growth timber. With roughly only 3% of the US virgin growth forest still standing and protected by private landowners and the federal government, the only previously unused rare virgin growth timber available to us is from water recovered logs cut during the 1800s logging boom.

The water recovered logs we use are SCS certified (Scientific Certification Systems), environmentally approved 100% salvaged and recovered. The chain of custody for these logs requires strict adherence to approved environmentally correct logging procedures by both the log haulers and the mill operations, limiting the amount of people who qualify to support the effort. State and Federal licensing, adverse weather conditions, seasonality in finding and recovering logs, and shortage of qualified divers provide even greater challenges in meeting market demand.

Rediscovery/Recovery/Resale Timeline

Each virgin growth hardwood or softwood recovered log requires some sophisticated and proprietary kiln drying to bring the water recovered logs back to the original state they were in when first cut...200 years ago or more! We have learned over the past several years that each species has its own handling and drying requirements. The following timeline illustrates both how labor intensive and time consuming recovering and processing these logs is:

Once licensing is secured and divers and equipment are contracted...

• 2 to 4 weeks to locate, raise, and pull logs to shore
• 1 to 2 weeks to load and ship to the mill via rail or trucking
• 1 week to offload, cut, load in kilns
• up to 60 days kiln drying time
• 1 week to custom cut, pack, and ship material
  Standard inventory 3/4" depth x 4" x 4" birch, oak, and maple

The rareness of virgin growth timber, the environmental issues of where the raw material is, seasonality, and a long processing time put inventory demands at a premium. There are, of course, other and competing demands for this rare material, including dimensional lumber, traditional flooring, and veneers. The "up front" carrying costs of securing logs and processing, along with cutting the finished processed wood to maximize customer demand for custom milling, requires a necessary and suitable down payment on jobs to sustain our operations through the life cycle of preparing the products for sale and to cover expenses throughout the commercial building and payment cycle.