Superior Kiln-Dried Lumber
Why buy from us?
We serve clients across the woodworking industry. From furniture and cabinetry to hardwood flooring and moulding, we are committed to providing you with reliable, consistent lumber that comes with personable service.
Width-Match Sorting
6–8% Moisture Content
Call for Orders Under 500 Board Feet
Reliable Quality & Consistency – From the Forest to You
Our process starts with Stoltzfus foresters and crews choosing and cutting timber. It finishes with our mill and kilns. This means we have complete control over every board we sell. The same care we put into harvesting the right trees goes into drying–the last, most important part of creating quality hardwood lumber.
Our Kilns Are Primed for Production
Our three SII kilns are built for results. We have an initial combined capacity of 130,000 board feet per batch. Using a series of heat and steam cycles, we ease the moisture out of the wood to ensure minimal end-checking and warping. Time in the kiln depends on species and thickness. Each batch is carefully monitored until it has reached 6-8% MC. Our lumber is stress-relieved, equalized, and conditioned, ready for cabinets, fine furniture, and flooring.
Kiln-Dried Hardwood Lumber Delivers Ideal Results
Kiln drying offers a number of benefits for hardwood lumber. Carefully dried lumber ensures boards that are straight and true. Wood quality, color, and consistency are better than what is possible with air-dried lumber. In addition, wood-destroying insects are eliminated by the heat.
Custom Options to Enhance Your Efficiency
You have specialized needs, so we offer specialized ordering. Our process doesn’t stop when boards leave the kiln. We offer color-matching, orders sorted by width, and more.
- Choose from red oak, white oak, walnut, and poplar in three grades: moulding, prime, and #1 common.
- Request rip-sawn or S2S service if desired.
- For regional and continental US orders, our minimum order is 500 board feet. We ship internationally for semi-trailer orders and larger.
Our Current Stock List
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the optimum moisture content for the flooring, furniture, and cabinet industries?
In North America, most homes and offices range between 30 and 50% relative humidity. This equates to a range of 6.0 to 9.0% moisture content (MC) in the wood. Making furniture, flooring, and cabinets with wood that was dried in the 6-9% range and was kept at that level during shipping and manufacturing will eliminate problems that would come from lumber with a higher moisture content. Lumber at the lower end of the range is preferred, since wood that absorbs some moisture from its surroundings tends to cause fewer problems than wood that keeps drying after arriving at its destination. Wood products manufactured with a moisture content that is too high and then placed in a dry environment often crack or split. For most of North America, the closer you are to 6% MC the fewer problems your customer will have.
What are the pros and cons to drying wood below 6% MC?
In most cases, building with wood dried below 6% MC is not advisable. One reason a manufacturer in the United States may want wood dried to below 6% MC would be if they are exporting cabinets or furniture to a very dry climate.
Generally speaking, wood that is below 6% MC should be avoided. There are a number of reasons to avoid wood that is dried below the optimum range:
- Additional drying costs (more time in the kiln)
- Brittle to the point of easily breaking
- Prone to cracking and splitting
- Gluing is difficult
How much will the moisture content vary throughout my order?
We strive for a consistent moisture content throughout each kiln-dried lumber order. There are factors that cause some minor fluctuation, but the moisture should consistently be between 6-8%, with even less variation within a species.
I am a small manufacturer, what is the minimum order amount?
Call us today for pricing and information on orders below 500 board feet.
Does the kiln-drying process put undue stress on the lumber?
Any drying process puts stress on lumber. The key is to minimize stress and its consequences. In an attempt to produce the highest grade of dried lumber, we operate 3 state-of-the-art SII kilns, which use both heat and steam cycles to minimize stress on the wood. This results in minimal end-checks and warps.
Why should a flooring manufacturer, furniture maker, or cabinet shop buy kiln-dried lumber from Stoltzfus Forest Products?
- High quality lumber from our state of the art kilns
- Consistent 6-8% moisture content
- Low minimum order quantities are conducive to efficient manufacturing
- Color-match sorting provides consistency throughout an order
- Extensive, in-stock inventory
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Testimonials
Awesome people. Very nice place!
– Mathew Schweiger
Great place. Hard working people. Willing to work with anyone to get the job done and efficiently done. Highly recommended
– William Verdegem
Very clean well managed operation
– Chris Hoover
Our Kiln-Dried Lumber Service Area
We are a local company with a global reach. For trailer-size orders and more, we ship worldwide. Within the continental US, LTL shipping is available.
