In the wake of the SWAT-team raid on Gibson Guitars in September 2011, many within the lumber industry were surprised to learn that FSC certification does not necessarily ensure Lacey Act compliance - even if the lumber includes CITES documentation. So if FSC certification isn’t … [Read more...]

Quality. It’s what J. Gibson McIlvain makes its primary goal. Of course, quality control takes slightly different processes when it comes to hardwoods, tropical decking, softwoods, millwork, and plywood. Among those categories of lumber and lumber products, plywood may well be … [Read more...]

Hardwood grading is pretty straightforward. If you’re used to how you can order hardwood lumber based on grade, you may be in for a surprise when it comes to plywood. While we’d all love to be able to rely on plywood grading to determine quality, we can’t live as if we’re in an … [Read more...]

With our in-house millworks, J. Gibson McIlvain is truly a full-service lumber supplier. Do you know what that means for you, as our customer? Options, and plenty of them! When you combine that factor with our primary aim of quality, you have a winning combination! We can either … [Read more...]

Color-matching is far from an exact science, as you’ve probably gathered from Part 1 and Part 2 in this series. While density and grain come out on top, when it comes to influencing lumber color, environmental exposure comes in a close second. After that, we have to consider the … [Read more...]

In Part 1,  we considered how grain is the most significant factor affecting lumber color, due to how light reflects off the wood, depending on its density. Grain and density can be affected by many factors, and it’s only the beginning: local climate and weathering come in after … [Read more...]

Composite decking is gaining popularity, and we certainly understand the appeal. After all, it has the appeal of exotic hardwood decking, and none of the potential problems associated with it, right? Well, as much as we all wish there were such a unicorn at the end of the decking … [Read more...]

If you think we’ve exhausted all the deficiencies of composite decking compared to Ipe decking, think again (see Parts 1, 2 & 3). Despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, composite decking is not environmentally friendly; and that issue makes the fact that it will not … [Read more...]

You may think you know how composite decking compares to Ipe; after all, the latest is always the greatest, right? Well, not always. While composite decking might seem like a good choice for the short term, especially for small residential decks, over time it will reveal its … [Read more...]