“We’re still learning every day on the best way to deal with our product, from log to lumber,” Eric says. “When we first started out, we would pick up anything the tree service people would offer us. But now we understand urban wood better.” For example, twists or a crotch in a tree can be a sure sign of trouble. “Half of it might turn out to be firewood or a slight crotch could result in rot through the whole center of a log. We now know more about what to avoid.”

The whole area of drying such large slabs of wood has been an interesting challenge. “We’re not talking about drying 2 x 4s or large timbers and beams—the science of drying that type of wood has been figured out pretty well,” says Danny. Sometimes there might be some imperfections in the wood, but that is often welcomed by the woodworkers who are buying it, as they are producing artisan products, such as custom furniture. As far as they’re concerned, twists and cracks add character to the wood.

With the new sawmilling equipment in place and working well, Eric and Danny are starting to think about the next step for the business, which would likely be setting up a larger woodworking shop and showroom in the Vancouver area, to complement the Squamish production facility. They’d also like to expand the online sales component of the business. “We always thought that people would want to physically see the material they are buying, but that is not necessarily so,” says Eric. “That could definitely open up a new revenue avenue for us.”

Their six years in business have not been without challenges, but their slow and steady approach has paid off. “We have had hiccups,” says Eric. “But I think the reason the setbacks haven’t buried us is that we are quite deliberate and analytical in the moves we make. Everything we do has been backed by a ton of research, due diligence and a lot of conversations between us.” And there have been a lot of conversations with people in the industry, who Eric and Danny both note have been very generous with their time.

The support they have received, along with their efforts, will pay off, they believe. “All of our patience and hard work together is going to build this sawmill to be a pretty well-known custom sawmill in the Lower Mainland and British Columbia,” says Danny.

The preceding article was edited in length and republished with permission from Logging and Sawmill Journal.