Softwood Forest Products Buyer - May/June 2018

Richardson Timbers

Richardson Timbers Leverages 70 Years Of Experience To Produce Custom Timber Products By Terry Miller A lot of manufacturers can make the standard stocking siding patterns. However, we can grind whatever knives we need and replicate/reproduce custom patterns that were originally made nearly 100 years ago. It’s just one of the ways that we are more specialized than some others. It isn’t that we do it better; we’re the only ones who can do it. –Lynn Surls, CEO and principal owner, Richardson Timbers Richardson Timbers mill crew is pictured here with company CEO Lynn Surls. Dallas, TX–Any business that has prospered through nearly 70 years in the lumber industry has been doing something right. In the high-end, value-added category of specialty timber manufacturing, Richardson Timbers, headquartered here, has developed a formula to make a name for itself, while simultaneously serving its customers with the highest value relationship possible, and products to match. Richardson is wholesale only, selling exclusively to retail lumberyards and distributors throughout Texas and Oklahoma. According to the management team at Richardson Timbers, the goal each day when they come in to work is very straightforward. Lynn Surls, CEO and principal owner of the company, stated, “We’re not just here to sell. The sign outside lists products, but we’re here to offer answers and solutions, not just spread out an inventory for customers to get lost in. We’re here to understand their concerns and to educate not only our retail clients, but their customers as well.” After sourcing wood from across the U.S. and Canada, Richardson Timbers brings the material to their facility in Dallas, where craftsmen with One of Richardson Timbers’ forklift operators unloads a car of Douglas Fir from the company’s rail spur at the Dallas mill. decades of experience between them produce custom products, often to a customer’s particular specifications. Lucio Martinez is one such craftsman at Richardson Timbers, with 35 years dedicated to the company. One wall of the millwork shop is lined with the project-specific knives that he has created over the years. Working closely alongside Martinez is Steven Rogers, who takes customer sketches or pages torn from magazines and then creates custom drawings to match. Surls commented, “You’ll walk into the crafting shop and Steven will be on the floor measuring and drawing these complex patterns out on large Masonite boards. He cuts the patterns by hand then passes them to Lucio. Lucio does amazing things with our machinery to create a product from what might have once just been a scribbled piece of paper or notes taken to one of our customer’s stores.” Jamie Hursh, a 24-year veteran salesman for Richardson Timbers, said, “We call it our crafting shop because everything in that building is custom, from the products to the machinery that makes them. We have a lot of specialized equipment that’s been installed over the years, some of which had to be customized to suit our particular needs. We’re the only ones around here that are doing what we do.” Consistently producing crafted timbers from 20-inches across up to 40 feet long is a tall order for many suppliers, but with Richardson Timbers’ specialty manufacturing capabilities it’s all in a day’s work. The company has recently made significant investments in equipment upgrades and uses machinery from McDonough, Weinig and Cantek as well as custommade equipment. Hursh said, “Even though our facility has all the capabilities of a sawmill, we’re not here to compete with the commodity markets. We are a boutique manufacturer of products that can’t be found anywhere else, and we have the unique ability to offer custom finishing options and distress wood for a hand-hewn look.” Richardson Timbers has positioned itself as Santa’s Wonderland in College Station, TX, features Douglas Fir material from Richardson Timbers used to create gusset plate trusses. one of the largest suppliers of big timbers in Texas. This is due not only to the consistent ability to supply otherwise impossible orders, but also the capability to customize each project to their customer’s needs. “A lot of manufacturers can make the standard stocking siding patterns,” said Surls. “However, we can grind whatever knives we need and replicate/reproduce custom patterns that were originally made nearly 100 years ago. It’s just one of the ways that we are more specialized than some others. It isn’t that we do it better; we’re the only ones who can do it.” This custom work extends to rafter tails, brackets, corbels and exposed timber trusses cut by Lucio Martinez and his team on an assortment of band saws in the crafting shop. Additional photos on page 44 & 45 Continued on page 44 Page 4 Softwood Forest Products Buyer ■ May/June 2018

We are a wholesaler and sell exclusively through our dealer network. 10100 Denton Drive Dallas, Texas 75220 214-358-2314 Delivering Quality Timber to Our Dealers Nationwide Look to Richardson Timbers for all your timber needs. - DOUGLAS FIR 20” X 20” UP TO 40’ - CEDAR 16” X 16” UP TO 32’ Richardson Timbers, founded in 1949, specializes in milling wood timbers and producing custom millwork products. We offer Douglas Fir, Kiln Dried Fir, Western Red Cedar, Mixed Hardwoods, Red Oak, White Oak, Cypress and specialty exotic timbers. Products and Services Include: - Corbels, Brackets and Rafter Tails - Custom Siding Patterns - Surfacing (all four sides up to 20’ x 20 - Exclusive Tru-Ruff Surfacing - Precision End Trimming - Trailer Flooring - Saw Texture - Barge Decking - Reman Customer material to specifications www.richardsontimbers.com Softwood Forest Products Buyer ■ May/June 2018 Page 5