Furniture manufacturers are constantly looking for new places to buy the hardwood that is used to make products, including tables, chairs, bed frames, cabinets, couches, and more. Big furniture manufacturers seek new sources to purchase hardwood because they face challenges in their production line, like inconsistent quality, drying, delivery times, and yields. Challenges like this can be detrimental to the manufacturer’s bottom line. That is why finding a reliable and consistent source to purchase hardwood for furniture manufacturing is crucial.

Sustainable Hardwood Sourcing for Furniture Manufacturers

One of the best places to source quality hardwood lumber is from a sawmill that controls the lumber manufacturing process from start to finish. Companies like Gutchess Lumber, which has been manufacturing hardwood for over 100 years, have perfected their process to produce the highest-quality hardwood, which is used to make furniture and other wooden products.

Gutchess Lumber sources hardwood, in the form of standing timber or logs, from within a 100-mile radius of its manufacturing facilities across New York and Pennsylvania. This allows their forestry team to ensure all trees are harvested responsibly, taking care of the land to promote natural forest regeneration.

Furniture manufacturers can also check how long their hardwood source has been in business. Their longevity in the industry can reflect the quality and consistency of their hardwood products as well. Gutchess Lumber has been in business since 1904, with customers worldwide, including many furniture manufacturers.

American Hardwood for International Furniture Manufacturing

If you are a furniture manufacturer abroad and need quality American hardwood, your best bet is to find a kiln-dried hardwood manufacturer in the Northeastern region of the United States. This region, also called the Appalachian region, is known worldwide for its prized hardwood selection.

Hardwood from the Northeastern Region of the United States

The Northeastern region is known for its hardwood for several reasons, including the favorable climate and species diversity.

In the North, the climate is favorable with cool temperatures and seasons that are actually seasons (there is a true Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter). This climate is ideal for hardwood species because it allows the trees to grow slower, leading to tighter growth rings and a more consistent product.

Several hardwood species thrive in the Northeastern region of America. These include Hard Maple, Soft Maple, Red Oak, White Oak, Walnut, Birch, Basswood, Ash, Beech, Cherry, Hickory, and Poplar.

The Best Hardwoods for Furniture Manufacturing

Some of the best hardwood species for furniture manufacturing are produced responsibly and sustainably by American sawmills like Gutchess Lumber. Gutchess hardwood goes into making tables, chairs, cabinets, and more. See the best hardwood species for these furniture manufacturers below.

Tables: One of the best hardwood species for table manufacturing is Hard Maple. It can be stained or painted to match your catalog of tables or create new products.

Chairs: Cherry hardwood is a great option for chair manufacturers because it is a hardwood species that matures over time. This means that if a chair manufacturer wants to create intricate details on the legs or back of the chair, they will become more prominent over time.

Cabinets: Cabinet manufacturers should consider Red Oak, a popular hardwood species that is a cost-efficient alternative to White Oak and can be stained to mimic the color of White Oak.

 

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Where do Table Manufacturers get their Hardwood?

If you’ve ever visited a Hilton Hotel, P.F. Changs, or Disney restaurants like Cononado Springs or Kona Café and noticed their tables, you have seen Gutchess Lumber’s hardwood! Table manufacturers have trusted Gutchess Lumber as their trusted kiln-dried hardwood source for decades, including Gutchess Lumber customer Table Topics.

Table Topics purchases kiln-dried hardwood directly from Gutchess and manufacturers tables that go into popular dining and hotel establishments worldwide. Table Topics purchases from Gutchess Lumber because they know they will get their shipment of consistent hardwood delivered on time, which is critical when their customers have a deadline for new tables.

For all furniture manufacturers looking for a new source to buy hardwood, look no further than Gutchess Lumber. This 120-year-old sawmill and lumber yard is known worldwide for producing some of the finest kiln-dried hardwood products for furniture, from large pieces to stair treads.

When it comes to hardwood, White Ash is a popular choice for its strength, flexibility, and great looks. Our White Ash hardwood is dense with bright white sapwood, light tan heartwood, and uniform, well-defined annual growth rings. It is known for its durability. Whether you’re creating a masterpiece or a functional tool, White Ash is a choice that can help you feel confident in your creation and will stand the test of time.

Strength and Durability

White Ash is known for its sturdiness and resilience and has a Janka hardness rating of 1320. It has exceptional bending properties, making it firm and malleable. White Ash creations last over long periods, making it the preferred choice of applications requiring strength and flexibility.

Aesthetic

White Ash is known for its stunning appearance, with a light color palette that is creamy white and light tan shades. The grain on the wood is straight and very pronounced, so it adds a touch of elegance when used for any project. White Ash is great for interior design projects because of its versatility. It takes stains well and offers a strong finish.

Sustainability

One of Gutchess Lumber’s core values has always been sustainability, with a strong belief in sustainable forestry practices and a focus on environment preservation. Thus, we ensure that all of our hardwoods, including White Ash, are harvested by following only sustainable forestry practices and preserving this hardwood. We encourage everyone to participate in preserving our biodiversity and only harvest wood sustainably.

 

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Wide Array of Applications

White Ash, with a propensity for durability and malleability, also provides an extensive array of applications. Its longevity and dependability make it ideal for crafting furniture, tool handles, guitar bodies, lobster traps, and flooring. Features such as durability make it the go-to wood for crafting baseball bats and longbows. White Ash is, therefore, the perfect wood to give life to any of your creations while bringing elegance and charm to the project.

We encourage you to work with White Ash for your next project. White Ash brings durability and elegance to any project, making it perfect for almost any application.

Social media is a powerhouse that influences our opinions and decisions more than we think. These platforms have become key players in many industries, influencing trends and shaping market demands—even in the hardwood industry. For example, influencers might create content about a particular type of hardwood flooring in their homes, which could lead to a surge in demand for that style or finish. Companies are able to monitor these trends and adjust their offerings accordingly to meet new consumer demands. It has been very eye-opening to see how posts, trends, and user feedback on social media can sway the hardwood market.

Boosting Brand Visibility and Demand

Regarding hardwood products, visual aesthetics play a major role in highlighting and enhancing their appeal. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram are based heavily on visuals and are the perfect places to highlight the aesthetic appeal of hardwood products. Audiences, especially those who follow specific niches such as interior design and architecture, can be drawn in with aesthetically pleasing photos of finished hardwood products behind the scenes, on how they are made, and where the supply may come from. High visibility on social media platforms can result in a higher conversion rate in terms of demand. Also, engaging with your audience with educational content on the benefits and care of hardwood floors can increase direct sales and brand reinforcement.

Influencing Consumer Preferences

Social media trends are fast-paced and change regularly. As influencers and designers showcase various hardwood uses like eco-friendly architecture and custom furniture, they start new trends in our market. Hardwood suppliers must keep up with these trends and adapt to shifting consumer tastes, all while sticking to their core brand values. Social media has become a great tool for providing real-time data on changing preferences and helping suppliers adjust their product offerings to meet new and evolving market demands.

Enabling Direct Customer Interaction

One opportunity social media offers is the ability to connect directly with many people worldwide. This allows suppliers to engage and cultivate a community of loyal followers built around trust while getting insight into their demands and preferences. Also, direct engagement ensures enhanced relationships, hands-on customer service, and direct feedback, and we can inform customers about product availability and new offerings in real time. Gutchess Lumber has seen success with this on social media.

Facilitating Market Insights

Social media is a valuable tool for gathering market insights on hardwood. You can monitor popular hashtags and topics, which can help hardwood suppliers track trends and understand what the customers want and need. Most importantly, engaging with your audience through comments and direct messages can provide feedback on consumer preferences for your product. Customer reviews and feedback can assist with areas for improvement in product quality and customer service. Social media insights can help suppliers stay ahead of trends and meet consumer needs.

Expanding Reach to New Markets

Social media has enabled suppliers to connect with customers across the globe, breaking down geographical barriers and allowing international expansion. Suppliers can expand into and connect with new markets by targeting specific regions and tailoring content to the trends and preferences of those areas.

All industries need to evolve, adapt, and leverage changes to enhance performance. Social media is a powerful tool that, when properly used, can yield unmatched results and insights. It can even influence the demand and supply of industries, such as hardwood. If you want to share more about the lumber industry and the sustainability of hardwood products, check out Gutchess Lumber’s Lumber Education campaign, where we provide free social media resources, including premade graphics, social media copy, hashtags, and free press releases.

The debate between choosing Red Oak and White Oak has been longstanding. While White Oak has often been lauded for its timeless elegance and durability, it’s time to shed light on a gem that could help your bottom line without sacrificing quality – true Northern Red Oak. At Gutchess Lumber, we’re here to guide you through the strategic advantages of integrating this exceptional Northern hardwood into your business.

Cost Efficiency

In today’s market, making cost-effective choices without sacrificing quality is paramount. Here’s where Northern Red Oak shines. It’s an undeniable fact that Red Oak is typically 2-3 times more affordable than White Oak. This cost efficiency opens up room for a larger margin to help your business’ bottom line.

Performance

When it comes to the essentials when vetting a hardwood species – hardness, stability, and the ability to take on stains beautifully, true Northern Red Oak stands shoulder to shoulder with White Oak.

With a Janka hardness score of 1,290, it’s just a step behind White Oak‘s 1,360, making it a competitive choice for a variety of applications. From flooring to fine furniture, Northern Red Oak meets the mark in the performance department.

The True Northern Red Oak Advantage

Specializing in sourcing premium Northern Red Oak, Gutchess Lumber brings unmatched quality to the table. Harvested within a 100-mile radius of our New York and Pennsylvania manufacturing facilities, our Northern Red Oak does not have the common discoloration issues found in southern Red Oak products.

What you get with True Northern Red Oak is a hardwood with a consistent color profile and a grain that holds its own against White Oak, offering reliability at a better cost.

Debunking Red Oak Myths

Red Oak Can’t Take Gray Stain

Contrary to popular belief, true Northern Red Oak’s adaptability to staining, including trendy gray hues, is commendable. DB Genesis Hardwood showcases stunning stain comparisons, dispelling the myth that Red Oak falls short in this arena. The visual evidence speaks volumes, with Red Oak not just matching but sometimes even surpassing White Oak in aesthetic versatility.

Spotlight on Red Oak in Modern Interiors

Interior design maven Leanne Ford’s choice of whitewashed Red Oak flooring for a high-profile project underscores the material’s modern appeal and exceptional value. Ford’s decision, driven by Red Oak’s abundant availability and its stunning adaptability to various stains and finishes, highlights the wood’s rising status in contemporary design narratives.

Leanne Ford is an American interior designer known for her light and modern style. In a project that was limited on time and budget, she decided to go with Red Oak flooring instead of White Oak. These are some of the benefits of choosing Red Oak, according to Ford:

1. Great value
2. There are more Red Oak trees available than White Oak
3. It’s a modern option
4. Red Oak does have beautiful color & stains well

From chic Red Oak islands enhancing kitchen aesthetics to statement-making Red Oak dining tables anchoring dining spaces, the wood’s application breathes life and warmth into every corner.

Your Invitation to Explore Northern Red Oak

Understanding the weight of choosing between hardwood species for your projects, we at Gutchess Lumber are committed to providing you with all the information you need to make an informed decision. Embracing true Northern Red Oak not only means opting for a material that’s kind on your budget but also choosing a path less trodden, one that leads to unique, beautiful, and durable design solutions.

In elementary science class, we learn that forests are the lungs of our planet. They provide clean air, filter our water, and offer vital habitats for countless species. At Gutchess Lumber, we understand the importance of these ecosystems. We are dedicated to responsible forestry practices, like active forest management, that ensure forest health and longevity for future generations.

One of the cornerstones of our approach is active forest management. This powerful tool can nurture healthy and resilient forests. Let’s explore how it benefits our planet’s vital ecosystems.

Active Forest Management

Active forest management involves carefully selecting and harvesting mature trees, sometimes called selective harvesting. Now, you might be wondering, wouldn’t this harm the forest? Quite the opposite. When done with a long-term perspective, it can promote healthy and sustainable growth. Here’s how:

• Increased Sunlight for Young Trees: Selective harvesting creates openings in the forest canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. This sunlight is crucial for younger trees, stimulating their growth and development. A diverse mix of age classes within the forest creates a more resilient ecosystem. If a mature forest’s canopy blocks all the sunlight from reaching the forest floor, no new growth will occur.
• Reduced Competition for Resources: Mature trees can dominate resources like water and nutrients. By strategically removing some of these trees, we create more space and essential resources for younger trees to thrive. This fosters a healthy competitive environment, allowing a diverse range of species to flourish.
• Enhanced Forest Resilience: Active forest management can help mitigate threats like disease and wildfires. By removing diseased or weak trees, we can prevent the spread of illness and create natural firebreaks, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

“Offset protocols should incentivize active forest management, which is more effective in capturing and storing atmospheric carbon in forest and wood product carbon pools than a policy of hands-off management that precludes periodic harvests and the use of wood products,” the American Forest Resource Council wrote.

 

Natural Regeneration

At Gutchess Lumber, we allow Mother Nature to do her thing. When we responsibly harvest hardwood trees, natural regeneration occurs. Following selective harvesting, sunlight reaches the forest floor, triggering a natural phenomenon. Existing tree seedlings that might have been dormant due to limited sunlight receive the necessary energy to flourish. Additionally, seeds from surrounding trees are encouraged to germinate, creating a new generation of growth.

This approach leverages the incredible power of nature, ensuring a diverse mix of trees that fosters a vibrant and healthy forest ecosystem for all its inhabitants.

Planting Trees versus Natural Forest Regeneration

While tree planting initiatives often capture headlines and public enthusiasm, it’s crucial to recognize that planting isn’t always the most beneficial approach for forest restoration. Introducing non-native tree species can disrupt the delicate balance within an ecosystem, out-competing native plants for resources and reducing overall biodiversity. Even planting native trees can have unintended consequences in certain situations. A study measuring the replanting problem’s extent revealed that tree planting is extremely widespread, most notably in incompatible environments. The study’s author suggests that prioritizing natural forest regeneration can be a more effective and sustainable strategy in many cases.

“The best and cheapest answer [to promote forest health] usually just to step back and let nature do the job,” says lead author Matthew Fagan, an assistant professor of geography and environmental systems at the University of Maryland.

In contrast to replanting, natural regeneration allows the forest ecosystem to dictate its regrowth. Sunlight reaching the forest floor awakens dormant seedlings and encourages natural seed dispersal from surrounding trees. This fosters a diverse mix of native species, creating a naturally resilient forest structure that benefits all its inhabitants. By prioritizing natural regeneration, we allow Mother Nature to ensure our forests’ long-term health and biodiversity.

Selective Harvesting and Long-Term Carbon Storage

The story doesn’t end with the harvesting of trees. The hardwood products we manufacture offer another significant environmental benefit. These wood products store the carbon dioxide the tree captured throughout its life. This carbon remains locked away for decades within the furniture, flooring, and other beautiful creations crafted from our sustainable building materials.

By utilizing these selectively harvested trees for long-lasting products, we contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change.

How does Selective Harvesting Help the Environment?

Selective harvesting focuses on removing mature trees that have reached their peak carbon storage capacity. While these giants have played a vital role in capturing carbon for decades, their ability to absorb additional carbon dioxide slows with age. We strategically remove these mature trees and create space and resources for younger trees to thrive. These younger trees, with their faster growth rates, act as powerful carbon sinks, efficiently capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide and locking it away for years to come. This continuous cycle and the long-term carbon storage achieved through our sustainable wood products make responsible forestry a compelling alternative to building materials with higher embodied carbon footprints.

Gutchess Lumber: Committed to a Greener Future

At Gutchess Lumber, we are deeply committed to responsible forestry practices. We believe this approach is essential for a healthy planet and a sustainable future, so we employ a forest team of over 30 qualified foresters with decades of experience carrying out active forest management programs on company and private land. We continuously strive to refine our methods, ensuring the well-being of our forests and the resources they provide for generations to come. Here are some ways we demonstrate this commitment:

• Selective Harvesting: We only harvest mature trees, following strict guidelines to maintain a healthy forest ecosystem.
• Responsible Sourcing: Our forestry operations promote our shared commitment to long-term forest health. They manage company and private land within a 100-mile radius of our manufacturing facilities to ensure active forest management plans are followed and trees are responsibly harvested to allow natural forest regeneration.
• Education and Advocacy: We actively support research and education initiatives focused on sustainable forestry practices.
• Minimizing Waste: We use every part of the tree, ensuring nothing goes to waste.

At Gutchess Lumber, we’re committed to utilizing every part of the harvested tree to its fullest potential. This minimizes waste and maximizes the environmental benefits of these valuable resources. The bark, for instance, isn’t discarded – it’s transformed into beneficial mulch that nourishes gardens and landscapes. Even the sawdust generated during the milling process finds a purpose, fueling our on-site boilers and contributing to a more sustainable energy source for our operations. This commitment to whole-tree utilization ensures nothing goes to waste, further solidifying our dedication to responsible forestry and creating a greener future for all.

We invite you to learn more about our dedication to responsible forestry and how you can contribute to a sustainable future by sharing our free Lumber Education resources, including free social media posts and press releases.

It is no secret that timeless and elegant infrastructure can add matched beauty to any product. We, more than anyone, can appreciate the major role that good hardwood plays in this. But that’s not all that hardwood does. Hardwood species are, now more than ever, becoming an absolutely essential part of green urban infrastructure projects. Let’s take a look at the role hardwood plays to contribute to the creation of resilient green spaces in the urban spaces, and allows us to lead a more sustainable and green life.

The use of sustainable building materials such as hardwood ensures a positive impact on our surroundings, such as air pollution mitigation, a reduction in the urban heat island effect and an overall enhancement of biodiversity in the urban spaces. Anyone living in an urban city can probably attest to the need and importance of integrating green spaces in our regular urban environments. Green urban infrastructure refers to spaces such as parks, gardens, roof gardens and the general practice of building infrastructure facilities in a more sustainable and green manner.

Being one of the only renewable and recyclable building materials, hardwood adds a ton of benefits to urban spaces, along with unmatched elegance. A quick look at the use of hardwood in Japanese and Scandinavian infrastructure can attest to this. Hardwood also absorbs harmful substances, such as carbon emissions, thus reducing the overall air pollution and elevating the quality of life. For those living in colder regions, hardwood also acts as a great insulant.

Hardwood is a great addition to infrastructure projects, not only because it is biodegradable and organic, but also due to its ability to facilitate a positive environment, thus helping immensely with mental health as well. By harnessing the qualities of hardwood for creating green urban infrastructure projects, we can create spaces which not only lower our collective carbon footprint, but also provide a beautiful urban landscape which allows us to connect with nature.

Incorporating wood into our surroundings can, furthermore, increase the overall quality of life by enhancing mental health, lowering stress and helping people connect with the environment, thus also improving overall productivity. By integrating hardwood elements into streetscapes, plazas, and public buildings, cities can create more human-centric spaces that promote health, happiness, and a sense of belonging.

Hardwood stands as a cornerstone of urban infrastructure, offering a harmonious blend of strength, sustainability, aesthetics, and economic viability through its properties of longevity and durability. Therefore, in order to ensure healthy and green living spaces, we must embrace the use of hardwood in developing green urban infrastructure.

In 2024, we are all about ecology and sustainability and hardwood forests are nature’s heroes when it comes to promoting sustainability and fighting climate change. Our hardwood forests act as our silent guardians and protect, not only our health but the overall biodiversity. One of their main roles? Carbon sequestration!

Now what is carbon sequestration, you ask? Simply put, it is the process of capturing and storing the atmospheric carbon dioxide. But let’s delve a little deeper into this phenomenon and take a look at how hardwood’s carbon sequestration powers help us and save our environment.

Now, our relationship with carbon is a little bittersweet. While this atmospheric gas is all around us, it is also the primary culprit behind global warming and climate change. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation have led to activities such as burning fossil fuels and rampant deforestation and as a result, the catapult of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to unprecedented levels.

Now, how do we combat carbon dioxide? The answer is hardwood forests. Hardwood forests are the true champions in the fight against climate change and the unsung heroes in the battle against rising carbon levels. These forests have the unique ability to absorb and store vast amounts of carbon, effectively mitigating the effects of climate change caused by rising carbon dioxide levels.

Hardwood forests, with their dense and durable properties and their extensive root network, essentially act as nature’s carbon vaults. They absorb the bad from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide) and expel the good (oxygen), keeping us alive and thriving in the process. Now, hardwood trees don’t just store carbon, they lock it away for decades on end. Their ability to store carbon only increases as these trees grow and mature, thus storing more amounts of carbon.

Hardwood forests make up a conducive ecosystem of biodiversity, which keeps healing the planet. Which is why it is so essential to protect these ecosystems. By safeguarding and protecting hardwood forests, we ensure that carbon keeps getting sequestered, and we maintain a healthy, green planet with rich and invaluable biodiversity hotspots.

Join Gutchess Lumber in our effort to practice sustainable forestry, in order to ensure sustainability and the protection of the gems that are hardwood forests.

Hard, heavy, and reliable words one may use to describe American Appalachian hardwoods. Each American hardwood is unique, with unrivaled beauty, durability, and versatility. A geographical marvel, the Appalachian region in North America bestows us with these hardwood species.

As one of the most sought-after premium lumber, Appalachian hardwoods are genuinely some of the most durable hardwoods a craftsman can get. Gutchess Lumber takes pride in offering our customers some of the finest Appalachian hardwoods. Here are the American hardwood species to help fulfill your woodworking needs.

Ash

Growing to 80 feet with a crown that spreads over 50 feet wide, White Ash wood has a medium to coarse texture that is almost always straight and regular. White Ash lumber is light to medium brown. With strength and resilience, this hardwood retains its region’s commitment to producing premium hardwood.

Our White Ash hardwood is dense with bright white sapwood, light tan heartwood, and uniform, well-defined annual growth rings. Commonly used in furniture, tool handles, guitar bodies, lobster traps, and flooring, White Ash lumber turns well and retains extreme strength.

Basswood

American Basswood grows between 50 and 80 feet in height with a 30-foot to 50-foot spread. Ranging from pale white to light brown with a straight, fine-grain pattern, this hardwood is a soft, lightweight wood.

The light density of basswood lumber makes it well-suited for woodenware, crates, blinds, and internal furniture parts.

Cherry

The Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) can grow between 25 and 110 feet tall.  Due to its malleability and the wide distribution of the seeds of its fruit by birds, the Black Cherry has always been in abundance in North America. Black Cherry wood features a fine, straight grain and a light pink-brown to medium reddish-brown color.

Black Cherry hardwood from our region is one of the most valued hardwood species with its rich red heartwood, beautiful grain patterns, and minimal gum spots. Uses for kiln-dried cherry lumber include fine furniture, cabinets, paneling, flooring, doors, recreational vehicle interiors, string instruments, coffins, and carvings.

Hickory

Hickory trees grow to heights of 65 feet to 100 feet, with trunks growing to 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter. With a Janka Hardness ranking of 1,880 lbf, Hickory boasts excellent strength and shock resistance, making it desirable for products such as cabinets, tool handles, axles and shafts, bows, skis, paddles, furniture, and flooring. Hickory wood lumber heartwood features light to medium brown with red undertones, while the sapwood is pale, yellowish-brown.

Hard Maple

This maple hardwood species grows from 50 to 80 feet and features a fine, even-textured grain. Hard Maple is a dense hardwood noted for its sturdiness and density. As a result, it has high resistance to abrasion and wear and is prized for furniture, cabinets, stairs, mouldings and millwork, coffins, and flooring. It is also used for gym and basketball courts, bowling alleys, bowling pins, rolling pins, other turnings, skateboard decks, baseball bats, billiard cues, cutting blocks, and various musical instruments.

Soft Maple

Soft Maple grows between 30 feet to 100 feet in height, and its close-grained sapwood is generally creamy white and its heartwood reddish-brown. Soft Maple trees were dubbed for their soft leaves in the autumn, but it is also known as the Scarlet Maple, Red Maple, the Drummond Red Maple, the Carolina Red Maple, the Swamp Maple, the Trident Maple, and the Water maple.

Red Oak

The Red Oak tree can grow up to 24 inches annually and reach a mature height of 60 to 90 feet. Red Oak wood color ranges from light to medium brown with red undertones and is strong, durable, easy to work with, and consistent in color and texture. Kiln-dried Red Oak is commonly used in furniture, cabinets, doors, panels, moldings, and millwork, floors, and caskets.

White Oak

White Oak trees can grow as large as 100 feet tall and reach a mature age within 20 years. It is an extraordinarily durable wood type with incredible water-resistance properties as its wood pores are plugged by tyloses, making it harder for water to cause decay and rot. This makes it the ideal choice for shipbuilding and whiskey and wine barrels.

White Oak has a light brown heartwood and slightly paler sapwood and is strong, tough, dense, tight-grained, durable, and beautiful.

Poplar

Poplar lumber is a substantial species, growing 130 to 160 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 6 feet to 8 feet. White Poplar is a light, soft hardwood with sapwood that is white or light green cast. Our White Poplar lumber is harvested from prime timberland in the northern Appalachian region of Pennsylvania near our manufacturing facilities. It is often used in furniture, moldings and millwork, paneling, panels, carvings, crates, and picture frames.

Walnut

Black Walnut grows between 75 feet and 130 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 feet to 3 feet. American Black Walnut has beautiful dark red heartwood and steamed dark sapwood. Applications for Black Walnut lumber include furniture, paneling, cabinets, doors, paddles, coffins, flooring, and rifle stock. This hardwood is an exceptional example of this region’s ability to produce highly durable, premium lumber.

American Appalachian hardwood is for those who appreciate lumber’s natural beauty, durability, and quality. A true testament to nature’s craftsmanship, this Appalachian hardwood is exceptionally alluring, with plenty to offer.

When it comes to hardwood, you should never settle for anything less than perfect. Hardwood, by its very virtue, represents reliability and durability, and so, you should receive the same qualities from your hardwood suppliers. At Gutchess Lumber, we control the process from start to finish, in order to ensure only quality products and exceptional service for our customers.

120 Years in the Hardwood Industry

Since 1904, Gutchess Lumber Co., Inc. has produced the finest quality northern hardwood lumber across New York and Pennsylvania. We made a commitment 120 years ago to provide our customers with the highest quality products and service, and we have delivered on this time and time again. With seven lumber yards and sawmills across New York and Pennsylvania, we are in the perfect area to responsibly source and harvest in prime timberland.

As a 5th generation family and employee-owned organization, we continue to strive to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. Over the course of 12 decades, we have worked on honing our craft and have built a legacy. George Gutchess built the first mill on his farm in Leeper, New York, all the way back in 1904 with the dream of being the area’s go to hardwood supplier. This legacy was carried on by his son, Clair Gutchess, who developed a loyal, dedicated, and hardworking team of employees.

We believe in carrying on this legacy by acting as a beacon of reliability and quality for our customers as their go-to hardwood supplier.

Supplying Hardwood Worldwide

Our work and commitment to being the go-to hardwood supplier transcends borders. For decades, Gutchess has been an exporter of northern hardwood lumber, as a trusted supplier. Our knowledge of northern hardwoods, combined with our experience and expertise in shipping lumber internationally, has allowed us to make a global impact.

We take immense pride in being a trusted, superior-quality supplier of hardwood lumber, both internationally and domestically. We maintain excellent quality standards, while ensuring true sustainability. From Europe, to Asia, to South America, and of course, here at home in the United States too, we provide the highest quality lumber to our customers anywhere in the world.

Visit our international exports and domestic supply pages to know more about our global reach.

Trusted by Leading Hardwood Industry Organizations

At Gutchess, our reputation precedes us. We believe in honing relationships based on trust and today, we are trusted and backed by some of the leading hardwood industry organizations in the world. Some of the leading hardwood industry organizations which trust Gutchess as much as our customers do are:

1. American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)

A globally recognized authority and the leading international trade association for the U.S. hardwood industry, representing the committed U.S. hardwood exporters and the major U.S. hardwood product trade associations, the AHEC has trusted Gutchess Lumber for our unwavering commitment towards hardwood and for providing superior quality lumber.

1. National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA)

The NHLA is North America’s largest hardwood trade association, which has been serving the industry since 1898. This association upholds the highest standards in the industry by maintaining certain Hardwood Lumber Grading Rules. We at Gutchess Lumber strictly adhere to these grading guidelines to maintain indisputable quality and ensure that our customers can trust that they’re getting superior-quality lumber.

When it comes to quality and trustworthiness, Gutchess Lumber has been standing tall for 12 decades and counting. We have made a commitment to remain a trusted supplier of hardwood lumber, both internationally and domestically, while upholding the highest standards of the industry. That’s why we and our customers say, ‘Be Sure It’s Gutchess’.