Darren Duchi, general manager of Siskiyou Forest Products in Anderson, Calif., stands beside a shipment of lumber bearing Siskiyou Reserve, a priming product for wood siding and trim.
Anderson, Calif.— For the past 30-plus years, Siskiyou Forest Products has offered customers an ever-broadening array of products, including industrial lumber, cut-to-size, finger-jointed and edge-glued materials.
In February of this year the company introduced a new primed product for wood siding and trim. This new product is Siskiyou Reserve.
“Our Reserve line of primed Western Red Cedar and Redwood has been specifically formulated for siding, fascia and trim. This durable exterior primer system includes two high performance coats; the first coat is an alkyd sealer that is used to block tannin migration, the second coat of a high performance acrylic primer. Our coating department uses state-of-the art application and curing equipment that enables us to produce a quality primed product,” said Darren Duchi, general manager of Siskiyou Forest Products.
“Creating our Reserve line of siding and trim has been a major investment for us. It is imperative for Siskiyou to ensure quality to our customers,” said Duchi.
Darren Duchi, Kevin Simpson, technical sales representative with Valspar Corp. and Mike Webster, purchasing agent for Siskiyou, were instrumental in the development of Siskiyou Reserve.
Until recently, customers typically shipped wood products purchased from Siskiyou to a third party, who then primed the product.
“We were just not satisfied with the quality of the third party priming. If our Siskiyou name is going to be on lumber out in the field, we want absolute control of the quality, whether it is raw or primed,” Duchi said. “Prior to the availability of our current coating system, customers purchased a product that had one coat of an oil-based primer. That single coat would generally look semi-transparent. In other words, you could see through the coating. Siskiyou Reserve primer is 100 percent opaque.”
In response to customers’ needs, Siskiyou Forest Products designed and developed its Reserve primed products by utilizing soft-cure technology and low heat application. Assistance from The Valspar Corporation enabled Siskiyou to engineer the coating system.
“Siskiyou has something special. Their prime line allows them to use a coating system that’s not commonly used in a continuous production process on Western Red Cedar and Redwood,” said Kevin Simpson, Valspar technical sales.
“Most businesses that apply an alkyd-based sealer will rack the lumber and let it air dry,” Duchi said.
Siskiyou staff members are involved in off-bearing of the company’s prime line.
“They physically place this product on a rack with finger marks and then they allow it to dry for 24 hours, re-stack it, re-wrap it, and send it on its way. In addition to these quality issues, a third party primer can often add additional costs due to increased time and shipping expense. One benefit of our service is that when you receive an invoice, the product is enroute to your facility.”
Siskiyou inserts a plastic slip-sheet between each layer of its primed product to prevent damage during delivery and to assure consistent quality. Siskiyou markets its Reserve line of siding and trim through wholesale distributors.
The company’s exterior primed products will become a valued part of Siskiyou’s growth projections. Siskiyou markets both Softwoods and hardwoods. The use of Incense Cedar and Alder is primarily for door and window components. Reserve trim is only available in Coastal Western Red Cedar and Redwood.
The majority of Siskiyou’s merchandise is traded domestically. The company maintains an inventory of 7 million board feet at its facility, which is situated on 74 acres. The facility includes 12 kilns and employs 75 people.
Siskiyou has added new m
Stock at Siskiyou feeds into the soft-cure oven.
achinery at its facility in recent years that contributes to the ongoing evolution of the company. The technology utilized by Siskiyou includes a rip line, two moulders, a crosscut line, two finger jointers, a precision end trimmer and three radio frequency edge gluers with sanding and double end-trimming capability.
Siskiyou plans to further develop its technology by implementing an optimizing rip line; an optimizing crosscut line and a continuous edge glue line.
Mike Webster serves as the purchasing agent of Redwood and Western Red Cedar for Siskiyou. Other key company personnel include Bill Duchi, who oversees purchasing of Incense Cedar and hardwood, at the company’s Weed, Calif., location.
“All of the employees at Siskiyou strive to enable us to provide the best products possible for our customers,” added Duchi. “We have received positive feedback from customers about our Reserve line. This is a credit to every person here who has participated in developing the product.
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A truckload of Alder door parts are loaded and ready to leave Siskiyou.
All of us at Siskiyou Forest Products would like to express our appreciation for the continued support and loyalty.”
From atop the firm’s dry kilns, a view of the expansive yard at Siskiyou.
