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.—Siskiyou Forest Products’ new corporate Web site at www.siskiyouforestproducts.com has attracted many customers in recent months, who have come to depend on the company for its ever-broadening array of products, including industrial lumber, cut-to-size, finger-jointed and edge-glued materials.
The Web site, which was created by a local firm, allows customers to flip through book pages to obtain information on such topics as Our Products,About Siskiyou, Wood Facts and The Facilities. Contact information for the firm’s sales and purchasing sales at its 35-acre manufacturing plant in Anderson and satellite office in Weed, Calif., are also provided.
Siskiyou has also gained sales with one of its newest products, Siskiyou Reserve, a primed product for wood siding and trim.
“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.
Until recently, customers typically shipped wood products purchased from Siskiyou to a third party, who then primed the product.
Siskiyou staff members are involved in off-bearing of the company’s prime line.
“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 semitransparent. 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. “They physically place this product on a rack with finger marks and then they allow it to dry for 24 hours, restack 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 en route 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.
Stock at Siskiyou feeds into the soft-cure oven.
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 machinery 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.”
