Softwood Forest Products Buyer

 
 
 

Feature Story

 

The Stargazer by Barrel Enterprises, Sauna, Cellar, and Tub Inc., comes with the floor pre-assembled and the 6-foot acrylic bubble ready to sit on top of the sauna. This see-through bubble allows for viewing of the stars and moon while in the sauna.
Barrel Enterprises Is Making It Their Business to Help Customers "Forget about Business"

Belleisle Creek, NB—Surrounded by rolling hills of the Caledonia Highlands, Barrel Enterprises Sauna, Cellar and Tub Inc. manufactures Cedar barrel saunas and wine cellars, hot tubs, above ground wooden swimming pools, Cedar garden furniture, Cedar yurts for campgrounds and insulated log wall Cedar log homes.

The company purchases approximately 500,000 board feet annually of Western Red Cedar (Rough, KD, 12 to 15 percent moisture content, 7/4 x 6 random, odd and even lengths, STK 2 sides).

Owner and Chief Visionary Officer Dave Byers said the company was established in 1978. “We opened offices in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,” he explained. “Today we have dealers throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and North America.”

Byers indicated part of the company’s key to remaining successful is because of the niche markets they serve. Unique ‘one-of-a-kind’ saunas and wine cellars is only part of the product offerings available at Barrel Enterprises. “We manufacture products that make it easy to escape the chore of daily life. Our wooden pools, saunas, Cedar hot tubs, wine cellars in a barrel and our matching barrel dog houses are created with relaxation in mind.”

A testament to the company slogan “We’re In Business to Help You Forget About Business,” Byers said he also promotes a stress-free zone in the work environment.

A Barrel Enterprises’ swimming pool and deck manufactured from Cedar.
Situated on 8 acres, Barrel Enterprises operates from a 34,000-square-foot facility. Including Byers, key personnel are: Sig Nordal, chief financial officer, Robert Thompson, plant manager and Trina Fillmore, office administrator.

Barrel Enterprises’ products come in a remarkable assortment of shapes and sizes. The company’s newest product in their sauna line is shaped like its name, an ‘Ice Cream Cone’. Features of this sauna include stained glass inlays and hand carved or standard door pulls.

The ‘Stargazer’ barrel sauna doubles as a change room and a shower. “The floor and door section of our Stargazer barrel saunas are shipped pre-assembled,” Byers said. “So you can literally assemble your entire sauna in three to five hours.”

The Stargazer comes with the floor pre-assembled and the 6-foot acrylic bubble ready to sit on top of the sauna. This see-through bubble allows for viewing of the stars and moon while in the sauna. For the customer who prefers privacy, the company offers a smoked bubble. “The smoked bubble allows you to see out just like the clear bubble but it is very difficult to see in from the outside,” Byers said.

The core of the Cedar Yurt log is a solid piece of EPS foam encased by solid wood. This doubles the R-Factor of a typical solid log wall, and is engineered and designed to be half the weight of a typical full log.
Complete with a shower, music system and a barrel chair, the “Double Bubble” sauna is a combination sauna and cool down room. These jointed rooms are available with a choice of a clear and/or a smoked bubble for outside viewing. “The barrel chair is contoured to fit the individual’s body for comfort,” Byers said. “In this design we also offer a half-round chair, which is a contoured seat without a back. It features a 9-inch rain shower system with a shelf for soap or beverages.” The entry door to this style of sauna also includes either a plain glass or a stained glass inlay. The sauna door has self-closing hinges while the entry to the sitting room features an opening only.

 Barrel saunas are offered in vertical or horizontal design. “Our available lengths start at 4-foot and our standard models are 6-, 7-, and 8-foot long,” Byers continued. “The standard diameter is 6-foot but we also offer a 7-foot. The overhang can be from 2 to 4 foot with the 4-foot entirely enclosed to create a sitting/cooling down area.”

Children will play for hours in the company’s solid wood playhouse. Easily assembled with basic tools, the Barrel Playhouse does not require any screws or glue. An acrylic bubble window in the front door and a durable plastic slide and ladder add to the playful environment. “There is even a chalkboard inside, which creates a wonderful play space for children,” Byers added. “For the summer months the side is open but additional 2x6’s are shipped allowing you to close the opening for winter or rainy weather.”

(Left) Barrel Enterprises Sauna, Cellar and Tub Inc., Belleisle Creek, NB, manufactures Cedar barrel saunas and wine cellars, hot tubs, above ground wooden swimming pools, Cedar garden furniture, Cedar yurts for campgrounds and insulated log wall Cedar log homes.
Built right into a wall, the firm’s smallest wine cellar barrel is in a six-foot diameter barrel that is 48-inches long. This unit holds 13 cases or 156 bottles of wine. The newest barrel wine cellar offered by Barrel Enterprises is a walk-in. It has wine racks running down both sides of the barrel and each rack is custom made to address individual needs. Up to 110 bottles of wine can be stored every two feet inside this barrel cellar, which is available in lengths up to 16 feet. Hand carved doors, custom staining and hand painting are all available options for the company’s barrel wine cellars.

Manufactured primarily from Knotty Western Red Cedar, the barrel wine cellars are also available in red oak, birds eye maple, walnut, teak or any other species by request. However Byers did note Western Red Cedar is the most popular choice.

Personalization is also offered on all of Barrel Enterprises products. “If a customer has a family crest, coat of arms, business logo or anything they can imagine on the side of their sauna, playhouse or wine cellar—we can make that happen,” Byers said. The company’s “Legend Series” offers custom barrel carvings.

When asked about what lies ahead for Barrel Enterprises, “During the 39 years that we have been in business, we’ve handcrafted fine furniture, manufactured pews for churches, courtroom furniture and applied the honored skills of the craftsmen and wood carvers of the past into every project we sold,” Byers offered. “I can now say that I have found my ultimate challenge in offering the most unique log home/cottage on the market.”

Barrel Enterprises manufactures campground yurts that feature 2x6 solid Cedar walls and are ready to assemble in two hours and a signature log home yurt.Barrel Enterprises manufactures campground yurts that feature 2x6 solid Cedar walls and are ready to assemble in two hours and a signature log home yurt.
From campground yurts that feature 2x6 solid Cedar walls and are ready to assemble in two hours to a signature log home yurt, Barrel Enterprises has literally already “covered” a lot of ground. With a floor that arrives in pie shaped sections for the DIY in all of us, the roof panels simply pop in place eliminating the need to complete any asphalt shingle roofing or strapping and drywall on the inside. With vertical logs, this log cabin cottage also offers a center “bubble” to gaze out into the night from below.

The signature YURT is significant to the success of these dwellings according to Byers. “A Cedar YURT with a high-tech super insulated log cabin log system is the first of its kind in the log home industry,” he said. “This will revolutionize the log home industry and offer home owners an extremely high R-value (energy efficient) home.

“This new system will allow customers to utilize different looks on the exterior and interior of their homes,” he continued. “For example, a dark, rich wood, such as Western Red Cedar, on the outside of a home and a lighter wood, such as Pine or Spruce on the interior. We offer this flexibility with zero splits or log cracks and with a greatly improved R-value log. A customer could request Red Cedar on the entire outside and make every room inside the home a different interior finish. For example the kitchen could be Red Oak and the closets Red Cedar and so on.” For more information about Cedar Yurts visit www.cedaryurts.com.

“At Barrel Enterprises, we believe that there is a spirit in every piece of wood and indeed, every tree,” Byers concluded. “With the magic of our chisels we are able to remove the excess wood to find the spirit that is hiding or sleeping in the wood we chose to manufacture your product. The next time you take a look at a piece of wood, look closer and see if you can see the spirit hiding inside.”

(Right) The company’s wooden pools, saunas, Cedar hot tubs, wine cellars in a barrel and matching barrel dog houses are created with relaxation in mind.
For more information about Barrel Enterprises visit www.barrelenterprises.com.

 
 
 
     
 
 

Home | Contact Us | Publications | Company Search | Advertising

© Copyright Miller Wood Trade Publications
No part may be reproduced without special permission

Site Designed and Managed by Pinpoint Web