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he tougher your woodproduct application, the more you rely on the properties of properly seasoned wood-its lighter weight, resistance to decay, improved machinability, enhanced dimensional stability, and uniform acceptance of paints and stains. Chances are, you take these qualities for granted. Vhether you know it or not, drying green lumber to perfection takes some pretty sophisticated cookware, the right recipe, and a gourmet touch

Kilns

a la Carte.

The historical menu of wood-seasoning recipes is quite extensive. The first and simplest method, uncontrolled air drying, proved to be a slow, uneven process-often resulting in excessive waste due to splitting, checking, and warping of the wood.

Early attempts to dry wood with hot air were imaginative, but a bit disappointing. Lumber was placed in a room through which was passed the smoke of a roaring fire. The wood dried quickly, but also checked, warped, and charred. Early lumbermen believed that having plenty of seasoned wood on hand outweighed their losses due to "overcooking."

Oven-like kilns were patented around the time of the Civil Var. These units incorporated vents to discharge the moisture released from the wood, and inlets to allow fresh air to €nter and circulate around the lumber These basic design elements can still be found in todav's forced-air. controlledhumidity dry kilns.

"Parts is pafts." Or are they?

Even with today's automated kilns, seasoning lumber is far from foolproof. As you might expect, there's a slightly different drying "recipe" to accommodate the different moisture characteristics of each wood species. That's the easy part. Because even within a species, no two logs have identical moisture characteristics. And the wood within a single tree will have pockets of greater and lesser moisture.

Each charge of green lumber to be dried is basically unlike any other. It must be analyzed before going into the kiln, and monitored while it is drying. With all these variables to consider, it's no surprise that serving-up an excer lent end result is a matter of knowledge and experience.

P&M's Gourmet Touch. For more than two decades. P&M has soecialized in producing premium Incense Cedar products for commercial applications. And over those years, P&M has been continually upgrading and refining its seasoning process to ensure top on-the-job performance and Certified CedarPro Quality from every unit shipped.

Every kiln load of premium CedarPro lumber is dried to the exact moisture level required for precision machining. A moisture level which guarantees dimensional stability, decay resistance, and years of lasting beauty.

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Precise wood seasoning is just one of the many advantages of CedarPro premium siding and decking products. For a complete menu of benefits, contact your CedarPro retailer or distributor Or cdl P&M Cedar Products todav at2091957-6360.