Tfimming trim costs

I/ALUE-ADDED millwork prodY ucts such as prefinished doors and embossed mouldings may be initially higher priced, but save money in the long run.

Copus. "The prefinished door requests from one dealer are at least double from a year before, even though the dealer's door business overall is down 20 to 307o."

The demand carries from prefinished doors to coordinated prefinished mouldings, since a standard house features I 00 feet of trim for every door. "If we double our prefinished

Prefinished Wood Mouldings door orders, then we'd feasibly do another l0 million feet of trim for the extra 100,000 doors," Copus projects.

Embossed millwork features the appearance of a higher-priced species pressed into its surface. Sometimes, manufacturers utilize fingerjointed poplar or another substrate, embossing it to look like oak then finishing to match name-brand door skins.

In addition to staining and top coating, fingerjointed millwork also requires a fill or base coat to cover color variation and joints in the substrate.

Prefinished millwork, while seemingly priced higher than unfinished millwork, actually provides cost-savings for the installer. Even after dealer mark-up, a builder reportedly can buy a prefinished door for about half the cost of paying a painter to finish it on site. And the typical new home features between 12 and 25 doors.

The builder also can bring the house to market quicker since the painter doesn't have to be scheduled.

Because it's finished in a more controlled environment, a prefinished door is typically more uniform in color and finish, and often smoother due to more sanding.

"Prefinished doors relieve a lot of headaches for the builder," says Jim Copus, president and owner of Madison Pre-Hung Doors & PreFinishing, Oregon, Wi.

In 12 months, Madison Pre-Hung recently doubled its output of prefinished doors. "We used to do 307o finished doors and 7O% raw. Now it's 80% finished and 20Vo raw." savs

(a sampling of sources)

Arnericsn Millwork Corp. Elkhart,In,

Rsland Boulanger & Co. Ltd.

Warwick, Ouebec

Contact Lumber Co.

Portland, Or.

Dunbar Doors & Millwork

$nohomish, Wa.

Hbreform Wood Products

Rocklin, Ca.

Glen Oak Lumber & Milling Montello, Wi.

Lianga Pacific,IncTacoma, Wa.

Marley Mouldings

Marion, Va.

MJB Wood Group Inc. lrving, Tx.

Prefinished Milfuork Corp.

Middelton, Wi.

Ugoodlands Millwork, Ltd.

The Woodlands, Tx.

Embossed mouldings are commonly used in motels and apartments. Demand for oak look-alike mouldings depends on the particular market and the economy. "If the building industry is trying to cut costs and embossed is half the price of another product, then embossed usage goes up and oak goes down," Copus explains. "Otherwise, a difference of a couple thousand dollars is enough to throw some people out of the housing market."

Embossed Wood Mouldings

(a sampling of sources)

Accra Wood Products

Bumaby, B.C.

Glen Oak Lumber & Milling Montello, Wi.

Prefi nished l$illwork Corp. Middelton, Wi.

White River Hardwoods Fayetteville, Ar.

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