ls Douglas fir all it's cracked up to be?

6 URING 1988. 10.4 bittion board Ll feet of Douglas fir lumber, with a wholesale value of $2.68 billion, was produced in the West - enough lumber to build more than 800,000 single family residences.

Those are big numbers, but they're not confined to this country. Douglas fir is coveted in Japan where it is used both in Japanese traditional post-and-beam construction and U.S.-style 2x4 "platform" home building systems. In Australia and the United Kingdom, where Douglas fir lumber is often referred to as "Oregon pine," it is also prized. In Europe, the species is frequently chosen for millwork, providing a good market for clear grades.

So just what is it about Douglas fir lumber that gives it a multi-billiondollar market across the United States and around the world? Why has a lumber that was first commercially produced in 1828 at a small Oregon sawmill built by Oregon pioneer Dr. John Mcloughlin become so popular, so widely used?

To begin with, there is the material's amazing versatility. Consider the number of ways Douglas fir can be used in a typical house.

First, it's used for framingfor posts, beams, joists, studs and rafters.

Then it's used for sheathing and subflooring and concrete forms. Additionally, it can be used as siding, which is both attractive and durable, meeting the records of virtually every other wood species commonly used in contemporary home building.

Moving inside the house, Douglas fir is used for cabinets, doors, door frames, windows and window frames, interior trim, mouldings and furniture. It also serves as a popular and serviceable softwood flooring, and can be finished, painted or used under linoleum and carpeting.

Story at a Glance

Worldwide, multi-billion-dotlar market is based on wood's remarkable performance, not hype. working qualities and appearance put it at or near the top of softwood favorites.

Outdoors it's used to build ladders, lattice work, decks, fences, storage sheds, arbors, gazebos, doghouses, retaining walls, planters and sandboxes.

Moving beyond the house itself, there are the heavy Douglas fir structural timbers used as railroad ties, in mines and in some buildings. Douglas fir posts, beams, stringers, joists, bracing, flooring and decking, rafters and roof decking make up trusses for factory and warehouse roofs.

On the farm, it's used for barn cornices, siding, boards and battens, chicken houses and feeders, cribbing, barn flooring, flumes, pens, gates and fences, chutes, granaries, troughs, hog houses and sheds.

But the question remains, why Douglas fir? What is it about this wood that makes it so incredibly widely used, so popular and, above all else, so versatile?

Begin with its strength. The wood is, pound for pound, one of the strongest of the softwoods, and its load-bearing capacity equals that of many mild steels, while being considerably lighter in weight. Douglas fir's strength makes it the nation's first-line wood for structural purposes.

It holds nails well. It holds paint. It has an exceptionally long life, even under conditions which foster decay. It glues well and is treatable.

Beyond these qualities, the wood's straightness, stiffness, ease with which it can be worked, and availability in a wide range of sizes and grades are each a good reason to value the wood highly. When they're combined in a single species, you have the reason(s) the wood is so universally prized and widely used.

There's one more reason. It's beautiful. The inherent beauty of Douglas fir makes it highly prized for virtually every kind of finish work.

That's why Douglas fir has been and continues to be a universally popular form of lumber. Customers can cut it and shape it and work it, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, they can get the size and grade they want where and when they want it, they can nail it and paint it, it can be treated, it's strong, stiff, durable, and looks good.

###'H&:ii.#i(4#'ii#;Litij#ii.t#i6!!K.t*i(K<{.!t{,r.til<l.r<J!liillr.wtt<<;1kt!t!"P,wr.4i|tiir.ii.ii opcrtctl l l\{obilc. r\1.. ollicc lor ('rtrihhuur Ltuttlx'r ('o. llccltirt.t:,(r ('o. plitns t<l ildd ahor.rt J() storcs to its //orrrc Qtrur/r'r,s chnin over thc ncxt thrcc ycars, with at least lirttr in AIabanrl. scvcral irr thc sottthcitst ancl ccntrul t l.S. ntarkcts ancl lubout l5 in tlrc lJostott lrrea llomc Qtturttr.s Warchttu,st' opcnccl an 8-5,000 sq. li. store in l)urhanr. N.(1.... ^5to/1t".s is startirrg a rcnovation of'the Winter llaven, l:1., storc this lall with l5-20 other storcs scheclulcd lbr updating in 1990. llome Dt'pot is rc-evaluating plans to build a unit in Clayton County, (ia.. lookirrg for a larger site capable of'housing a 100.000 sq. ft. store...the Jql.lerson Purislt Council re.jected Ilorne I)cpot's zoning change application in Metairie, La., killing a proposed 100.000 sq. ft. store . .

Lortt"s opcnccl l tlcw 72,000 sq. li. storc in Wilrningtort. N.('.. convcrting thc Kcrr Ave. storc t<l a contractor's sttpply ccntcr... /.orrr ls in Aikcn, S.('.t SulIolk, Va.. ancl Washington, N.('., wcre rclocatccl, ncw locati<tns in Anclcrson, S.('., itncl t:lizabcth ('ity, N.(1., wcrc announcccl as wcll as a probablc'I'lllahasscc, 1"1., site...

Pl.ymurt opened South.side .Spt't'ialtias Show,room in Mc[)onough. Ga. Gtt1, ,loncs Ltttnher opened in the former Ollic Lum' ber Co. facility in Spiro, Ok. Dav,is Dist'ount Suppl.y, ll'., Cireers Ferry, Ar.. is adding 4,200 sq. fl. to its showroom and new offices in a remodeling

Mc'Coy's Building SUPPIY C.'ert' ter. Brownwood, Tx., held a grand re-opening and board cutiing lor their new 120 x 150 fi. building l-he Ilornc /)(7,o/ storc in Ncw I)ort ltichcy. Itl., was burglarizcd, losirtg ovcr $2,5(D in string wced irnd gritss trimnters . llrc dcstroy'cd a wttrchttusc at 1.rrxrls in llirkcr'. l.u. , l)iurnotrd Ittmbt'r. l)allas.'l'x.. plrt 23 locations inclucling those in l:klricla <ln the markct and ckrscd scvcrl including a [)clancl, l:1.. rrnit ... LL'ickas I.ttnrhcr ('o. clclsecl its [.akeland. lil., yard llonte DL,ytl htrs aclded an inhouse tv network based in Atlanta, (ia., to train enrployces ancl communicate with 100 stores in I I states . The Pat.v, Co. sponsored a Johnson City, Tn., car show to benetlt Ccrebral Palsv ol [ast 'l't'tttrcss((

'l'hc l)ttlt' ( 'o. is nttlvittg its (irccrrevillc, Va., opcrtttion to lurgcr quartcrs, cxpattdittg the storc irpproxirnirtcly 5 tintes, ancl has openccl a ltew storc in Ashcvillc.N.('....

.\r'rttt'lt Luntbcr ('o.. ljulton. Al., is celebrating its l00th ycar. ..lluttby Lttmbt'r ('o.. llcrryville. Ar., is thc oldest h-rmbcryarcl in thc state ilt lll . .

Zick,qra /' Ha rclw'ood ('o.. Franklin, N.C., has completed construction of a new harclwood moulding f acility ancl added three 100 MBF dry kilns .. . Burllr.s Co,, Lynchburg, Va., moved its ofllces to its hardwood flooring plant site .

Coastal Lumber Cir. has acquired Central Oil & Gas Co., Ittc., Jane Lew, W.V., including 1,000 acres of Appalachian timberland.. . Dawn Bargeron

'lixlco l'lixxl I'nxlutt.s sold its Alcoa, Tn., rcsiclcrrtial strip llooring plant to llill Mullican who chartgcd the nitntc to .'lAcrs ll''ttrxl I)rrxlu('ls. .9u1(,\ lrtdtt.s' trics, lrrc., lrugenc, ( )r.. actluired thc ( )rrrlrr .Munulit('tunl,{i lircility in ('orinth, Ms., to ol)eratc as .\7rrlr'.r Inilustric.s Sotttlt

(ittulino Li,qhtittt:. Miami, l;1., has acquirctl l\trttt lmYtrls, lnr'., l:aston. Ma.. lirr about S3.25 nrillion llluxutitt' ('orp. Ilurrlhoard (inutp has changccl its name to lfuihlin.q l)nxhu't.s (ixttrp

(hlttric ('or7r. [115 a ncw $52 nrillion, 426,(XX) sq. li. appliance nrfg. plarrt in l:lorence, S.('. 'litnt ('rr. will accluirc Inv'n-Boj, /lr'. f'rclnr Outlnunl Nlurinc ('orp. for $85 million

.\utlxnrd Intcrnuliortul I"unber cQ I'lvv'rnd Inc. has closed its Marictta, (ia., branch...

Unpltlatt l.untber Cir. has complctecl a ncw southern pine mill in Mclleth, S.('., to replace one destroyed by lire in l9ttl; ofllces ancl shipping will be in Moncks ('orncr, S.('.. Robert I Iickok, salesnrgr....

Ro.v' 0. Murlitt Lumber C'o., Llurtitt Timhcr Co. and llfHC Propcrties, Alexandria, La., have acquirecl 70,4,51 acres ol' Vanpl.v, /rrr'. timberland in La. fiom ltx0('o

The Jcttkirts Lunther (tr. sawrnill near liolsont, La., burned to the ground with an cstimated loss ol' $161,000 . . ^\t'ott'lt Lumbcr ('o., Thomasville, AI., has applied fbr a permit to operate a non-hazardous inclustrial landfill fbr mill waste at its l;r"rlton, Al.. fircility

Hottsing "stalLs slipped 5.2{th in Sept. (latest figs.) to an annual rate of I,263,000 units, a seven year low single family honre starts dropp ed 2.l\lt,'multilamily, 2.20/o... building permits dropped 2.40/',