Lumberyard

Prospers With Minimal Overhead

At first glance, with no lumber in sight, the five-monthold business looks less like a lumberyard than a yard, period. At New Mexico Builder's Supply, Albuquerque, N.M., typically you'll see little inventory beyond perhaps a few stacks of plywood piled next to the handful of delivery trucks and the trailer that's used as an office.

It's by design. To keep down overhead, the company first sells lumber, windows, nails, studs, trusses or other materials to a builder or remodeler, then buys the products from one of several Albuquerque wholesalers. The dealer picks the materials up, often right at the railroad tracks, soon after they're unloaded, and delivers.

"We saw there was a need for service," said Gabe Mirabal, who owns the business with his father, Jim Mirabal, and partner James Sower.

With a small staff-just the three of them-and no warehouse, the dealer can keep prices low. Plus, the wood is usually in top condition because it hasn't been sitting in a yard for weeks. Not subjecting the lumber to long periods of hot or damp weather also cuts down on returns.

Having previously owned their own home-building company, the Mirabals can better anticipate the needs of their builder customers. New Mexico Builder's Supply provides takeoffs from builders' plans and delivers the materials directly to the job site. The hope is to supply everything up front, so contractors can avoid making multiple trips to a superstore forjust nails or caulk.

"Our competition needs to be more service-oriented," said Gabe Mirabal, "or they'll lose more customers to guys like us."

Manufacturers of Quality Southern Hardwood and Cypress products from America's only renewable natural resource since 1957

Manufactured with the quality and consistency you expect from your supplier. lf you require quality lumber, we: have a circle mill with a thin kerf gang edger and scragg mill that produces over 20 million bd. ft. a year of quality Southern Hardwood and Cypress lumber and other products like bevel siding, shiplap siding, fingerjoint moulding blanks, railroad ties, bridge timbers, cants, chips and Cypress mulch, have 550,000 bd. ft. ol dry kiln capacity (1,288 cubic meters) produce Red and White oak (4/4 thick); Ash (4/4, 6/4 and 8/4), and our specialty, Cypress (4/4 thru 8/4) are NHLA certified; we grade all lumber before and after kiln drying. anti-stain dip lumber all year long, and stick all lumber on 12" centers. otfer export prep and container loading services. can ship lumber to you by rail or truck.

L-P Reaches Divestiture Goal

With a definitive agreement to sell 465,000 more acres of timberland in southeastern Texas, Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has exceeded its divestiture target of $700 million in asset sales over the last year.

"This agreement marks a key milestone in the divestiture program we announced 14 months ago," said Mark A. Suwyn, L-P's chairman and c.e.o. "Once this sale and other announced transactions are completed, we will have accomplished essentially everything we set out to do within the time period we stated. The total value achieved through this program will exceed the upper end of our $600 to $700 million target. With these funds, we have reduced our debt and have initiated investments in the businesses we have retained."

Connector Firm Adds Research Lab

(Continued from page 24) directly to the wall. Together, the two types of testing equipment complement one another by providing a more complete picture of a structure's performance capabilities.

"The Simpson shake table is like no other in the world," explained Steve Pryor, building systems research and development manager. "ln the past, shake table testing required building a full-scale structure to adequately test a building's structural integrity against seismic demands. Now we can analyze the full effects of an earthquake by testing large-scale wall sections that accurately simulate the full building response."

In order for the lab to withstand the larse-scale forces created within it, the facility had to be constructed using heavy-duty concrete slabs. The test equipment is secured to a 10,000-sq. ft. concrete strong floor, which is three feet thick, heavily reinforced and can withstand concentrated forces up to 300,000 lbs. The floor sits above a basement and is supported by multiple, l-ft.-wide concrete walls and a mat foundation that is 2-ft. thick. Combined, the foundation, basement walls and strong floor provide l0 million lbs. of mass for the shake table to "push" against while testing wall structures. This massive foundation is required in order to minimize vibrations that result from the shake table testing.

The faciliy will allow the company to test existing products and installation techniques and design new products and techniques. The end result should be better structures-and concrete proof to help convince builders to make them as safe as possible. With test results, according to Pryor, "I can show you that if you add $20 worth of hardware, you'll increase performance by X. The purpose isn't to add cost to the structure; it's to decrease the overall cost of the structure and increase its performance."