MDF unlocks new possibilities for doors

TT'S AN open and shut case: doors Ican either unlock-or unhinge-a home's good looks.

From French doors in the dining room to intricate passageway portals, today's homes can be enhanced with high-style yet cost-efficient doors, thanks to contemporary composite panel products and advanced technology. Medium density fiberboard (MDF) and highly computerized operations allow door manufacturers to realize affordable customized products that leave pricey custom doors in the sawdust.

Economy-minded

MDF is literally opening new doors for many homeowners.

"MDF doors offer strength and stability benefits that no other door can," claims Mike Judes, president of Supa Doors, San Antonio, Tx. "Builders of hotels, high rises and large commercial structures favor MDF doors because of their durability in hightraffic areas and because they don't shrink or crack."

"In the past, builders of half-million-dollar homes often couldn't afford the budget chunk-about loVo-required for custom wood doors," explains Steve Gomez, production manager of TruStile Doors, Inc., Denver, Co. "Instead, they made do with a cheaper product like a hollow core door. not at all on the same level as the home's faucets and other fixtures."

Today, economy-minded MDF is literally opening new doors for many homeowners. The composite product provides a solid cutting surface all the way to the core and adapts to almost any style preference. Its dimensional stability and machining consistency allow manufacturers to efficiently create individualized doors with true stile and rail construction, not merely stamped panels. MDF also provides the weight and acoustic properties that consumers prefer in a door.

"Architects can now specify any door design they want for a house without going over budget and without lengthy waiting periods," Gomez says. Custom MDF doors sell for roughly one-fifth of the price of custom wood doors, he says, and can be delivered in a fraction of the time.

*MDF provides a blank slate for an almost limitless range of designs including cut and bolection mouldings, circles and curves," says Robert Stuart, director of Bolection Door, Greensboro, N.C. "For one customer, we created a door with a calla lily design. For another, we did a beaded board door because the customer had visited Monticello and wanted a door like Thomas Jefferson's."

In addition, he reports, "MDF's smooth surface takes paint better than wood, and allows for a wide range of creative treatments. One customer used whitewash over MDF doors for a nice effect. Another painted his door lime green for a refro '50s look."

Open, closed or ajar, MDF doors are a durable, cost-conscious way to achieve the individuality of custom styling.

Lnruurs

Hall Brcs. Lumber Co. is closing its Canoga Park and Oxnard, Ca., yards after77 years

,: : Stock-Rite Eailding Supply Inc,, r::,, rChino, Ca., has relocated after nearly 30 yean to Golden Valley, Az. ...

City Mill opened a 40,000-sq. ft. store in Waianae, Hi., its 8th ...

Whinier htmber Co., Whittier, Ca,, is closing after 48 years with tha retirement of owner Ivan Schultz

DeNault 3 True Valra.e' II*rdware will anchor the 18,O00-sq. ft. upptr level of a proposed DeNault Pk?a iil downtown San Clemente, Ca;, q'i6 7,000 sq. ft. of shops at sfreet level ...

P anorama Hardware, Panorama City, Ca., has closed after 42 years due to warehouse store competition

HomeBase plans to build a store on the site of the Glassell Park landmark Van de Kamp's bakery, Los Angeles, Ca. HomeBase employees raised $218,000 in a companywide fundraising drive to benefit the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute ...

Home&ase recently: pr€sented its Vendor of the Yeaf -Arpards; winners included lrlalcita USA, Supplier of the Yeart Redwood Empire, Best Regional Supplier, md Sherwin-Williarns, Best FullSenrice Vendor...

TruSem Corp. has alliod itself wth United Stirtoners Supply Co. to supply members with office rir,.isupply pro&rca for their cornmerciaVindustrial customers

Home Depot opens new stores Oct. 21 in sbuthwest Bakersfield, Ca., and Oct. 28 in Gilfoy (San Jose), Ca.; is building a store on 10.32 acres in San Pedro, Ca-; is eyeing a site in Rpdlands, Ca-, and signed an l8-month, $1.5 million lease for 311,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space in 0qtario, Ca

Home Depot is considering opening its frrst double-decker site in New York City's East Harlem district, featuring a home center on one floor ard an Expo Denign Center on another ...

Lawels Cas. expects an early 2000 opening for its 150,000-sq. ft. unit under construction in Palmdale, Ca.; has begun construction on the 136,000-sq. ft. store in Boise, Id., originally slated to be an Eagle Hardwarei received city approval to build a 156,000-sq. ft. store including 20,900-sq. ft. garden center in Redlands (San Bernardino), Ca., and is negotiating to join the ju*topened WalMart in San Clemente's Plaza Pacifica ...

New Web sites: I*vee Lumber, Grays Harbor, Wa., wrvw. levee.com , ... Restoration Hardware, Corte Madera, Ca., www.restorationhardware.com

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Un or$n:rr/tmu rrcrurrrl

Itoehu subsidiary Pacific Woodtech Corp. opened a $,10 million engineered lumber plant in Burlington, Wa.; at full production, it will produce 2.8 million cu. ft. of LW and 50 million lineal ft. of I-joists annually ...

Ittmber Prcdwts, Ttralatin, &,;, has purchased .Sznrise Wood Prodtrc*,Spokane, lVa.

Weyerhaeuser Co. and MacMillan Bloedel kd. movd a step closer to their planned merger with clearance by competition authorities in Canada, Germany and keland, and approval in principle by the Canadian Minister of In-ternational Trade of MB's fians' ferring its softwood lumber quotas to lVeyerhaeuser; MB shareholders are expected to approve the transaction-Oct. 28 ... - -

Mendocino Forest Products turs added a second shift at its Ukiah, Ca., mill and has hired a crew for its Willits, Ca., mill due to begin production shortly ...

Behr Prccess Corp., Santa Ana" Ca., was among five firms recently acquired by Masco Corp. for $3.5 billion in stock and cash ...

Duo-Fast Corp.has been purchased by lllircis Tbol Worlu ...

Georgia-Pacific is now distributing Camplank fiber cement products...

Willamette Industries, Inc., Portland, Or., has contributed $3,000 in prize money to the National Timber Bridge Design Competition he first time Tom Jappert and Lonnie Ramey of Bright Wood held a piece of Bridiata Pine in their hands, they knew this fiber was something special. Bridiata Pine is made from New Zealand's brightest and white$ radiata, grown in the unique climate and soil of the Southland and 0tago regions. Bridiata is renowned for its consistent texture and soft grain unlike any other radiata prne.

Anniversaries: City Milt Co. Ltd., Honolulu, Hi., 100th Idaho Forest Industries, Coeur d'Alene,Id.,3fth Home Depot, Atlanta, Ga., 20th ... Idaho Timber Corp., Boise, Id., 20th ... Plyhp Industries, /2c., Woodland, Ca., 10th...

Housing starts in Aug. (latest figs.) remained steady at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.676 million ... single family starts slipped 1%, multifamily were at a rate of 343,000 for 5+ units and 29,000 for 2-4 units permits feLl2% to a 1.612 millim rate.

Bright Wood ensures Bridiata performs perfectly by sawing and drying it ourselves at our southern l'|ew Zealand mill.Our experts transform the Bridiata Pine into precise, stable millwork components dried to the highest standards using Dried Bright" technology. We'll even sand the parts for you with Bright Wood's uniqueQro&rvd'" system.

Supplies are limited so call Tom or Lonnie today for a Bridiata Pine sample.

Listittgs are often subtnitted monilN i,l advance. Altvul's verifl, dates ancl locations with sponsor beforc making plans to attcncl.

0cronrn

Metal Roofing AllianceOct. 12-14, MetalCon trade show, Rosemont Convention Center, Chicago, Il.; (800) 537-7'l65.

National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association - Oct. 13, golf tournament; Oct. 14, technology day; Oct. 1517, annual convention, Hyatt Regency, Hilton Head, S.C.; (800) 634-8645.

National Association of the Remodeling IndustryOct. 1417,24th annual home improvement & remodeling show, Portland Convention Center, Portland, Or.; (703) 575-l 100.

Door & Hardware InstituteOct. 16-18, annual convention, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Tx.; (703) 222-2010.

Do it Best Corp.Oct. 16-19, fall market, Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, In.; (219) 7 48-53N.

Resource Information Systems Inc.Oct. 17-19, annual tbrest products convention, Loews Coronado Island, San Diego, Ca.; (781) 271-0030.

Wood Truss Council of AmericaOct. 20-22, annual show, Bartle Hall, Kansas City, Mo.; (785) 843-3781.

Forest Products SocietyOct. 2l-22, structure preservation & renovation workshop, Winston-Salem, N.C.; (919) 5 l5-5579.

North American Wholesale Lumber AssociationOct. 2123, 4th annual Traders Market, Wyndham Anatole Hotel, Dallas, Tx.; (800) 527-8258.

National Hardwood DayOct.22

Hong Kong International Hardware ShowOct.27-29, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, Hong Kong, China; 0tt) 5-852-2240-439.

ConcretaOct. 27-31, trade show, Porto, Portugal; (0ll) 35r 2-998- I 400.

Wood Machining InstituteOct. 28-29, SawTech '99, Airport Doubletree lnn, Seattle, Wa.; (925) 943-5240.

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Lumber Association of California & NevadaNov. 3-6. board meetings & annual convention. Silver Legacy Resort & Casino, Reno, Nv.; (800) 266-4344.

North American Building Material Distribution AssociationNov. 4-6, annual convention & cont'erence, Reno Hilton, Reno, Nv.; (888) 747-7862.

American Lumber Standard CommitteeNov. 5, meeting, El Dorado Hotel, Santa Fe, N.M.; (301) 972-1700.

National Association of Home BuildersNov. 5-7, Remodelers Show, Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pa.; (800) 368-5242.

Western Building Material AssociationNov. 5-8, annual convention & building products showcase, Doubletree Airport, Seattle, Wa.; (888) 551-9262.

Batimat International Building ExhibitionNov. 8-13, Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles, Paris, France; (800) 321-3269.

Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers AssociationNov. l0-14, fall management conf-erence, Pointe Hilton Tapatillo Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, Az.; (800) 3650859.

Architectural Woodwork InstituteNov. 1l-14, executive committee meeting, Key West, Fl.; (703) 733-0600.

ll5 N.W. Hess Street,l''ladras,0R 91741 ' 541.475.2234 http:\\www.brightwood.com' Serving customers since 1960

International Mass Retail AssociationNov. l7-19, store planning & design seminar, Westin Innisbrook Resort, Tarpon Springs, Fl.; (703) 841-2300.

Building Industry ShowNov. lE-19, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Ca.; (909) 396-9993.