LOXLEY — If a new local lumber treatment plant has its way, residents and businesses along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana and north to Tennessee and Arkansas will be seeing blue and going green. Edgefield Lumber Company has been operating on Highway 59 north of Interstate 10 in Loxley for a few months under the ownership of Mobile native Greg Wells and Point Clear native Mason McGowan.
The company already has several projects in the works, both commercial and resident, including several in Baldwin County and hopes to expand its operations into six states, including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas.
One of the main areas where the Loxley-based company hopes to have a big impact is in the rebuilding of the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. Several projects in the works will include the use of its main product, BluWood, which has already been used in projects made famous by the involvement of actor Brad Pitt.
The product, which is a certified “Green” product is used to treat several types of lumber and is resistent to mold, fungus, termites and moisture, Wells said. The product, and its parent product Perfect Barrier, was developed by Wood Smark Solutions based out of Boca Raton, Fla., and has been in distribution since 2001.
“It’s basically Gortex for wood,” Wells said. When wood is treated, it is kiln dried to 19 percent moisture. BluWood acts as a barrier to protect the wood from the elements and keeps the wood at the proper moisture. “When treated, the wood can sit at the construction site for up to six months and not be effected by the elements,” Wells said.
The treated components have been approved for use in residential, single and multi-family structures, light commercial and factory built systems and structures. It is good for use on window and door components, fencing, wood fiber surfaces, posts or columns, log structure components, wood, wood fiber and composite siding, deck or stair parts and boards and trim. Air or kiln dried wood species approved for BluWood include Southern yellow pine, Douglas fir, hem-fir, white wood, spruce pine fir and most soft and hard woods. The treatmetn can also be used in composite or plywood.
Both Wells and McGowan bring years of experience and legacies in the building and lumber industries. The Loxley operation has a total of nine employees, including veteran Randall Robinson, who serves as production manager for the operation and brings over 25 years of lumber industry experience to the operation.
Wells said he is excited about the business, particularly their involvement in Global Green USA, the project helping rebuild homes in New Orleans with Pitt as its spokesman.
“This is truly a revolutionary product,” Wells said. “It is something that we definitely need on the Gulf Coast, particularly in New Orleans where mold has been such a problem.”
Edgefield is currently one of 24 licensed factories for the manufacture of BluWood and Perfect Barrier. Wells said the company hopes to expand to 42 manufacturers by the second quarter of 2008. In addition to exposure from Global Green USA, the product has also been featured on ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover and the Discovery Channel.
Source: BaldwinCountyNOW.com