Until May 24, 1996, Robert Weber was helping on his father’s dairy farm east of Drayton and helping a local contractor with building construction.
That particular Friday afternoon he decided it was time to cut down a dead tree behind the house. The result? One tree down, a 911 call and a doctor diagnosis of a T-5 spinal cord injury.
“Praise God for people willing to serve on the volunteer fire brigade and as paramedics and doctors,” Weber said.
After rehabilitation, in October 1996, with the help from Murray Martin of Marspan and his family, Weber formed Craftsmen Hardwoods Inc. with the vision of supplying hardwood lumber to local furniture builders.
“We started from the ground level and that was the best thing for me,” Weber quipped. “My first desk was a Mahogany slab door sat on drywall compound boxes. This was soon upgraded to something better.”
Weber says he appreciates his customers, as “without the privilege to serve them, we are done.” He explained Craftsmen Hardwoods tries its best to meet each unique requirement that is requested.
“Our staff are top shelf right through our whole organization,” he said, adding that includes the order desk and sales, book keeping, shipping and receiving, and delivery reps.
“When we interact with our customer we all try to build relationships to become familiar with their needs,” said Weber. “We source our lumber from sawmills that have sound reforestation practices and do selective harvesting for proper woodlot management. We are pleased that North America is growing more timber than what is being harvested.”
In the early years it was challenging to find sources with consistent quality that a woodworker expected while offering regular availability, Weber explained, but in the later years the markets changed.
“Our customers’ order sizes decreased per item and the amount of items per order increased due to the variety that the consumer was asking for,” he said. “This had us stocking many more species and related products to offer our customers what they wanted.”
But the increase in products led to another problem: access to those products. With too much time spent on material handling, Craftsmen Hardwoods had to think “outside the box” and design a facility that provided better access. On July 29, 2011 the business relocated to its current facility behind the PMD Arena in Drayton.
“We are thrilled with our new climate-controlled warehouse that allows us to maintain a proper humidity level for our kiln-dried products and pleased with the drive through shipping/receiving bay for the transport trucks to protect our inventory from the elements while being unloaded or reloaded,” Weber said.
Craftsmen Hardwoods Inc. carries most domestic hardwood and softwood lumber species, some exotics, and furniture-grade plywood as well. The business distributes to large and small woodworking and cabinet manufacturers in Ontario and has also shipped orders to Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
With a call to its order desk, which is open weekdays from 7:30am to 5pm, Craftsmen Hardwoods can also service retail orders picked up at the door. For more information call 519-638-3380 or email sales@craftsmenhardwoods.com.
Weber and his family (including Miriam and children Kaylin and Cameron) would like to thank local families, customers, staff, suppliers and the community – including volunteer firefighters – for their support.
“We desire to honour and glorify God while providing quality wood products to the Ontario market,” he said.
