News & Resources - Customer Focus
Green River Lumber
When a floor is more than a floor?
A lot of people would like you to believe that one hardwood floor is just as good as another. Cherry is cherry, isn't it? Blunt as it may seem, the answer is a resounding - No.
The folks at Green River Lumber in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts know the difference. And the difference is in the wood, and the milling, and the people.
Good wood doesn't come easy, either.
When you put your heart and soul into making fine flooring you pay attention, a lot of attention, to the quality of the wood and to where your wood comes from. The idea of using wood from a truly sustainably managed forest is not some catchy advertising line. It's a set of principles and values that the people at Green River believe in. And why not? If you don't protect your resource, someday you'll turn around and find it gone.
But forests are more than just a resource base. They provide critical habitat for wildlife and fish, for water conservation, and for the valuable plant and bird life that makes their home in and around the forest floor and canopy.
Why Green River chose to be FSC-certified?
High quality wood is the result of informed, intelligent management, management that opens its forests to outside scrutiny and analysis. Green River chose to be certified in 1994 by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) because it is the only international organization that has a comprehensive, annual, independent certification process. Their environmental, social, and economic standards are the strictest in the marketplace. Some pass this intense scrutiny and some don't.
The Collins Companies, and specifically their hardwood division, Kane Hardwood in the cherry-rich Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, provides much of Green River's certified cherry.
When high quality FSC-certified maple, red birch, and hickory are available, Green River will bring this flooring to its customers.
For more information on FSC-certification of Green River Lumber click here.
Real Hardwood Floors that last a lifetime.
Maple
Green River First Grade Maple Flooring: Distinguished by its brightness and superior uniformity of color. All white sapwood, it contains no brown heartwood, and only occasional mineral streaks.
Green River Select Maple Flooring: An eye-catching combination of white sapwood, some light brown heartwood, and limited small character marks.
Green River Natural Maple Flooring: Highlights the full appearance of what nature has to offer. Allowing unlimited brown heartwood and contrasting white sapwood to create a lively variegated look.
American Cherry
Green River Clear Cherry Flooring: Provides all the rich, red heartwood color for which American Cherry is famous, with less than five percent sapwood. The result: a warm and luxurious floor.Green River Select Cherry Flooring: Shows the full appearance of a rich, red, beautiful floor at a bargain price. It contains some lighter colored sapwood, streaks, and small character marks.
Red Birch
Green River Clear Red Birch Flooring: Selectively sorted for red heartwood with less than 5% sapwood. With coloration similar to Cherry, and hardness comparable to Red Oak, it's no wonder that Red Birch is fast becoming so popular.
Green River Select Red Birch Flooring: Contains the natural variations of color between light-toned sapwood and rich, red heartwood. Some streaks and small character marks create a livelier appearance.
Hickory
Green River Select and Better Hickory Flooring: Very high grade product showing both bright white sapwood and rich, reddish brown heartwood. These bold qualities set it apart from other hardwoods.
Green River Natural Hickory Flooring: A diverse combination of dark heartwood and lighter tones of the sapwood, with further variation including streaks, character marks, and tight, sound defects.
Contact Information
Green River Lumber
Address: P.O. Box 329
Great Barrington, MA
413-528-9000