Lumber Grading Our lumber grading technology is focused on your material requirements. We feel that grading standards should be optimized for our customer's needs, not just some formula. Grading standards should let our customers order the exact stock that they need. To achieve this we developed and use a proprietary grading system. We developed our grade system based on customer feedback and our extensive experience in providing Alder furniture and cabinet lumber. Recently, our customers have told us that their market demands could be more easily met if we based our proprietary grades on standard National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) cuttings. We listened and have made the changes! Our proprietary grades are now based on NHLA cuttings, but applied to better reflect our customer’s current needs. With our customer driven grade system, our customers can be assured of receiving lumber suited to their manufacturing needs. They get more useable lumber from each board. They can also plan and control material costs much more accurately. The result is a better product at a lower cost, and a happy customer. Please look at the descriptions of our specific grades described in the grade sections below and contact our Sales Team if you have any questions.