Freres Manufacturing Tours

Welcome to Freres Engineered Wood

At Freres, we’ve invested in innovative, sustainable processes to ensure that when it comes to our natural resources and timber, nothing is wasted.

Our quest to find a higher and better use for every part of a log has led us to develop a wide range of products, many of which you’ll see on your tour.

We’re proud of our 100-year heritage and our vision to provide renewable products for the buildings of the future. We look forward to showing you how we use one of the world’s most valuable resources to accomplish more with less.

To bring!

  • Sturdy, enclosed footwear with good traction.
  • Casual attire, full length pants recommended.
  • Note-taking device.

We will provide ear plugs.

Plant Descriptions

At our first stop, you’ll see how we produce large veneer sheets out of logs as small as six inches, creating value for those smaller trees in a dense forest understory. This can have a positive environmental impact by using low-impact harvest methods, such as thinning, and reducing fuel load in areas susceptible to forest fires.

Our main product by volume is veneer — it’s utilized in every other primary product we manufacture.

Description coming soon…

Freres has been the industry leader in the production of high-quality sheathing and touch-sanded plywood panels since 1998.

We dry our wood products to customer specifications. Here, you’ll see yet another advantage of veneer, which dries to a 4-6% moisture content in as little as four minutes. This means it takes very little energy to dry compared to lumber, which takes several hours, even days, to reach 18% moisture content.

Learn how our Evergreen BioPower facility turns woody material with no other beneficial use into energy, generating enough electricity to annually supply 5,000 households while also providing heat for our manufacturing processes.

Mass Ply is a massive, large-scale, structural composite lumber-based panel, designed as an alternative to Cross Laminated Timbers (CLT).

Safety tips

  • These are working mills. Please be mindful of machinery and forklifts around you.
  • Stay within safety lines and guard rails.
  • DO NOT TOUCH moving parts or material.