Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!! From everybody here at the worlds greatest lumber yard!!!!! aka Matthews Building Supply....

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy your time with friends and family and we will see you next week.

We will be closed the 26th and the 2nd! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget the world's greatest movie!!!!!!!! Merry Christmas...................

My Movie....................

Yea, I know this is a company blog, and most company's will bore you to death with the latest project they are doing and show you a bunch of pictures of a job starting and finishing. And yes I have done the same thing here, well sort of. I just show you the completed job! Then I brag about how we helped make it happen, I like to brag!

But lately I just haven't felt like going that route, I want you to come here because you never know what you might find! Today it's about my movie!

Oh no...Damn icicle...............

Ralphie all grown up

trivia: what's the little brothers name? I will tell ya next week...

best scene in the movie

Not any movie but the greatest movie ever put to film! That's right were talking about the "Christmas Story" Ever year they show it all day on Christmas day, I laugh all day at it! I have seen it about 99 times but it makes me smile every time! So today I am just gonna put a few pictures up from "my" favorite movie!!!!!! 

His name is Fred................

Fred meet world! World meet Fred! Every year, much to the dismay of my family, I name our turkey! This year his name is Fred,he came from the Butterball family! They seem to be nice parents, every year they raise their young to be about 12-13 pounds and then send them out to meet the world!

Fred

We found him hanging out in the big playpen (freezer) at the Wal-mart. He and all his brothers and sisters where just hanging out waiting to be adopted. I was looking for the big fat one with low self esteem but they all seemed to be about the same size! So I based it on location in the playpen. He was hanging around in the bottom and looked like he really wanted to get out so I dug deep and brought him to the top!

Fred on a plate

His first stage in life will be the oven and then the plate where I will introduce him to the family, they are all really excited to meet Fred so we will make sure he is dressed to impress!!! After everybody enjoys the afternoon hanging out with Fred we will pack him up and he will be ready for the final act in his career!!!

Fred on bread!

That's right he will make a guest appearance as a turkey sandwich the following day! His final act will be Fred on Bread!! Then his career as the family turkey will come to an end!

Next year we will visit the Butterball playpen and see how they do with the next generation of little fat kids! Then we can do it all over again. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Correct Deck Siesta Decking...............

Yes, I know we stock the Fiberon Horizon series decking. Lately we have sold a lot of it too. But right now Correct deck is offering a special price point (they are trying to unload some product) before the winter season comes in. Correct deck is the original co-extruded decking product and it has the 30 year warranty.

The Siesta decking is truly a nice product and we have sold a lot of it! Most of the time if our customers don't like the Fiberon products they usually buy the Correct Deck product. Right now is a great time to buy if you have an interest in composite decking. The performance of these products is really amazing when you take into consideration the low maintenance of them.

When was the last time you spilled something on your deck and thought "oh no" that's gonna leave a stain! With the Siesta Decking all you need is a roll of paper towels! Presto mess cleaned up, no stain! My house it would probably be ketchup before wine but you get the point.

Of course it has the hidden fastener system, one of the best designs too. If you have a board damaged in the middle of the deck you can replace it with no problem at all. Some of the other systems make this task very difficult. 

In this last picture you can see the quality of the finished product. They have the Duralife composite railings installed to compliment the Siesta decking.  http://www.gaf.com/Decking/DuraLife-Siesta-Deck/DuraLife-siesta-deck.aspx If you have time click the link and take a moment to check out the two products.......

Rusty Money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, the best time of the year to ride a bike and do outside repairs. Fall has arrived!! You know you have been putting them off because it's been to hot! Get up and get moving, it's time to make it happen! If you don't want to do it yourself give us a call and we can recommend somebody for you!

Yes the economy is still in the tank, but people are doing remodel projects. That's where we can help, all you need to do is give us a call. We will be glad to help you get going in the right direction! With winter coming it's not to late replace those windows! Especially if you are a Duke power customer, it might help you off set that new rate hike they are trying to hit you with!

Wouldn't it be nice to go ahead and do that deck now, come spring you would already have it done and be able to enjoy it right away. Think about it, I would rather have a crew in my yard now, not when I am ready to start enjoying the summer. Spring would come and you would already have that out of the way!

Then you could start another project! If you haven't figured out yet I am trying to talk you into spending some of that rusty money..........................Have a nice weekend........................

Back to Building Supplies...........................

OK I put the trucks up here Friday, so today it's time to talk business again. Have you ever heard the term "Drop Ship". If you ever purchase anything on the Internet they drop ship it direct to your front door. That's all UPS does, drop ship. So now you understand the concept right?

We'll it seems to work for a lot of other lumber yards so maybe it can work for us! I have appointed myself the title of "lumber relocation specialist" aka "drop ship coordinator" call it what you want but I am going to sell something through this damn computer! One way or another! We get phone calls more and more about shipping things like this so why not? We like to eat too!

It takes a little more effort, you have to line up a freight company to receive the product and line up the delivery to the job, but if you can make it happen that's what it's all about. I used to dispatch for my neighbors trucking company and we had 30 trucks I had to keep moving everyday. So I learned a thing or two about the process, hence the reason I am taking control of this.

Bottom line! If you are reading this blog or use our website look for the new "drop ship" quote box (coming very soon). Give me a chance to look into what you are working on. So far I have been competitive on what I have quoted.

It's Friday Peoples..........................

Because of that I am going to post something just for the heck of it. Big trucks baby!!! That's right I like big bad trucks. I drove a tractor trailer for awhile and had a blast. It was fun and I had a fast truck! Ask my wife and she will tell ya, I was always on the verge of losing my license!

Again, I ain't talking about your company truck specials, the trucks with no personality. I am talking about the chrome ones with the matching trailers and all the chicken lights! Did ya know that's what all the lights on the custom trucks are called, "chicken lights". These trucks can and will fly! The only place you will see the big customs on the east coast are on I95. You get out west and you will see a lot more of them.

My first truck was a cab over...Loved it!!!!

I like the hood vents on this one

this truck is actually from Marshville, NC

long and low

So checkout these, next time you see one coming up the left lane get outta the way!!!! They got places to go........Have a nice weekend.........................................

Versatility.........

If you look up "versatility" one of the definitions you will find will be ; "Having varied uses or serving many functions". Well with a little work and a little thought, I made our 2x10 yellow pine into a tractor trailer replacement part! How you ask? I drove a truck for 5 years at one time and I still have friends in the trucking industry.

The other day a friend calls me and says; I need a new floor on my drop deck. The trailer sales place wants $1800 for the material alone, what can you do for me? First thing I did was figured out what it was they were going to sell him. Strike one, can't get what they have. It is manufactured and sold only to companies that make trailers. So I had to do some thinking and investigating.

He had to have something 1-1/8inch thick, dimensional lumber doesn't come in that. So taking into consideration it is exposed to the elements all the time and the fact that the cross members in the trailer are 10inch on center. We ran some numbers and regular old yellow pine works just fine. Now we had an option!

So we sent 2x10 grade #1 to the shop and had them plane it down to the right thickness. Then he took the time to apply a water sealant to all six sides of the board before he installed them. 'What do ya know' he had a new floor in his trailer and guess what he saved 1500 dollars! Even after having our shop plane the material.......Versatility......Our middle name.............

It's Official...........

We have inventory and plenty of it! How do I know, we just got it all counted. Or they they got it all counted I have been away for a few days with my boys surgery. I did show up for the comparison on Saturday morning. Yes I said Saturday, AM to top it off. We, or they counted Friday and then we enter all of it on Saturday and run the comparison to find out who can count or not, and then we check the big losses.

That's when we find out who can count or not, or if we have been ripped off. Usually the big discrepancies are from entering it wrong when it was received or counting it wrong when we have inventory. We really do have a good customer base and theft is not a problem around Matthews. We tend to make it harder on ourselves more than anything.

So now we know what we have and are ready to deliver! So Monday AM spread the word Matthews has lumber and lots of it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For all you facebook friends, the weather has changed and it's time to tackle all those projects you have been putting of till fall...Fall has arrived!!!!!!!!!

Rain Rain Go Away...............

Come again another day! What the heck it's rained everyday for as long as I can remember, at least a week! Yep, that's about as long as I can remember. Well maybe I can remember longer but most of the time I just choose not to.

I have worked here for 20 years and I swear the rainy days seem to last forever! Right now I am looking at sunshine and it's beautiful. Everything is gonna dry up and it will be time to get back to work! So call us up and we can deliver the goods.

Truck loads of anything you want. Go ahead, don't listen to the news all it does is depress you. If all you do is listen to the news we can help you build your doomsday shelter! LOL..

I think I am going to send the president an email on how to fix the economy. All you have to do is go back to the time when all you had was the local evening news and world news tonight. Get ride of all the 24 hour 7 day a week news channels and people will cheer up and spend more money. Simple as that.........

Renovo Wooden Bikes........

OK, I know it's been awhile since I posted anything, but sometimes I just run outta things to say. I know  those of you who personally know me find that hard to believe, but sometimes it happens.

Now for my post today; Wes found something that he knew I would like and now I want to talk about it. I am an avid cyclist, I ride and race bicycles all the time. If you ever click over to my personal blog you can keep up with all the worthless stuff I am up to. But today we are going to checkout wooden bicycles!

Renovo Bikes from California is now my all time favorite bicycle company! Handmade right here in the good old USA. I need one of these, how can I be in the lumber business and not ride a wooden bicycle! I need this bad. I am already trying to figure out how to convince the wife I can't live without one.

look at the detail....

mtn bike.....

unbelievable detail.......

Checkout the detail, no mass production here. Every bike is hand made to the spec's you provide to them, yes it will take awhile to get one but what the heck. I bet you would be the only one around riding a wooden bike.... Checkout their website....   http://www.renovobikes.com/

Bad To The Bone.....Marvin Windows......

Here at Mathews we have one guy Craig, he handles 90% of all the window and door orders. I help 8% and the rest of this crowd might make a mistake and help the other 2%. My specialty would be the decking and exterior railing products. I write this blog so I can tell this story any way I want! Of course I am gonna make it seem like I am the main wheel with a small supporting cast....

Now to the main subject. Marvin Windows.. We have a sales meeting every Tuesday and about every other week we have a rep from one company or another in here telling us how great their products are. Most of the time we sit there and listen and enjoy the wings or sandwiches they bring and that's about it. If they didn't bring the snacks they would really be hurting for our attention....

Yesterday we had Marvin in here, what they had to say was the real deal. I don't always pay attention in these meetings but they had my attention. They are the Cadillac of the window industry. Don't get me wrong we have other lines that are very high quality and are well worth the money. You know what I mean, a Chevy is nice but if you have the money a Ford is better. Marvin ain't cheap! They don't pretend to be either, what you get from them is an absolute top of the line window.

notice the space between the wood and cladding

I know its hard to tell in this picture, but the cladding they use is the thickest I have ever seen. They don't apply it directly to the wood ( because it is so thick it doesn't need the wood for strength) and by doing it their way, if water ever did get in there, it has its own weep holes to drain. That's bad a##, never seen that before. Most window company's use a thin cladding applied directly to the wood without the wood it is very flimsy.

The best for last! Checkout this casement window they brought in, it is the bomb. Of course this is the display so they are showing you how they can make it look like a double hung and what the grills would look like. Yes they have all the bells and whistles, but the inside of the window is the ticket.

You can get it with a built in retractable screen that you pull from one side to the other and it holds by a magnet. Sweet!!!! Not many people open there windows anymore and everybody wants the screens? I haven't figured that out yet, but that's another post all together. If you had a retractable screen you would be inclined to use it more often. Besides exterior screens are a pain in the ass when it comes to cleaning a window.

Now the best for last!!! Drum roll please..........All theses little dots are a sign for the drum playing.........

Have you ever seen a window turn inside out!!!! Now you have! Imagine being on the second floor and your husband is a klutz. Do you really want him to climb a ladder and risk life and limb to get the windows clean. Didn't think so! This my friends is the only window you can buy in a casement form that will almost turn inside out for cleaning.....Sweet................ 

MBS Giveaway..........................

OK, I know it kinda got lost in the shuffle of events around here over the last few weeks but don't forget the MBS giveaway we are still in the process of having. I know this one is geared more toward the "do it yourselfer" than the everyday contractor. But it is still a neat little project.

Impress your wife or girlfriend, maybe even put this together for your daughter or mother. You know you still like to impress momma, she was the only one who thought that bird house you brought home in middle school was nice anyway. Everybody else knew it looked like crap!!! But she still told you how nice it was. Hopefully your carpentry skills have improved over the last 20 years. Now is the time to show her. Christmas is right around the corner.

We hope to wrap this up in the next few weeks so take the time to fill out the form and maybe you will have a new project to finish in time for the holidays!!!!!!!

As a foot note: Yes we keep track of your email for future reference, no we don't share it with anyone or anybody else. You might get an email from us but that will be it. Who knows we might even send you a discount coupon at some point in time just because you took the time to try and win a prize!!!!!!!!!!

So take the time and head back to our website, it will only take a few minutes...Thanks....

I-Joists.........................

It's been awhile since we shipped an I-joist load like this and I thought I should share it with you. We started a house for a customer recently and this is the first floor system. I am just putting this out there to remind you that when it comes to I-joists, don't forget we have a design staff right here at Matthews.

full load..........

They have the capabilities to take a set of stick built plans and convert them over to an I-joist system that will provide you with a better floor and overall performance that just can't be achieved with traditional framing. I know the first thing that comes to your mind is yea it costs more. It might cost more in material but what you save in framing costs and time will basically make it a wash. On top of providing you with a better floor system.

I like this shot, they can take your house and build it up and then take this drawing and flip it in every direction you could ask for. You would have a perspective of your new house from every angle imaginable. Not many people get a chance to see a structure in such detail.

I Am Back.....................

OK, I haven't put a post up for the last week and now I am. I was on vacation last week and a lot happened as you have seen. I hate the fact I wasn't around with everything going on, the Hulsey family has been a large part of my life. I have worked here for a total of 18 years and counting.

Mary came by here on a regular basis and always had a smile on her face. Even if she didn't know your name she would always greet you as she came thru the lobby. She was a very special person and we are all gonna miss her.....Thanks for taking the time to read this and please keep the Hulsey family in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to adjust to the new normal.....
                                                                                                Richard..

Sad news...

Please keep the Hulsey family in your thoughts.

MBS Giveaway...Don't Miss out!

Ok here ya go, we are going to give somebody a project to impress the wife Follow this LINK for a chance to win!

Nice Job............

People come in here all the time and buy specialty composite decking, vinyl and composite railings and under deck rain systems. I ask them all the time to e-mail me pictures of the completed job, they say OK and then never do. Well finally I got some pictures.

My man Mike Mentus came thru with a few pictures for me! Mike has done several jobs with the GAF Siesta decking and railing that came out looking fantastic. This job was no exception! Check it out....

notice awning opened up

On this job I supplied the decking, railing, columns and under deck rain removal system. This house sits on Lake Wylie and we used the clear glass rail system so they would not have any obstructions when they looked out over the lake. Not that I am bragging or anything but you have to admit this job turned out great! had to have been the supplier!!! Mike did a good job too.......

We used products from the following company's. GAF Siesta decking, Turn-craft Poly Columns, Knotwood-PVC 1by's for the arches, Fairway Vinyl Railing's and Dry-Snap under deck drainage system. With Mike's know how and the use of these products we were able to give these people a really nice back porch area. Even if it is raining they now have a place to sit and enjoy the lake.

job by: TMT Construction & Remodeling
            Mike Mentus
            704-320-4880

           Advisory roll played by none other than the Worlds Greatest Lumber Salesman

                                           Richard-also the author of this post! If you can't tell.....

Boots..............................

Boots baby, boots!!!! Timberland boots, we sell'em. Did ya know that? We are a certified Timberland boot dealer. Pro Series work boots and shoes are the ones we can get. They won't let us sell anything that will compete with the big box stores, we are a work boot dealer.

If you see it on their web-site under "Pro Series" give us a call, we can order them for you. Yes I said order we don't have 35 styles and 10 sizes in each style in stock. They run pretty true to size and are available in regular and wide. Check em out we can hook ya up. These are the 3 most popular ones we sell. The bottom pair has a rubber coating on the toe. I bought a pair of these myself! The toe covering works good for riding a motorcycle.

On average we sell about 10-20 pair a month. Now that I am putting the word out I know we are going to need to expand, and put in a whole new wing for boots only!!!!!!!

Locks.........

You realize we do locks! Yep we do locks. Now you know, we do locks. Have I said it enough. We sell locks, order locks, key locks. We stock a few styles and have access to about all styles. If you find it call us and at least let us give you a quote! Below I have made a list of the brands we can get.

                     Ives Residential                                                                 Baldwin

                     Schlage                                                                             Kwikset

                     Pemko                                                                              Safe Lock

                    Westmore                                                                          Omnia

                    Weiser Lock                                                                      Callahan

                     EZ Set                                                                       Copper Creek

                                                          Better Home Products

Between these 13 suppliers you have about 130 plus options to choose from. If you can't find something to make you happy out of this list you might as well leave the door open! Get it! Leave the door open = unlocked!!!!!! Ha Ha Ha.......My side job is comedy............................

How About a Tip....................

For you!!!!! I know you have heard of marine grade plywood. We have people inquire about marine grade plywood every other day. Most of the time they are doing something with a boat; new seat bottoms floor or something where they feel they have the need for it.

Truth is most of the time they don't really need it to begin with. Unless you are going to submerge it you can usually get the job done with regular treated. It seems to make people feel better if they go ahead and get the marine plywood.

So here is your tip. Marine grade plywood in 3/4in will cost you around 130.00 a sheet. PVC will cost about 20.00 more!!! If you are just redoing boat seats or a floor why not use something that will last forever. You handle it the same as plywood (cutting and routing) and it will not rot and requires no paint or maintenance.
As far as use the only difference would be the fact that you would need to use glue anywhere you had 2 layers conecting. If you glue it and screw it together it ain't coming apart. We can get 3/8in-3/4in-1/2in or 1in......Smooth or reversible.

1in on top 3/4 on bottom

available textured or smooth

Just a small tip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That could end up saving you money in the long run...............

The Fish Was Fried!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, we had fish slaw hush puppies french fries and sweet ice tea! You can't have a fish fry in the south and not have sweet tea! I think there is a law or something about that. You risk jail time if you have a fish fry below the Virginia border without sweet tea. If you have crossed the Virginia line at some point in your life you know what I mean. They look at you with that look of "oh you must be from the Carolina's"...

Add caption

We had a good crowd and several vendors. The customers seemed to enjoy the food and some of them even listened to what the vendors had to say. That always make them (vendors) feel like they are worth something. Believe me we have a steady stream of them coming through here every day! They love to hear themselves talk!

We had corn for the taking, straight from Bo's farm! By the time everyone left the pile was a lot smaller than this. If you missed this one we hope you can make it next time. Good times where had...............

Warehouse.................

Have you ever seen a real lumber yard warehouse? Well we are a real lumber yard and we have a warehouse. I thought about listing all the products we have in the warehouse but hey, we have a website. So if you aren't aware of that check out matthewsbuildingsupply.com.

Although I assume you came here through the website or facebook, one of the two. Heck on the opening page of our site you see the warehouse. I have worked here for 20 plus years and I still love the smell of all the new fresh wood when I walk in the back door.

If you have never been by our place come on down and take a stroll through the back and excite your senses! You might find a new crown pattern you didn't realize we had.

Timber!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No nothing is falling, just thought we could talk about timber to start the week. These came back from our shop the other day and I thought they would make for a good subject.

The material came in to the shop and then they milled them to speck for the customer. That might not sound to hard but these things are 12x12 smooth side cedar. They ain't no 4x4's!!!! The shop can make just about anything you need out of wood. Any wood for that matter. This is a pergola, and a few corbels I hope to get a shot of the finished pergola....

Next time you need any timber work done remember we can get it done for you!!!!!!!!!