“Select” lumber gives you a more “apples to apples” comparison to our competitors.
You can save up to 15% of the base price of your gazebo, pergola or pavilion by choosing “select” grade lumber instead of “clear” grade. The “Clear” grade lumber we’ve been using for years in our gazebos is absolutely the best available. Very few gazebo manufacturers use “clear” grade lumber. Most gazebo, pergola and pavilion builders use “Premium #1″, which comes in 6 different types, the best which is “clear” grade. One grade below the “clear” grade is “DSS” grade lumber. Everything about the lumber and the way it is processed is the same as “clear” grade. The only difference is the selection process.
We’ve only recently started utilizing the “DSS” or “Select” grade of Premium #1 Pressure Treated Southern Yellow pine. It looks great and the customers love it. It has a knot here and there where there are no defects in the “clear” lumber. Our workers are so used to using the “clear”, they’re pretty fussy about where they’ll let a knot show up. You usually won’t see them in the balusters, and seldom in the railings. Mostly, it will be in the posts, rafters, and floor boards where the knots tend to add a nice character to the wood. In fact, “DSS” or “Select” grade wood is far superior to that you’ll see on the shelves of most lumber yards.
Now that we’ve completely confused you, let’s start over. We offer “Clear” grade Premium #1 Kiln Dried After Treatment Southern Yellow Pine as STANDARD on all of our wood pergolas, gazebos and pavilions. ”DSS”, also called “Select” grade is available as an option at a 15% savings on the BASE price. You do NOT get 15% off of the stain, screens, electric kit, on-site construction and so on by choosing the “Select” lumber option.
Nearly all of our competitors use Premium #! “Select” grade lumber in their gazebos, not “clear”. They all vary in how careful they are in their own in-house selection process. Picking through the lumber for the railings and decking takes time, but that’s the way we do things. The pieces with more defects, we take the time to pick them out and find a use for them in the rafters, or cut out the bad parts.
The bottom line is that to compare prices between Amish Designers and 98% of our competitors building wood pergolas, pavilions and gazebos, make the comparison using the same materials. We’ll come out ahead just about every time. Especially if you’re really comparing “apples to apples”.
