Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How can I be assured if I specify a wood it will be available when my contractor needs it?
A. The problem in the past is the small mill operators did not have enough material, big enough yards or the ability to dry the woods so supply was very “iffy”. We will have 100’s of thousands of BF in stock and our contracts are for millions of BF of material. If we say we have it we will have it.

2. How will you insure quality and consistency?
A. Similar to answer one. We will have the material in stock, lots of it so we can better meet your requests. The biggest difference here is the quality of the mill and the consistency of grade will be done by a professional grader and not a single operator who is doing many tasks including grading.

3. What can HIH do to insure consistent prices?
A. The key to this is a consistent supply and an efficient mill. We have both. It is imperative for us to be successful and that our customers are able to count on us for consistent prices to support the volume we need. We will keep prices stable and even have a program whereby your clients can “prepay” for raw materials to guarantee pricing. We will set these woods aside in our facility and have them delivered when the client wants them. However, our prices will change no more than quarterly and are not anticipated to move dramatically. We will need stable prices to support the volumes we will be milling.

4. Is it true you have certified hardwoods available? Can we specify them?
A. Our certified woods will be available through our agreement with Kamehameha Schools at Honaunau. We also plan to import panels with certified contents that will utilize face veneers of woods from Hawaii.

5. What species of woods will HIH carry?
A. Our focus will be on non native woods where there is the most plentiful supply. We will have HI Toon, Robusta, Saligna, Nepal Alder, Tropical Ash, etc. etc. We will have some certified Koa eventually and will carry Ohia when there are land clearings.

6. How is HIH participating in reforestation?
A. We are very supportive of the reforestation process and initially we hope to work with other land owners and with Forest Solutions Inc (who have the most experience in this area) to increase the certified acreage on Hawaii Island. We are also looking at acquiring lands to manage that are currently fallow or degraded.

7. What type of processing will HIH do?
A. Our current plans are to provide kiln dried hardwoods in the various species noted. We will implement value added processing as soon as it is economically practical. Check our Links page for local companies that use our woods. They may provide the processing or service you are looking for. There are already suppliers of items such as flooring, trims, doors, furniture and Picture Framing services. If you are a local manufacturer that will be using our woods please contact us so we can add you to our links page.

8. If I have picky customers, can they pick out their own wood?
A. Yes, we can e-mail pictures of the wood and grain quality. We don’t want any unhappy customers. While it is not feasible in a large lumber yard to hand pick all boards we would encourage sending e-mail photos that represent the grain and quality of the woods. Those are the types of services we want to provide to support the market.

9. What if I get defective wood or my client doesn’t like the material?
A. If the wood is not graded properly or there is excess defect (this should not happen) we will replace it at no cost. If the wood was as specified, we will allow an exchange with a 10% restocking fee. However, this should not happen too often as we can send pictures of the wood to prevent this from happening.

10. When will HIH be fully operational?
A. We are operational right now, but in a very infant stage. We should be delivering high quality woods in the various species consistently in stock by the summer of 2008.