Wood windows Tim Downing, president: “Mainers and New Englanders have a tradition that is earned for skilled laborers, woodworkers and a good work ethic.”

Premier Business Partners:

St. Angelo Hardwoods Inc.

Plantation teak from Costa Rica, mahogany from the Ivory Coast of Africa, sinker cypress reclaimed from river beds – these are just three of the exotic woods brought to Maine from which Dura­­therm manufactures its wood-framed windows and glass doors.

“Because of the history of the boat-building industry, we have a good supply of wood brokers and suppliers who have kilns that make it convenient for us and have a ready supply of the exotic hardwoods we utilize in our wood windows,” President Tim Downing explains. “They actually purchase from the mills overseas and have products shipped across the oceans. The hardwood industry is pretty fascinating. It’s very capital-intensive. They have large stockpiles of wood at various stages of dryness.”

But Duratherm practices lean manufacturing. “We try very hard not to carry much inventory,” Downing emphasizes. He extols the advantages of wood windows. “Wood is a very good insulator because it’s not a good conductor, so as a result, it keeps the cold out and keeps the warm in,” he notes.

He estimates 60 percent of the company’s windows are for resi­dential use and 40 percent for institutional or commercial buildings. The company’s unique window and door designs have been installed in universities, libraries, art museums, historic renovations, upscale restaurants, concert hall, courthouses and custom homes.

“We work with a number of vendors across the country to put within our frame any commercially available glass products,” Downing relates. Duratherm manufactures windows and doors for approximately 50 projects of varying sizes annually. The company has added and reconfigured its shop over the past few years to im­prove its flow and efficiency and make it more ergonomically friendly and safe. “The year before last, we put in a new cutting room that consisted of an in-line rip saw and a cutoff saw, which is interesting,” he notes. “It has a scanner so it allows you to mark defects in the wood.

“You input the bill of materials to the saw, and then based on the pieces that need to be cut, the computer will scan the piece before it cuts it and makes the best use of that part of board based on the cutting bill,” he continues. “So the next time it scans a board, it considers only the pieces that remain to be cut.”

Bamboo to You
Part of remaining a viable manufacturing operation in the United States is to keep innovating. “We’re actually working on a prototype window now made out of processed bamboo,” Downing explains.

Duratherm has a division named York Spiral Stair that manufactures spiral staircases from wood. “We manufacture a double-helix wood spiral stair for the residential market, and people historically have wanted to match the wood of their stairs to their flooring,” Downing explains. “When bamboo caught on as a popular flooring, people started asking about it.

“It’s fast-growing,” Downing notes. “It’s not actually a wood – it’s a grass. I’m very pleased and hopeful with the prospects it will work well in the mar­ket for LEED projects and assist them in getting points under the LEED certification program.”

Another research project is with the University of Maine’s composite division. “We are partnering with them to find appropriate composites that would allow us to offer even a more low maintenance product that still has the characteristic joinery of our wood windows,” Downing reveals. “These initiatives are in their infancy right now.

“I put it on our front burner this year because I had a friend who found this company that was making composite shingles that actually have cedar dust incorporated into them,” Downing continues. “That got me to thin­king about working with some composite expertise to see if we can’t come up with a similar product that would allow us to offer a composite exterior trim that would weather as silver gray like our wood.”

All these initiatives are possible because Duratherm is a nimble company. “We’re a niche company,” Downing emphasizes. “We’re blessed with a following of very nice architects to work with. We are a small player; we distribute nationwide but on a per-project basis.

“Not every project has the budget or the full appreciation of what a custom wood window can do for an overall project,” he concedes. “We feel we fill a need in the market for a company that pays attention to detail and prides itself in working with architects to realize their design concepts.”