By Matthew Fite

Lewis Lumber & Milling Draws on Experience and Passion

Dickson, TN–Lewis Lumber & Milling, based in the heart of Hardwood country, manufactures and ships plank flooring and mouldings from coast to

coast. The company’s customers are found all over the con-tinental U.S.

Lewis Lumber & Milling regularly ships to states like New York, Florida, Texas, California and all the states in be-tween. The company buys 14 million board feet of lumber per year including 4/4 Hard Maple No. 1 and Better, 4/4 White Oak 3A and Better, 4/4 Hickory 3 and Better and 4/4 Red Oak No. 1 and Better. Lewis uses a higher percentage of upper grade lumber than most flooring mills. From these raw materials, Lewis Lumber & Milling turns out a high vol-ume of quality finished products.

How this company, close to Nashville, got started is a sto-ry of a love of the industry. Mike Lewis, company president, began working in his father’s sawmill when he was 14. Vice president Joe Lewis started in the industry early on also after receiving a degree in Forestry at Mississippi State. When CFO Tom Edwards got out of college, he got into the forest products industry. Tim Ellrich, in sales, has 37 years

in the industry under his belt. And so, it goes. Do the people of Lewis Lumber & Milling have years of experience and passion for the industry? “Absolutely,” says Tom Edwards.

The same passion for the industry continues for the next generation. Lee Lewis and Libby Lewis are in flooring sales. Forrest Lewis' main focus is the engineered product lines and managing employees. In all, Lewis Lumber & Milling employs 70 people. “Our mission,” Edwards said, “is to fo-cus on manufacturing high quality, unfinished Hardwood plank flooring for the quality-oriented Hardwood flooring distributor. Our main specie is White Oak and that gets turned into both solid and engineered flooring.” The fact that the flooring produced is unfinished allows the end-user to sand and seal the flooring to his or her preference. Lewis manufactures longer flooring than most other flooring mills. The company’s standard packaging is 10’ where most other mills package the flooring in 7’ or 8’ bundles. We also pack-age some product lines as long as 12’ in length. Lewis also makes Euro-cut or live-sawn flooring.

“We are a ‘no whistles and buzzers’ company,” Ellrich stated. “We are a tight, cohesive group with lots of expe-

Lewis Lumber & Milling, a manufacturer of plank flooring and mouldings, located in Dickson, TN, has a dedicated team that includes: Bobby Porter (solid flooring manager); Forrest Lewis (engineered flooring manager); Tim Ellrich (sales); Mike Lewis (president); Libby Lewis (sales); Joe Lewis (vice president); Lee Lewis (sales); Bob Kilkenny (plant manager); and Tom Edwards (CFO).

to Manufacture and Ship Flooring Coast-to-Coast

JULY 2019 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 3

“Our mission is to focus on manufacturing high quality, unfinished Hardwood plank

flooring for the quality-oriented Hardwood flooring distributor.”

–Tom Edwards, CFO, Lewis Lumber & Milling

rience in the industry, and we stand behind our product. When you call Lewis Lumber & Milling, a person answers the phone and you will get any of us promptly – even if we are traveling.”

In keeping with his passion for the indus-try, Edwards takes enjoyment in describing the virtues of some of the species of wood that Lewis uses. For example, White Oak, he commented, is a really hard wood that finish-es well. Hard Maple is well suited to kitchen cabinets.

Mike Lewis started the company in 2011. With his experience in the flooring and moulding business, he knew how he wanted

One of Lewis Lumber & Milling’s most recent product launches was its Reliance line. Here the company’s end-matcher is shown in operation.

(Below) Lewis Lumber & Milling operates a Lico high speed ripping system.

used in the manufacturing of kitchen cabinets. Much of our Hard Maple goes into this product.”

With such a high level of experience and knowledge, Lewis and his colleagues built a state-of-the-art plant. Top level equipment was chosen, including a Lico rip saw (“one of the best rip saws money can buy” according to Edwards), Weinig moulders (“the best you can buy,” Edwards noted), 3 Wintersteiger resaws, Hasko end-matchers, Marinus end matchers and a total dry kiln capacity of 600,000 board feet. Skilled workers use this equipment to manufacture solid flooring, engineered flooring, cabinet mouldings and S4S products.

Lewis Lumber & Milling is looking to the future. Edwards said, “We have several upgrades currently in process and planned for 2019. We are in the process of adding new pan-el saws and Timesavers sanders for our engineered line. Also, for 2019, we are planning on adding a self-centering planer and a new feed-system for our Lico rip saw.”

In January of this year, Lewis Lumber & Milling added a new product line. Reliance Flooring, Edwards said, “will

to operate a company. “Mike has brought in experts in grad-ing, machining, warehousing and shipping the products we manufacture,” Edwards remarked. Early on Mike leased facilities until Lewis Lumber & Milling’s plant could be con-structed. The 50,000-square-foot manufacturing plant was opened in March of 2015. Subsequent expansions have increased the total square footage under roof to 110,000. The company is situated on 18 acres and includes a green yard and 6 Brunner-Hildebrand kilns. The site in Dickson was chosen, in part, Edwards says, because, “Availability of undeveloped land and close proximity to Nashville.” It also is close to Interstate 40, which extends from coast to coast.

Lewis had experience in manufacturing moulding and flooring, and these are the products that Lewis Lumber & Milling manufactures. They buy wood from sawmills in Indi-ana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Edwards said, “There is a higher density of Hard Maple found further north – more so in Indiana, a little less in Kentucky and still less in Ten-nessee. Everything we purchase is green lumber,” Edwards continued. “We also manufacture lineal cabinet mouldings

Lamellas are cut from solid Hardwoods using horizontal resaws for engineered flooring lines.

Forrest Lewis, engineered flooring manager, regularly inspects products to ensure that a proper end-match will occur when products are installed.

For more information, visit

www.lewismilling.com.

Reprinted from the July 2019 issue of National Hardwood Magazine

www.nationalhardwoodmag.com

make our customers and our customers’ customers more aware of the products they are using and they will be able to ask for it by name.”

Lewis Lumber & Milling is a member of the Kentucky For-

est Industries Association, Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association, National Wood Flooring Association and the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc. n