Just wrapped a 6,200 sf wood cladding install on a brewery/taproom. Lessons learned on supplier selection.

Finished a brewery/taproom project in Asheville, 6,200 sf of exterior cladding, mix of thermally modified ash (Thermory) and natural sapele accent panels. Here's what I learned about sourcing commercial wood cladding that might save someone else pain: 1. Get your material from ONE supplier. We originally split between two, Thermory from a distributor and sapele from a different yard. The profiles didn't match at the transitions. Ended up reordering all the sapele from a specialty hardwood supplier who matched it to the Thermory channel depth exactly. They carry both Thermory and Abodo so they could have done the whole job from jump. 2. Insist on moisture content certification per delivery. We got MC reports with each shipment, all between 8-10% which is exactly where you want exterior cladding in the southeast. Material that shows up at 14-16% WILL cup. 3. Factory finish saves you 2+ weeks on site. We did 6-sided Sansin finish applied at a specialty supplier facility. Showed up ready to clip. Zero field finishing except touch-up at cuts. 4. For commercial: get your submittals early. Architect wanted ASTM E84 data, FSC documentation, and finish warranty letters. a specialty supplier had all of it on file, but if you're buying from a small yard, you'll be chasing paperwork for weeks. Total material cost landed at across both species. Project came in on budget and 4 days ahead of schedule.