Our History

Founded in 1988, Portsmouth Lumber Company is a family-run company with decades of knowledge and experience in the hardwood industry. That knowledge and experience grows with every generation, guaranteeing that the work we do today is always the best we’ve ever done.

Quality isn’t just a feature we try to build into our product. Quality is our legacy, and we work hard to continue that legacy every single day.

We specialize in a sawing pattern called Rift + Quartered. A Rift + Quartered board is cut perpendicular to the growth rings, resulting in a tight, straight, vertical grain. Not only is it visually stunning, but it’s also the most dimensionally stable cut of lumber possible — it expands evenly and vertically, which increases the structural integrity and lifespan of everything it’s used in.

What sets Portsmouth Lumber Company apart is our high level of craftsmanship — a level we could only reach because of our passion and our town. Every day we strive to push the industry past its current limits and do the best work we’ve ever done. We’re determined to exceed the standards our customers set for us, not just meet them. We’ll go above and beyond to make sure that happens.

We’re able to do that, in part, because of where we are. We’re located in Portsmouth, Ohio, in the foothills of Appalachia. All the natural beauty and resources that surround us here give us a surplus of top-class White Oak and Red Oak. Every board we mill starts with logs sourced from within 400 miles of our plant.

When you combine the most passionate and skilled craftsmen in the industry with the finest Appalachian hardwood, there’s only one possible outcome: some of the best lumber in the business.

Why Portsmouth Lumber Company

High Level of Craftsmanship
What makes Portsmouth Lumber Company unique is the high level of craftsmanship that goes into every product, and we could never reach that level without our passion, our people, and our place. We’re driven to push the industry beyond its current limits.

Optimum Quality Control
Quality isn’t a feature we bolt on; it’s the standard we build to. We want to deliver an even better product tomorrow than we did today, and we’re determined to exceed the already high standards our customers set.

Perfectly-Sourced Raw Material
We go above and beyond to start with near-perfect raw material. Nestled in the foothills of Appalachia, with all its natural beauty and resources, we have a surplus of top-class White Oak and Red Oak — all sourced from within 400 miles of the mill.

Sourcing & Sustainability

Every board starts with a log, and every log starts with a tree we’re proud to have sourced responsibly. We buy standing timber and logs from within roughly 400 miles of our mill in the foothills of Appalachia — close enough that we know the land and the landowners we work with.

Hardwood is one of the great renewable building materials: Appalachian forests grow more timber each year than is harvested. We take that responsibility seriously, from how we select timber in the woods to how we dry and grade it in the mill.

Once logs reach our yard, they’re scaled, sorted, and milled to maximize yield — then kiln-dried and graded to the exacting standards our customers expect, whether they’re ordering ten board feet or ten thousand.

We mill to NHLA (National Hardwood Lumber Association) grading standards and NOFMA (National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association) specifications.

Our Team

Portsmouth Lumber Company is still a family business, and that shows up in who you’ll talk to. Our sales team knows the lumber, the species, and the specs, because most of us have been doing this for years.

Josh Lucas, Lumber Sales — info@portsmouthlc.com · 865.310.2723

Perry Christian, Timber Buyer — perry@portsmouthlc.com · 606.316.3990

Careers

We’re a family-run mill looking for people who care about doing the job right — whether that’s on the saw floor, in the yard, or on the road. If you want steady work with a company that’s been part of this town for generations, we want to hear from you.

No openings right now — check back soon.