Although in business for a scant three years, Thick 'n' Thin Beams and Lumber Sawmill, located on Cow Creek Road, has just expanded their custom wood cutting business to include not only custom beams, desktops and counter tops but now, custom flooring as well.

Due to the recent purchase of a specialized machine that cuts wide-plank flooring, Gary Regehr and son Brandon have recently sent out their first order of flooring and are very happy with the results. Not only do they have the capability to create the wide-plank flooring, but they also have a second machine that can create three different textures to make the flooring look distressed.

"Most flooring companies make little, narrow, short boards. We can do that, but we really want to make the long, wide planks," Gary explained. "We can cut them from four to eight inches wide and anywhere from six to twelve feet long. The customer can even vary the width of the flooring planks for a unique look."

"The more choices you can give a customer, the better," added Brandon.

The Regehrs are looking forward to expanding the custom wide-plank flooring side of Thick 'n' Thin. The flooring is available for businesses, contractors and to the general public. They already have some flooring pre-cut, which can be modified with a specific distressed look or smooth planing. Gary mentioned that several flooring outfits are interested in the flooring produced out of the mill as well.

In addition to flooring, Thick 'n' Thin custom cuts beams for construction purposes and can cut any size of beam up to 42 feet long. Beams used for interior support are kiln dried.

Gary stressed that, since Thick 'n' Thin has plenty of logs on hand in their yard, he and Brandon can begin cutting both beams and flooring planks fairly soon after an order is received.

They use primarily locally grown logs for both their beams and their flooring. One advantage that Gary has in acquiring logs for Thick 'n' Thin is that, as owner of Regehr Logging, he has the ability to choose the best of his logs to use in his mill.

"Around here, we can get just about any species of wood you want. We have really good Ponderosa Pine that's blued with big knots; it's one of the prettiest types of wood," explained Gary.

Brandon said that although Thick 'n' Thin can cut any type of wood a customer wants, they tend to lean toward locally grown pine, fir, larch, birch or any white wood.

True to the north Idaho way of not wasting anything, Thick 'n' Thin also produces sawdust, wood shavings and firewood as by-products of the mill, which they sell locally.

"Basically, we'll cut anything anyone wants," laughed Gary. "It's a little bit here and a little bit there but it makes a good business."

Both Gary and Brandon want to thank Boundary County for the positive reception Thick 'n' Thin has already had and urge customers to call them about any kind of custom cutting.

"We're here and we want to work," said Brandon.

Thick 'n' Thin Beams and Lumber Sawmill is located at 4355 Cow Creek Road and can be reached at 267-1330.