Artistic Finishes Announces Species Substitutions

Artistic Finishes (Roseville, Minn.), which makes prefinished moldings, vents and stair treads, risers and nosings, announced it is now making some species substitutions for its products due to supply issues.

"As the lumber market continues to be very volatile in supply of wood-based products, we have found it increasingly more difficult to source some of our domestically sourced wood species (i.e. white oak, red oak, pecan, maple) that in the past had not been an issue," the company said in a statement.

The company is now substituting white ask for white oak, "pecan/hickory character" for pecan/hickory and "maple character" or birch for maple on colors that have been tested and verified by the company's product development team. The company will not accept claims for alternative species being used.

The company recommends that installers sets aside several pieces of flooring that most accurately blend with the hardwood moldings and install those flooring pieces next to the moldings for grain and color consistency.