Who wood have thought

Imagine finding teak, imbuya or rosewood wainscot paneling for sale at less than 50 per cent of the market price. While you’re at it, imagine this wood is also pre-finished and tough enough that a three-year-old with an ignition key can’t damage it. You point out a piece to your trim guy and he says it looks authentic. This is the advantage that profile wrapping offers, and it’s starting to revolutionize the industry.

Profile wrapping is an industrial process that allows wood grain laminate to be factory applied to both flat and highly contoured MDF trim, doors, raised panels and, of course, wainscoting.  I got started in the business as a cabinetmaker, so I know I should dislike this stuff because it’s a wood impostor. But still, I find myself liking wrapped profiles because they’re economical, environmentally-sound and remarkably convincing facsimiles of specific species of fine hardwoods. I’ve worked professionally with wood for 30 years and I can’t differentiate wrapped profiles from real wood from less than a foot away. What’s most striking to me is that the wood-look layer can be applied to non-flat surfaces. That’s where the term wrapped profiles comes from.