Canadian firm purchase Exterior Wood

Employees of Exterior Wood Inc., in Washougal, are expected to keep their jobs, following the company’s sale to a Canadian wholesale distributor of building materials.

Taiga Building Products Ltd., of Burnaby, British Columbia, has purchased Exterior Wood for $42 million.

The purchase included the parties entering into an escrow agreement to pay for “certain environmental remediation measures,” using a portion of the purchase price, up to $3.84 million.

The city of Washougal expects to issue a determination of nonsignificance for a proposal that will involve the excavation of roughly 1,320 cubic yards of contaminated soils from a stormwater swale at 3000 Addy Street and an adjacent ditch along Highway 14.

According to the city of Washougal’s notice of application concerning the stormwater swale clean up, restoration will include filling the excavated area with clean import material, and the area will be seeded.

“Any contaminated soils or vegetation will be temporarily stockpiled on site and then hauled off to a suitable disposal facility,” the notice states.

Exterior Wood President Dave Perry said all of the 95 to 100 employees will retain their jobs.

“It will be pretty much business as usual,” Perry said. “They will continue to do their jobs, as is.”

Perry, a 16-year employee at Exterior Wood, was part of the previous ownership group.

He said Taiga bought the Exterior Wood business, but not the real estate. The Bishoprick family, which founded Exterior Wood in 1977, owns six buildings on 31 acres at 2685 Index St., in the Port of Camas-Washougal Industrial Park, and at 3000 Addy St., also in Washougal.

Exterior Wood provides pressure treated wood products for retail building supply centers throughout the western U.S. and Canada.

Taiga, an independent wholesale distributor of building materials, has 15 distribution centers in Canada and two in Northern California, in addition to six reload stations on the East coast.

Taiga produces preserved lumber at three plants to service the Canadian market, and exports products to Asia, Central and South America and the Middle East.

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