The Appalachian Woods Experience

At Appalachian Woods, we believe that providing an extraordinary experience means supporting you from our mill shop to your door. Since 1997, we have shipped our custom reclaimed products to jobsites across the country and around the world. We utilize a trusted network of specialized common carriers (such as Old Dominion) to ensure your investment is handled with the respect it deserves.

1. Scheduling Your Delivery

We prioritize communication to ensure you are ready when the truck arrives.

• Transit Notification for residential deliveries: Once your order is dispatched, the trucking company will contact you 1–2 days in advance of your shipment arriving at the delivering terminal to schedule a delivery date and a specific time window. 
• Lead Times: While lead times vary by product, your Sales Order provides a specific estimated ship date. We recommend not scheduling your installation crew until the wood has arrived and been inspected.

2. Truck Sizes & Access Requirements

Our wood is heavy and often arrives on large equipment. It is vital that we know of any delivery constraints before the truck leaves our mill.

• Standard Delivery: Most orders arrive on a 36-foot standard freight truck.
• Flatbed Delivery: Large orders or oversized beams may arrive on a 65-foot tractor-trailer.
• Restricted Access: If your jobsite is on a narrow road, has low-hanging trees, or is in a residential area with weight limits, you must notify your salesperson during the quote process. We can often arrange for a smaller “box truck” delivery for an additional fee.

3. Unloading Your Order

Freight delivery is technically “curbside” or “tailgate.” The driver is responsible for bringing the truck to your location, but the receiver is responsible for offloading. Ask one of us here if you have questions about this. 

• Hand-Unloading: For standard flooring orders, you should have a crew of at least 2–3 people ready to hand-unload the bundles from the back of the truck. Inside the large skid, the flooring is packaged in nested bundles to make unloading easier. Each bundle generally has 18-22 square feet of standard 3/4″ flooring.
• Liftgate Service: This rarely works because most of our flooring shipments are on long skids that are not conducive to being lowered to the ground via liftgate. For smaller items like furniture etc, we can often request a liftgate to lower the pallets to the ground.
• Equipment Required: For heavy beams, a forklift or skid steer is required on-site to safely remove the material from the trailer.

4. The Appalachian Woods Delivery Guarantee

While our legal shipping terms are F.O.B. Origin (meaning ownership transfers at our loading dock), we realize that freight claims can be a headache for customers. To provide a stress-free experience, we offer:

• Courtesy Claim Handling: If the carrier damages your order, we handle the insurance paperwork and claim logistics for you. You don’t have to fight the freight company; we do it on your behalf.
• Expedited Production Priority: If damage occurs, you won’t be sent to the back of an 8-week production queue. We move your replacement material to the front of our production line to keep your project moving.
• Zero Additional Cost: We will provide replacement material for any wood damaged in transit at no additional cost to you, provided you follow the “Receiver’s Checklist” below.

5. The Receiver’s Checklist (Steps for Success)

To allow us to advocate for you with the carrier, you must follow these industry-standard steps:

1. Inspect Before Signing: Look for signs of “crushed” packaging, broken pallets, or wet wood while the material is still on the truck.
2. Note Damage on the BOL: You must write a specific description of any damage on the driver’s Bill of Lading (BOL) before signing.
3. Take Photos: If you see damage, take 3–5 photos of the material while it is still on the trailer.
4. Notify Us Within 48 Hours: Contact us at 800-333-7610 or sales@appalachianwoods.com within 48 hours. This allows us to meet the carrier’s strict reporting windows.

6. Storage & Freight Quotes

• Firm Quotes: Your Sales Order includes a firm shipping quote. We try not to add “surprise” surcharges after the fact. On rare occasions we do have to re-quote the delivery because of unusual circumstances like high fuel surcharges from the carriers or because some new information came up about the delivery details.  We will keep you informed if this is the case. 
• Free Storage: We provide 30 days of free storage once your order is complete. Beyond 30 days, a monthly storage fee of $200 for the first pallet and $100 for each additional pallet will apply. See our Terms page for more details.