The Bark House Difference

What makes Bark House® Shingles manufactured exclusively by
Highland Craftsmen Inc.® different?

5-Point Quality Assurance Program

Highland Craftsmen Inc. employs a 5-Point Quality Assurance Program in the manufacturing of our Bark House shingles. To date, we are the only company with a standardized, recorded method that utilizes exacting methods developed with years of research and field testing and overseen by a Quality Assurance Expert. This ensures the client consistently receives the best quality product available. To learn more about the Quality Point Program, feel free to call and talk to our Bark Experts.

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Graded for Performance, Appearance and Thickness

We have learned how to harvest and process long-lasting, maintenance-free poplar bark siding at peak conditions, and how to process it quickly and carefully. We start in the forest, alongside crews cutting poplar logs for the furniture industry and other uses. As soon as a tree falls, professional lumbermen use coordination and strength – along with a collection of special antique tools – to loosen whole cylinders of bark from the trunk. Our vendors are supplied with specification sheets that dictate what is good enough to come to our intake yard.

The grading process continues when our intake crew culls out bark for issues like mud, cracking, thickness, width and limb holes. We also weed out any bark that has a brown scaly appearance. Brown scaly bark occurs when the bark on the tree has made ground contact and is in the rotting process. It does not have adequate structural integrity to last and does not perform like Bark House Shingles. After the shingles are dried and squared there is a final cut to determine what shingles become HC® Bark House Shingles. Grading ensures that you are getting the highest quality with consistent thickness in your bark shingles. Only the best bear the Bark House® name for use in new residential and commercial construction, and in the restoration of older bark homes, churches, and inns. You can trust the Highland Craftsmen name to manufacture the highest quality bark siding available.

The thickness of a bark shingle affects longevity and installation procedures. If the bark siding is too thin it can curl and create bulges on a wall and cracks between shingles. If the bark siding is too thick, trim around windows and doors may not be thick enough to be aesthetically correct. If the bark varies in thickness widely from piece to piece, your installer will have extra labor costs creating an even flow from one piece of bark to the next. Exterior Bark House shingles come in two grades, Standard™ and Premium™. Standard™ grade has a thickness of ½” to 7/8”. Premium™ grade has a thickness of 7/8” to 1 ½”. At Highland Craftsmen, our grading procedures ensure that you are getting the highest quality with consistent thickness in our Bark House® siding.

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Kiln Dried

Highland Craftsmen Inc. kiln dries all of our Bark House Siding. The heat from this process decreases the moisture content and prevents shrinking or cracking once the bark shingles are applied to a structure. Shingles leave our warehouse with moisture content below yard conditions. If a Black colored mold on the back of shingles is present, it is unacceptable. What’s more, because our bark siding is kiln dried and contains no chemical additives; it is environmentally pure and causes no danger from leaching. Our kiln drying procedures make our Bark Siding dimensionally stable.

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Heat Sterilization

We not only Kiln Dry, but we also Heat Sterilize our siding. We are the only company that Heat Sterilizes our Bark Siding. Heat Sterilization is the only method that ensures the killing of all mold spores, lichens, fungi and insect larvae that may exist on or in the bark. This is critical, so that none of these contaminants are transferred to your home. As a result, our bark shingle siding is the most sterile, dry and dimensionally stable siding available.

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All Natural

We are a “green forest product manufacturer,” and proud members of the US Green Building and Western North Carolina Green Building Councils. Highland Craftsmen believes that environmental integrity is paramount. That’s why our kiln drying is so important - it not only consistently dries the siding it heat sterilizes the poplar bark shingles to protect against any infestation without chemical additives that can leach into soil or water. And chemicals such as sealants or stains are unnecessary. Additionally, this handsome, rugged building material is salvaged from bark that is ordinarily treated as little more than waste. Highland Craftsmen Bark Siding is all natural.

To learn more about our green practices, click here

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Maintenance Free

There’s no need for sealants or preservatives – bark siding resists all kinds of wear. However, using a wood preservative in areas of intense sunshine or exceptional moisture can help retard bleaching.

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Long Lasting

When properly graded and installed, bark siding can last over 80 years without significant deterioration. For wear-testing purposes, Highland Craftsmen monitors 80 year old structures sided with poplar bark (the oldest home known with poplar bark siding) near Spruce Pine, N.C. to determine how it is standing the test of time. The high altitude at this location guarantees brutal conditions: temperatures to -20 degrees F with high winds, ice and snow, plus full sun in summer and about 65 inches of rain a year. Yet our bark-sided test house has required no preservatives or treatment. Bark siding has been valued over centuries for its durability, low environmental impact, and beauty in the natural setting.

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Untreated

Highland Craftsmen Bark House Siding is all natural and untreated. Others “treat” with Borates which are used as wood preservatives. According to “Borates as Wood Preservatives” by Mark J. Manning and Len T. Arthur (a publication circulated by a major Borate manufacturer), “To obtain the required core retention, typically a six week diffusion period was needed for a 50mm… thick timber… Boron compounds in current use as wood preservatives are susceptible to leaching under certain conditions as they are not chemically fixed within the wood…” This means that just dipping or spraying the poplar bark siding with Borates is not a suitable means to obtain any practical benefit from the product. Poplar bark has lasted for up to 75 years with NO chemical treatments.

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Yellow Poplar Bark Only

Highland Craftsmen produces only Yellow Poplar Bark Siding as exterior cladding. Bark from other trees such as Birch, Cedar, and Chestnut was used historically to clad structures. The durability of bark from other trees is completely unknown. A well known weathering research lab states that it takes 1 year of testing in their lab to duplicate 5 years of wear in the field. It would take 15 years of controlled laboratory testing to know if the bark from other trees will stand the test of time like Yellow Poplar bark.

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Experience

Founder Marty McCurry is a Licensed General Contractor and has studied architecture at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. He has 25 years experience in the building industry, 20 of those working with rustic forest products and 17 specializing in the production, sale, and installation of bark siding. Marty is a builder who has made it his professional quest to further the understanding and use of natural bark siding products in residential and commercial applications. We alone have undertaken the rigorous field research necessary to monitor and improve the performance of naturally long-lasting Bark House Siding and other rustic products. From grading and processing to design and installation of poplar bark siding, Highland Craftsmen is the company of choice. See the Bark House Experts for more information.

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Customer Pledge

Highland Craftsmen has led the Bark House Revival over the last two decades and is the original Poplar Bark Shingle manufacturer. While undertaking an intensive study of the historical relevance of bark siding architecture, we have also brought back a lost art and a magnificent building method, one that combines sound forestry practices, fine craftsmanship, and an enduring aesthetic. Highland Craftsmen has stood the test of time with our product research dedication to our customers, so you know that we are a company you can trust and depend on to deliver the best quality thoroughly researched bark siding for years to come. See “The Original” for more information.

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Unsurpassed Availability

Highland Craftsmen has produced more poplar bark siding than other “manufacturer’s” combined. We stock large inventories each procurement season. In addition to our Bark House Shingles, we supply interior and exterior Elements for the Whole Home™.

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Design and Installation

By offering unsurpassed technical and customer support we can help architects, builders, and homeowners make the best choices about bark siding options, applications and installation. Highland Craftsmen cares how our products are installed. Our professional installation guides are paramount. Bark siding can last 80 years or more if properly installed, and we have developed methods to ensure just that. From start to finish, we are your design and build partner in the use of tough, beautiful bark siding and accessories.

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If you have any further inquiries about Highland Craftsmen Inc, the products or pricing, please contact our Bark Experts.