History:

DB Hardwoods was founded in 1984 by Herman Debackere in Rollegem-Kapelle. He was 43 years old with 20 years of experience in the wood industry as an engineer and master in labour organisation.

In 1990 he convinced his son Wim, graduated in Applied Economics, to come aboard. Quickly it became clear that they were very complementary.

Herman focused on the selection and purchase of logs and conditioning of the boules.

Wim took care of the sales and the development of new products and markets.
 

In 1990, investment started in the industrial park "Oude Bunders" in Maasmechelen, under the name of Hout Service nv, for conditioning, drying and warehousing of Beech and Oak. On our 20,000 m2 we built a unique space-saving and efficient storage and drying system.

Already in 1992 we imported the first Rubberwood. Rough sawn squares for wood turners. Surfaced tablelegs (S4S) and glued components were delivered to the upholstery and furniture industry. A stock in standard dimensions was built up in our warehouses in Antwerp.

From 1995 we started to import Rubberwood fingerjoint panels for the European market.

The site and capacity in Maasmechelen were further expanded. Every 2 years we added a new warehouse. This allowed us to increase our stocks in beautiful Beech and Oak boules.
We automated the 4 drying rooms. We also installed a semi-automatic machine to place and to remove the drying laths. 

From 1998, we exported a lot of beech wood to China.
From 2000 the part of white beech in our sales was still important, but Oak became more important and we increased our stocks in Oak.

In 2001, we started our own Rubberwood production in S.E.-Asia. To be no longer dependant on the variable quality of different manufacturers and exporters. This allowed us to develop the unique SUPERIOR-quality: only using clear light colour rubberwood and both sides AA quality. Only 20% of the wood is used, which makes our quality totally different from what is offered by various importers. The remaining 80% of the wood is sold locally.
The range in Rubberwood panels has been expanding permanently in function of the needs of our customers. Warehousing was done in the port of Antwerp.

From 2003, there was a lot of demand for Oak beams, especially abroad. At that time we saw a lot on demand of customers and built up our stocks so we could deliver our dried beams. The stock increased and now we have permanently approx 1000 m3 Oak beams in stock.

In 2004, we started the production of Oak panels.
 

In 2005, we started to produce Beech panels with and without fingerjoint.

In 2006, we started with the construction of our warehouses in Rollegem-Kapelle. On 20.000 m2 land we built closed warehouses to store the finished products in good conditions.

In order to have no quality loss, the trucks are always loaded and unloaded inside of the warehouses. Efficient warehousing with good accessibility ensures us that we handle the bundles only once.

Unloading or loading of a full truck of 39 m3 takes about 15 minutes.

In 2008 customers asked us to supply more finishing on the panels, so we also produce Rubberwood components : profiled with chamfer, with radius, with bevel,…according to customers drawings. We also keep the inventory of our customers in our warehouses for Just In Time delivery.

 
From 2009 on, we do more conditioning, drying en warehousing for third parties in Hout Service in Maasmechelen.
The stock is kept more and more in high grade qualities in Beech and Oak boules.

 
In 2010 we moved into our new offices in Rollegem-Kapelle. We chose to work with wood sidings, lots of light, good insulation, natural ventilation: a highly efficient and comfortable working environment.
The interior is modern and minimalistic and yet warm because we used our Oak panels for all office and counter tops.

In the period 2008-2013 we systematically increased the range of panels and expanded into other markets. We now have 5000 m3 panels in stock in 10 thicknesses and 20 dimensions. Sales in all European countries. We deliver an average of abt. 1000 m3 panels and components per month.

Future-oriented we continue our search for innovative products and solutions in hardwoods so that our customers can make beautiful products with less people and machines. Our range of laminated panels will increase with more thicknesses, more dimensions and more species of wood.

For the sawn wood, we concentrate on top quality boules in oak and beech, perfectly dried with good colour. And a permanent offer in high quality oak beams.

 

Reasons to work with DB Hardwoods :

- manufacturer with constant large stocks and short lead times > you just buy what you need.

- very large range of thicknesses and dimensions.

- very competitive prices for a top quality.

- we are flexible and correct. We think along with you to reduce costs and solve problems.

- you are buying from us security, with peace of mind.