RedBuilt™ was originally founded in 1960 by Art Troutner and Boise native Harold “Red” Thomas. When they first met in 1958, Troutner was already an accomplished inventor, architect and engineer. At the time, Thomas was a traveling lumber salesman who had studied forestry at the University of Idaho. Together they invented the lightweight wood and steel composite Open-Web truss, and developed the engineered wood products laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and I-joists.
During the early 1970s, it became increasingly difficult to source high quality old growth lumber required for their products. To address the issue, they invented laminated veneer lumber -- a stronger, lighter weight and longer wood product for headers and beams, I-joist flanges, concrete forms and scaffold planks. Ambitious growth goals set by the management team in the 1980s led to the opening of a dozen new manufacturing plants and over 130 new sales offices. As old growth logging faced federal restrictions based on environmental impacts, engineered wood structural products gained a stronger foothold in the industry.
Atlas Holdings, along with a group of industry veterans, acquired the commercial division RedBuilt™ in 2009. Today, RedBuilt™ is the world's leading manufacturer of engineered lumber products for commercial construction applications. Our environmentally-friendly products address the dwindling supply and fluctuating costs of old growth trees needed for solid-sawn lumber. These innovative products are uniformly strong, defect-free and guaranteed to last, and provide builders and designers with increased flexibility and labor cost savings. Learn more about our engineered lumber products.
