Frequently Asked Questions
Answers, by who’s asking. Architects and designers, builders and fabricators. Pick your lane.
What technology do you use to texture hardwood?
A texturing line engineered for cross-scoring and texturing real hardwood, veneer, and exterior siding, running at our Rigby, Idaho facility.
Can panels be custom-milled to a CAD spec or shop drawing?
Yes. Send a shop drawing or CAD spec and we mill to it, panel size, texture depth, and species called out to match your set.
Is the material sustainably sourced and traceable?
Timber is purchased by the board foot from trusted suppliers, then milled and texture-engineered at our own Rigby, Idaho facility, so every order traces back to our floor. Certification specifics are confirmed per order, ask when requesting a spec sheet.
What fire rating applies for commercial specification?
Fire rating depends on assembly and finish. Send your project's code requirement with a sample request and we'll confirm rated options for that job.
Can floor and wall surfaces be coordinated from the same batch?
Yes, batch-matched species and texture across floor and wall keeps a project visually continuous, request it when you order.
What's the difference between printed veneer and our texture-engineered surfaces?
Printed or embossed veneer fakes the texture on top of a substrate. We machine the real texture into solid hardwood, hardwood veneer, and edgebanding alike, precision-calibrated and batch-consistent, so a cabinet run can stay texture-matched from face to edge, not just applied to one surface.
Can I get a physical sample before writing this into a spec?
Yes, request a sample kit before it goes into any spec document.
What is Vaultwood Core™, and is it used in every Snake River Hardwoods product?
Vaultwood Core™ is not a Murphy Door® company. It's a third-party engineered MDF standard we spec and buy, not something we own or manufacture. We use it as the substrate under some, not all, of our engineered veneer products. Full spec numbers, density, screw hold, modulus of rupture, are published at vaultwoodcore.com.
Is Snake River Hardwoods connected to Murphy Door®'s hidden doors?
Yes. Murphy Door® Inc is the parent company. Snake River Hardwoods is a Murphy Door® company supplying custom hardwoods, textured wood, and floating shelf products. Murphy Door®'s hidden doors and Murphy Beds are built and sold by the parent company directly, at murphydoor.com.
Where do I go for concealment furniture and hidden-door hardware versus raw material and textured veneer?
Snake River Hardwoods supplies the material, and in some products the core substrate underneath it. Murphy Door® builds and sells the finished hidden doors, Murphy Beds, and concealment furniture itself, along with the hardware that makes them work, at murphydoor.com. For the material behind it, that's us.
Is Snake River Hardwoods big enough to handle architectural-scale hardwood specification?
Yes. Our Rigby, Idaho facility is a mill set up for architectural-scale hardwood work, with texturing, 5-axis milling and finishing on one floor. That is a capability statement about what the equipment on this floor can hold to across a drawing set, and you can see that floor on the craftsmanship page.
Does Vaultwood Core™ meet formaldehyde emission standards for interior air quality specs?
Yes. Vaultwood Core™, the third-party material standard used under some of our engineered veneer products, meets EPA TSCA Title VI and CARB Phase 2 formaldehyde emission limits, with NAF, no added formaldehyde, options available. Full compliance detail and ASTM test methods are published at vaultwoodcore.com.
Do you ship nationwide, and what's typical transit time?
Yes, nationwide. Transit time depends on destination and order size, confirmed at quote.
How does this material handle high-altitude, low-humidity mountain climates?
Solid texture-engineered hardwood is more dimensionally stable than routed veneer in freeze-thaw, low-humidity sites like Park City or Jackson Hole. Acclimate on-site per standard hardwood practice before install.
What thicknesses and panel sizes are stocked versus special order?
Core sizes are stocked for fast turnaround, cabinet-face and full-wall runs are special order, confirmed at quote.
What's the grading system, and can I see real photos of each grade?
Select and rustic/character grades are both available. Grade photos ship with every quote so there's no surprise on delivery.
Do you offer trade or contractor pricing?
Yes, volume pricing for architects, builders, and repeat buyers. Confirmed at quote.
What warranty comes with it?
Ultra Shelf shelves and mantels carry Ultra Shelf’s limited lifetime warranty on hardware, wood and workmanship. Murphy Door® products carry Murphy Door’s limited lifetime warranty on everything but electronics. Accoya® carries a 50-year warranty against rot above ground and 25 years in ground or fresh water, issued by Accsys, the company that makes it, with the conditions on our Accoya page.
What's the claims process on freight-damaged panels?
Photograph the damage on delivery and contact us within 48 hours, replacement or credit is handled directly, not through a freight claim you file alone.
What's the difference between the Studlock UltraBracket and the Mantel Bracket?
The Studlock UltraBracket is the standalone bracket, sold in seven lengths and three rod depths, compatible with shelves 1.75 to 3 inches thick. The Mantel Bracket is engineered specifically for mantels, built to land on and hide inside a wall stud, and ships bundled with the mantel rather than sold separately. Both are pre-drilled every inch so they hit a stud wherever you place them.
Do you offer trade pricing, and is that the same thing as Ultra Shelf's own Trade Program?
Snake River Hardwoods offers trade pricing, a price break applied at time of order or quote. We do not offer credit accounts, PO terms, or invoice terms, and nothing ships until it is paid in full. That's a separate program from Ultra Shelf's own Trade Program at ultrashelf.com, which is apply-online and comes with a dedicated trade representative. Related, but not the same program.
What does "texture-engineered" hardwood actually mean?
Real solid hardwood run through a proprietary texturing process, not a printed or embossed veneer. It's wood, textured, not a picture of texture.
Can I get a sample before committing to a wall or cabinet project?
Yes, request a sample before any project commitment.
How much does a custom floating shelf cost, and what's the lead time?
Every shelf, mantel and bracket is priced on ultrashelf.com by species and size, with checkout on the page. Poplar floating shelves start at $123 and walnut at $171, plus delivery, and custom mantels run higher. Final price depends on species, size, and finish. Lead time is confirmed at quote. Hardware ships included with every order.
Is a floating shelf actually safe with no visible bracket?
Yes. The Studlock Bracket System is pre-drilled every inch so it hits a stud wherever you place it, rated for 50 lb per stud, and installs in about 15 minutes.
Where does the wood actually come from?
We buy hardwood timber by the board foot from trusted suppliers, then mill and texture-engineer every board ourselves at our own facility on the Snake River in Rigby, Idaho. Not a broker, not a story, the mill we cut it in.
How do I clean and maintain a textured wood surface?
Dry or lightly damp cloth for routine cleaning, avoid standing water, re-oil or reseal per your chosen finish's schedule.
What's a Murphy Bed, and how much room does it actually need?
A Murphy Bed folds up against the wall to free floor space when it's not in use. Vertical models fold upright and need a taller ceiling, horizontal models fold sideways and work under an 8 foot ceiling. Twin, full, queen, and king mattress sizes are available up to 11 inches thick. Full configurations are at murphydoor.com.
Can I get a hidden door that looks like a normal bookcase?
Yes. Murphy Door®'s hidden bookcase doors look like a normal bookcase from the room side. The door itself runs on load-tested hardware built in house. See the full lineup at murphydoor.com.
Is the floating shelf bracket hardware the same hardware used in Murphy Door®'s hidden furniture?
The Studlock Bracket System used on Ultra Shelf floating shelves is its own dedicated hardware line, engineered specifically for shelf and mantel loads. It comes out of the same parent company's hardware engineering that also builds Murphy Door®'s hidden-door and Murphy Bed mechanisms, but each system is purpose-built for its own product, not a shared part.
Does Snake River Hardwoods sell Murphy Beds or hidden doors directly?
No. Snake River Hardwoods supplies material, textured wood, and floating shelf products directly. Murphy Door® hidden doors and Murphy Beds are built and sold by Murphy Door® itself, at murphydoor.com. If you're after a finished hidden door or bed, that's the place to order it.
Is Murphy Door® hardware safe for a bed I'm going to fold up and down every day?
Murphy Door®'s hardware is engineered and tested for repeated use, with the door-side hardware load-tested in house. Exact weight ratings and mattress size limits for a specific Murphy Bed configuration are listed with that product at murphydoor.com.
How do I know which bracket to use for a mantel versus a regular floating shelf?
It comes down to the product. Shelves use the Studlock UltraBracket, compatible with shelves 1.75 to 3 inches thick. Mantels use the dedicated Studlock Mantel Bracket, which ships bundled with the mantel. Both are rated by the number of studs they catch: 50 lb per stud, 100 lb on two studs, 150 lb on three.
Is Vaultwood Core™ just MDF?
Not commodity MDF. Vaultwood Core™ is a third-party material standard for premium MDF, specified to a modulus of rupture of 4,500 to 5,500 psi typical (4,000 psi licensing floor), against roughly 3,000 to 5,000 psi for commodity MDF, with no grain direction so it won't cup or warp the way solid wood can across seasons. It's used as the core substrate under some Snake River Hardwoods engineered veneer products, not all of them. Full specs are at vaultwoodcore.com.
The hardware behind the answers.
Most of what’s on this page traces back to the same engineering. The Studlock UltraBracket, shown here, is powder-coated steel with a pre-drilled hole pattern, rated at 50 lb per stud it catches. The wood side runs through one floor in Rigby, Idaho: a texturing machine, a custom multi-tooled 5-axis mill, and a finish line.
