White River Hardwoods
Mason’s Mill & Lumber is proud to be a distribution partner for White River Hardwoods, a Fayetteville, Arkansas manufacturer known for solid hardwood tambour panels, ornamental mouldings, hand-carved woodcarvings, and other architectural surface products.
Why specify White River Hardwoods?
White River offers a complete range of decorative architectural products, making it easier to source multiple elements of a room from one manufacturer. Instead of sourcing tambour from one vendor, mouldings from another, and architectural details from a third, designers and builders can find everything from flat paneling and curved tambour to crown and base mouldings, corbels, capitals, radius corners, and stone veneer in one catalog.
White River at a Glance
- 3,000+ profiles across five moulding collections; 10,000+ total SKUs
- Manufactured in the USA — Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Ships unfinished; accepts stain or paint
- Solid North American hardwoods: Red Oak, Hard Maple, Poplar, White Oak, Walnut, Cherry
- Custom profiles, custom CNC, and coffered ceiling systems available
- Priming and sanding services available in three tiers
- 50+ years manufacturing decorative millwork; distribution in 50 states and 27+ countries
Browse White River Hardwoods
Ayous / African Mahogany — CUTEK® Extreme Clear Finish
Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon), also known as Obeche, African Whitewood, Samba, or Wawa, is a lightweight tropical hardwood native to the forests of West and Central Africa. In its natural, unmodified state, Ayous has a pale cream to light yellow heartwood with a straight to slightly interlocked grain and a medium-to-coarse texture with good natural luster. It's frequently grouped with — and sold alongside — African Mahogany because of its similar workability, dimensional characteristics, and the way it accepts stains and finishes to achieve rich, mahogany-like tones.
Ayous is prized for several reasons that make it well-suited to architectural and millwork applications: it's remarkably lightweight (roughly 24 lbs/ft³), which eases handling for vertical siding, ceiling, and overhead installations; it has low shrinkage and good dimensional behavior once properly dried; and its clear, knot-free character grades produce a smooth, uniform surface ideal for high-visibility finish work. In its natural state, Ayous is considered non-durable to moderately durable against decay, which is why exterior applications require a quality penetrating finish to protect the wood and extend its service life.
Each board is finished with CUTEK® Extreme Clear, a penetrating oil specifically formulated to stabilize exterior wood from within. Unlike surface coatings that sit on top of the board and eventually peel, crack, or flake, CUTEK® carries its oils deep into the wood fibers where they work continuously to reduce moisture movement — the primary cause of cupping, checking, warping, and end-splitting. This is especially important for a species like Ayous, whose natural durability benefits significantly from a stabilizing oil. Because Cutek penetrates rather than films, maintenance requires no sanding or stripping — just clean the surface and reapply when it looks dry. The clear formulation adds no pigment, allowing the Ayous's natural cream-to-honey tone to show through initially before gradually silvering to a soft gray patina if left unmaintained with a colortone.
Because Ayous can react with iron and galvanized fasteners (causing black staining), stainless steel fixings are required for installation. Pre-drilling is also recommended, as the wood can be brittle.
Ideal for architectural siding, feature walls, soffits, porch ceilings, interior paneling, sauna applications, and covered outdoor living areas where a lightweight, workable hardwood with a refined appearance is desired.
Specifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Species | Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon) |
| Also Known As | Obeche, African Whitewood, Samba, Wawa; often sold alongside African Mahogany |
| Origin | West and Central Africa |
| Modification | None — natural, kiln-dried |
| Finish | Cutek Extreme Clear (penetrating oil) |
| Finish Type | Oil-based, non-film-forming |
| Color | Natural pale cream to light yellow; darkens slightly with age; accepts stains beautifully to achieve mahogany-like tones |
| Grade | Clear grade available; virtually knot-free |
| Grain / Texture | Straight to slightly interlocked grain; medium-to-coarse texture; good natural luster |
| Janka Hardness | ~440 lbf |
| Average Dried Weight | 23.8 lbs/ft³ (380 kg/m³) — lightweight |
| Specific Gravity | 0.32 (basic), 0.38 (12% MC) |
| Modulus of Rupture | 8,680 lbf/in² |
| Elastic Modulus | 934,000 lbf/in² |
| Shrinkage | Radial 3.1%, Tangential 5.3%, Volumetric 8.7% (T/R ratio 1.7) |
| Natural Durability | Non-durable to moderately durable — finish required for exterior use |
| Workability | Machines and finishes well; sands smoothly; accepts stains and oils evenly |
| Applications | Exterior siding (with finish), feature walls, soffits, porch ceilings, interior paneling, sauna walls/ceilings, millwork, trim |
| Fixings | Stainless steel required — Ayous reacts with iron and galvanized fasteners; pre-drilling recommended |
| Maintenance | Clean and re-oil with CUTEK® Extreme as needed — no sanding or stripping required |
| Sustainability | FSC-certified options available |
Quote
Let Mason's MillHelp You Choose
With seven product lines, more than 3,000 profiles, and a wide selection of wood species, there’s a lot to consider when choosing the right White River products for a project.
The best option often depends on details that don’t always show up on a spec sheet, like whether the wall is flat or curved, whether the space needs to balance acoustics with its overall design, or whether the new woodwork needs to match existing cabinetry or other finishes.
Tell us a little about your project and what you’re looking to accomplish, and our team can help narrow the options down to the profiles and products that make the most sense for your application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tambour panels are solid hardwood slat panels on a flexible backing, used for feature walls, kitchen island waterfalls, curved reception desks, columns, cabinetry faces, and casework. The flexible backing lets one panel wrap curves and outside corners that rigid paneling cannot.
No. Tambour panels are not suitable for wet or high-humidity environments, including showers, bathrooms, and pools. Installation in high-moisture conditions may void the warranty.
Red Oak, Hard Maple, Poplar, White Oak, and Walnut. All panels ship unfinished and accept any stain or paint.
Standard tambour panels have a 7–10 business day lead time. Custom panels to spec, up to 120" wide, are also available.
In rooms with strong parallel reflective surfaces, covering 25–40% of total surface area gives a meaningful acoustic improvement. One carton of Harmony Series panels covers approximately 16.41 sq. ft.
No. All mouldings ship unfinished and accept stain or paint. Priming and sanding services are available in three tiers, and Mason's Mill offers factory-applied finishes.
Mon Reale uses a fine-grain overlay contoured onto solid Poplar for high-relief ornamental detail across 142 profiles. Traditional mouldings are milled entirely from solid clear Poplar in 219 plainer, classically proportioned profiles.
Yes. A resin option is available for curved walls, columns, and radius ceilings on both the Mon Reale and traditional lines. Tambour panels wrap curves directly with no special option needed.
Yes. Tambour panels, mouldings, and MDF radius corners are manufactured in the USA at White River's Fayetteville, Arkansas facility. Select carvings are also USA-made.
Mason's Mill & Lumber Co. is a White River distribution partner and supplies the full catalog, including custom milling and factory finishing. Request a quote below or contact our sales team at sales@masonsmillandlumber.com.
Request a White River Hardwoods Quote
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