Materials and Methods

Only the finest solid woods are used; never finger jointed or other “engineered” products. Our primary choice of wood is Spanish cedar; a visually appealing wood known for its stability and longevity—classified by the U.S. Forest Service as highly resistant to decay. Spanish cedar is a deciduous tree (a hardwood) that grows from Mexico through Argentina, and is ideal for exterior architectural applications. Its appearance is very similar to mahogany, but with a wonderful fragrance of aromatic cedar – hence it’s name.
Traditional mortise and tenon joinery is used throughout our products; a method that has evolved over hundreds of years and provides the longest lasting and most durable joints in the wood window and door business.

Hardware choices are many, in fact – if you can find it, we can incorporate it into your project! Left to our own devices, we will always choose hardware with the best possible properties of longevity and maintainability, along with energy performance considerations. Glazing choices are equally diverse, from using existing historic art glass pieces to high performance insulated units.

All of our materials and methods are selected with one goal in mind: longevity of the product. Customers routinely ask us to duplicate windows and doors that are well over 100 years old. For today’s building industry, it is the norm for products to have an engineered life span of 15 years. However, we, at Allied Millwork of Pittsburgh, pride ourselves on manufacturing products that surpass the industry’s expectations, and our clients have come to rely on us for producing products with paramount longevity. A note on our design: although our products maintain a classic, historic look, they can meet modern energy standards.

We pride ourselves on our attention to the smallest details. If we feel that a particular product (such as specific glues) offers a significant benefit, we utilize it. This is usually done without regard to increased manufacturing cost (something that larger companies will not do), as the amounts of these types of special products that are used are often inconsequential. You, the customer, benefit from our approach – and we sleep better at night with the knowledge that we have supplied you with the best!

Philosophy

Locally owned and operated, Allied Millwork supports other local small businesses whenever possible; we even recycle our excess saw dust with a regional farmer, which, later becomes compost, utilized by a neighboring landscape company.

Wood, in and of itself is a green product: it is renewable and inherently insulating. Wood windows and doors require 1/3 the energy of vinyl windows to produce, and 1/4 that of aluminum products!

Our woods are harvested in areas under sustained yield management programs. We only deal with well established, reputable suppliers that comply with all of the ITTO, TFF, and CITE standards.

Our products are designed so that, given proper maintenance, they will have a lifetime far exceeding those produced by mass manufacturers.

We will work closely with you to ensure that exacting designs are executed to your complete satisfaction, and offer a level of service that only a small company such as Allied Millwork can provide.

Where we’ve been

Allied Millwork has been the recipient of numerous Historic Preservation awards over the years.

Our shop has provided goods destined for historic projects in Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Maryland, New York and throughout Pennsylvania. We have been involved in new structures as far away as Westport, Connecticut and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

In western Pennsylvania, we have participated in the restoration of such Pittsburgh landmarks as the Heinz History Center, Penn Pilsner Brewery, the South Side Market House, and several buildings in the Penn Liberty Cultural District, amongst others. Also, many historic buildings in Lawrenceville, South Side, and Mexican War streets – along with beautiful homes in areas such as Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, Sewickley, Fox Chapel, and Oakmont have been keeping us busy!

Allied Millwork has supplied windows and doors for buildings for many of our esteemed colleges and universities, including: Carnegie Mellon, Chatham, Washington and Jefferson, Waynesburg, University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, as well as Pittsburgh magazine, has featured numerous projects that we have been involved in.