LP begins production at Sagola Smartside facility
LP Building Solutions has produced its first run of LP SmartSide products at its Sagola, Michigan facility.
The production follows a multimillion-dollar conversion from the manufacturing of oriented strand board — a product LP has made for 35 years — to LP SmartSide Trim & Siding, the company’s flagship product and one of the fastest-growing U.S. home siding brands.
Exactly one year after breaking ground on the project, LP Sagola completed its conversion with the pressing of its first SmartSide board at the plant on March 15.
LP’s Sagola facility opened as an oriented strand board (OSB) mill in 1988. In 2021, the company announced a phased, multi-year plan to expand its siding production capacity to meet the increased demand for SmartSide products.
At that time, LP Sagola was among the two facilities, including LP’s Houlton, Maine mill, announced for conversion from the manufacturing of OSB to SmartSide siding. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, LP operates 22 plants across the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Brazil.
The Sagola plant employs 185 associates with 35 new hires recently brought on board.
Following confirmation testing by the APA – The Engineered Wood Association (an organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute for developing national consensus standards for engineered wood products), LP Sagola is now producing APA-certified and trademarked siding.
“Expansion projects like this one in Sagola enable LP to meet increased demand for SmartSide siding across North America while positioning us for long-term growth,” said LP Executive Vice President, General Manager of Siding Jason Ringblom. “This outstanding accomplishment is a result of the talent and determination of LP’s Sagola team, with Engineering, Capital Procurement and other LP departments providing invaluable support.”
At full capacity, LP Sagola will be able to produce approximately 330 million square feet of SmartSide siding annually, bringing the company’s total siding production capacity to approximately 2.3 billion square feet.
The conversion included the addition of 134,000 square feet of physical space.
