In 1958, Art Troutner and Boise native Harold “Red” Thomas first met. Troutner was already an accomplished inventor, architect and engineer, and Thomas was a traveling lumber salesman who had studied forestry at the University of Idaho. In 1960, the two joined forces to form a company to market and manufacture Troutner’s lightweight wood and steel composite Open-Web truss invention, which is the predecessor to the RedBuilt™ open-web trusses we continue to manufacture today.
In the late 1960’s, Troutner is the first to perfect the wood I-joist manufacturing process. During the early 1970s, it became increasingly difficult to source high quality lumber required for their products. To address the issue, Troutner invented laminated veneer lumber — a stronger, lighter weight and longer wood product for headers and beams, I-joist flanges, concrete forms and scaffold planks. As old growth logging faced federal restrictions based on environmental impacts, engineered wood products used for structural applications gained a stronger foothold in the industry.
In 2009, Atlas Holdings, along with a group of industry veterans, acquired the commercial division of Trus Joist® that was originally established by Thomas and Troutner in 1960. Today, RedBuilt™ is the world's leading manufacturer of engineered wood products for commercial construction applications. In addition to its structural properties, high strength-to-weight ratio, and ease of construction, wood is an environmentally-friendly, naturally occurring, renewable resource. Our innovative engineered wood products are uniformly strong, defect-free, guaranteed to last, and provide builders and designers with increased flexibility and labor cost savings.
In 2010, RedBuilt™purchased certain assets such as equipment, raw materials inventory and intellectual property from long-time competitor Standard Structures Inc.
