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Thread: Wood pricing?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Pueblo, Colorado
    Posts
    230

    Wood pricing?

    I'm trying to determine whether or not my local lumber yard is worth doing business with. Here are there F&S pricing on some common hardwood. Maple. 6.09. Oak, 4.61. Cherry 5.79, Lauan, 8.73 bft. How do these stack up with your local prices?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Central MA
    Posts
    1,584
    Unfortunately wood prices, like most commodity prices, are really only relevant to your geographical location due to scarcity of supply and transportation costs. My cost in New England for wood has no bearing on your cost.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    El Dorado Hills, CA
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    1,311
    It seems in line with what I would pay in northern California. You could also check out some of the online places. There prices are probably cheaper, but shipping is expensive and you don't get to see it before you buy it.

    Steve

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Little Hocking, OH
    Posts
    676
    I would say you have no other choice, except on-line ordering, if this is the only local available source. For me, local could be within a 1.5 - 2.0 hour drive.

  5. #5
    Here in Phoenix where there are no forests or mills within miles, transportation is the governing factor on local lumber prices. It is what it is here so you pay or sit and watch TV. Every time the price of fuel rises, so does lumber prices. With todays economy we only have two or three hardwood suppliers in the area when there used to be five or six.
    Good Luck:
    Don Selke

    Julius A. Dooman & Son Woodworking
    My Mentor, My teacher. "Gone but not forgotton"

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Pottstown PA
    Posts
    972
    Depends on where you are at. I'm in PA so retail for cherry is in line. I buy in bulk so I get better pricing. The oak, maple see really high. I'm on the east coast so my pricing can vary greatly. (Last cherry I got a year ago was 3/bf)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Virginia and Kentucky
    Posts
    3,364
    Those prices would be very high here, but we are in the edge of hardwood central.

  8. #8
    Very high for here too but quantity and location are an issue. I try to buy in volume here as well and I think the last load of red oak was in the 1.30/bf range for FAS. Even buying a single board wouldn't put it that high. But as stated I'm in the land of red oak. My prices on cedar are likely through the rood for someone in PNW.

  9. #9
    I just use local grown wood. You might check on forestry forum to see if there is someone in your area with a mill. Or look on craigslist. Last time I checked there were 4 ads for lumber in a radius of 60 miles.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    Like others have said, all you can do is make the best deals you can in your local area. Prices elsewhere are not relevant.

    However, just for grins here's what one lumber dealer in San Francisco charges per bdft for those species (4/4 roughsawn, <250 bdft): maple $3.20; red oak $3.21; cherry $3.93; lauan $5.04.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Posts
    1,617
    Then there's the choices of roughsawn vs S2S (surface 2 sides) vs S3S (two faces and an edge).

    Each step beyond the first requires extra equipment and labor (and impacts price).

    Jim
    One can never have too many planes and chisels... or so I'm learning!!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Agusta, GA
    Posts
    397
    Those prices are in the ball park of what the local yards here charge, except for the maple, that's a lousy price for that. Anymore I only buy poplar locally. I've found a couple online sources that sell the hardwoods for less than the local prices, including shipping.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    South Coastal Massachusetts
    Posts
    6,824
    If the quality is good, and the boards are wide
    the price differential reflects fuel costs in shipping.

    Any workable local species from nearby Sawmills?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Lafayette, Indiana
    Posts
    1,378
    Makes me glad to live in Indiana where I have access to several owner operated mills as well as a wholesaler who services several custom cabinet makers. If you want to get a better idea of prices here, do a web search on Bonesteel Lumber or Cassens Trees. I have another local source, a heavy excavation equipment operator who years ago got tired of burning trees when putting in roads for subdivisions and started milling stuff. He only carries 3/4" stuff, but it all goes for $3 bf and is planed and straight edged (walnut, cherry, hard maple, hickory). He has some figured stuff that goes for $5 bf. These are for the most part all locally harvested; though the wholesaler takes in shipments from Michigan and Kentucky.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    N Illinois
    Posts
    4,602
    $3-3.50/bf is common for roughsawn cherry here in Illinois if you find the right sale or WWer...Timing is everything.
    Jerry

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