Are these wood prices out of line?

[Bill Space]

And it was found again, Allen. I was Googling for a place to buy hardwoods in SWFL, as I am new here. This thread came up and solved the mystery.

Oh! I thought Julie is not new here...I have seen so many of her posts!

Oh oh! You mean new THERE!

Merry Christmas!

[Alan Lightstone]

Welcome to Florida, Julie.

If you stop by there, let me know how the selection of woods looks. I'm in the St. Petersburg area, and hardwoods can be pretty hard to come by, sometimes.

This would have been more convenient when my daughter went to school in Ft. Myers, but still, beats paying for shipping.

[richard b miller]

chris, where do you get your local lumber? i'm just a little south of you in very NE Alabama.
thanks
rich

[Doug Hobkirk]

This is my favorite source of hardwood, although it's not convenient (60 miles away). I haven't been there in a while, but they used to let you pick your own and they had a fairly extensive "shorts" section at discount.

I only checked a few prices, but they were lower in every case.

Their price sheet

[Julie Moriarty]

Welcome to Florida, Julie.

If you stop by there, let me know how the selection of woods looks. I'm in the St. Petersburg area, and hardwoods can be pretty hard to come by, sometimes.

This would have been more convenient when my daughter went to school in Ft. Myers, but still, beats paying for shipping.

Thank you for the welcome, Alan!

I found World Hardwoods in my Google search this morning. It's in Sarasota. Have you been there?

[Alan Lightstone]

Not yet, but probably only an hour from me. Whoever gets there first, let the other one know.

Weiss Hardwoods in Largo is only 7 minutes from me, and I get a lot from them, but they only have a few species.

[Wade Lippman]

Guess it depends on your location. The common woods you listed are about double what I can get them for in WNY...not sure about the exotics.

Where do you shop in WNY?
I just looked up Pittsford Lumber and found them to be higher than Allen's.
I was shocked by the walnut; last time I bought it, it was $5!
http://www.pittsfordlumber.com/Pittsford-Lumber/Hardwood-Lumber-Hardwoods-Rochester-NY.html

[Michael Zerance]

I buy from Associated Hardwoods in Tampa. They have the best prices around and are probably about 40% less than your listed pricing. I don't know what selection they have for exotics but I buy tropical mahogany, african mahogany, soft & hard maple, poplar, oak, and spanish cedar from them. They also have sheet goods. They may only sell to businesses; I'm not sure.

[Scott Cenicola]

I buy from Associated Hardwoods in Tampa. They have the best prices around and are probably about 40% less than your listed pricing. I don't know what selection they have for exotics but I buy tropical mahogany, african mahogany, soft & hard maple, poplar, oak, and spanish cedar from them. They also have sheet goods. They may only sell to businesses; I'm not sure.

Thanks for the info Michael. I usually buy at Craftsman Supply on Busch. Very good service and family owned. But it's always nice to compare quality and prices.

[Michael Zerance]

Thanks for the info Michael. I usually buy at Craftsman Supply on Busch. Very good service and family owned. But it's always nice to compare quality and prices.

Rome Lumber is also a good place to go. They are family owned and operated. Very nice people. If I am buying in bulk, I order from Associated and they deliver it to me. If a need to be selective about the pieces I need, I pick through the stacks at Rome Lumber. Good prices, too.

[Halgeir Wold]

If you think those prices are high - you just wouldn't believe what it's like up here in Northern Europe Nowhere......

[Ronald Blue]

This thread is 9 years old just so you know....

[Alan Lightstone]

Julie moved here 9 years ago? It seems like just yesterday...

[Scott Cenicola]

Rome Lumber is also a good place to go. They are family owned and operated. Very nice people. If I am buying in bulk, I order from Associated and they deliver it to me. If a need to be selective about the pieces I need, I pick through the stacks at Rome Lumber. Good prices, too.

Thanks Mike. I'll check Rome out too.

[Julie Moriarty]

Welcome to Florida, Julie.

If you stop by there, let me know how the selection of woods looks. I'm in the St. Petersburg area, and hardwoods can be pretty hard to come by, sometimes.

This would have been more convenient when my daughter went to school in Ft. Myers, but still, beats paying for shipping.

I finally made it out to Alva Hardwoods today. It's a small barn-like structure owned by a very nice man named Merrill. He was a woodshop teacher and his love of woodworking shows.

I have been spoiled by Owl Hardwoods back north, so this may not be a review relevant to the area.

Owl's warehouse could fit many times over what what I found at Alva. Still, I wasn't terribly disappointed. What I did see was prices that were often double what Owl would charge. I have several projects planned and normally I would buy stock for the future. I wasn't comfortable doing that today because I felt I needed to check other suppliers first.

That being said...

I picked up some 5/4 flat-sawn maple today. The markings on the boards indicated their width to be either 8" or 9". Every board was between 9.75" and 10.75" in width. Two of the boards I picked out had some curly figure in them, maybe about 30-40% and one had maybe 20% curly figure. The actual thickness of all the boards was 1.125".

I've purchased a lot of wood from Owl. If there is figure, it goes into another bin and the price jumps, about double. If it's flat sawn, there is no figure at all. If they noted width is 10", you pay a premium. If Owl says it's 5/4, it's 1" in thickness. 8/4 is 1.75". I don't know if this is typical.

With today's purchase, I paid about $13/bd/ft for 5/4 maple with a minimum width of 9.75". All of the wood had some figure. None of it had any blemishes. Not cheap, by any means. But if I got the same thing from Owl, I don't think it would have been that much less.

What was nice to know is finding hardwood in Florida is not like finding a do-do bird. But the quest will continue...

Just my 2 cents...