SCOOTERDOG Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 I am so fed up with quality of lumber in the last few years. It is so hard to find boards that are not warped. My son is up for the holidays and he is helping me build the stage. We spent about 2 hours yesterday getting all of the supplies. I was planning on using 1" ply for the floor of the stage but the quality was just so bad, at 26 bucks a sheet I think not. I ended up going with 1" MDF instead. It will probably be better anyway because of its density. Then we moved on to the 2x10x12 boards for the main frame. I kid you not we went through about 20 boards and it was so ridiculous, we ended up with the 5 pieces needed. To finish of this lovely day it turns out they no longer have the carpet I wanted to use. By now I was not a happy camper. Fast forward to frame building and the freaking boards have a slight warp so now we are shimming. I tell you it is getting harder to find good materials from the local home supply stores these days. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Weather has a bit to do with it too...dunno if you get snow in Idaho, but the lumber is always poorer quality in the winter over here in Chicago. I am no woodworking expert, but all the builders I know say they try to go with designs that won't matter if the wood is warped (in other words, they make it possible to force it to be square). It's a hassle at first, but they say you always end up with a sturdier product in the end due to the type of bracing that is needed to accomplish it. I have no idea how it's done though...especially considering some of the wood I've seen on the shelf (like 2x4's with a quarter turn in them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Sure seems to be a big difference between the "Lumber Yards" of the old days and the "Home Stores" of today. The home stores today are much better stocked with hardware, paint, plumbing, and electrical for one stop shopping which is great though. I have a cabinet maker buddy who moved here to Indiana from Colorado because of the scarcity and high prices of wood in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myhamish Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 ya'know Scooter, we've got the same problem right up here where the lumber comes from. Now you've got me going too.... There's two lumberyards in town. They're both owned by contractors who keep the good stuff and sell the cheap stuff at top dollar. I won't even shop here - prefer to go up to Cobden and strap the lumber to my roof rather than buy it here in town Here's a couple of examples - right here in town - they were hosing down with water skids of pressure treated lumber. When you would get the lumber home - within a day it would be like pretzels. . And the same place - if you're not there in person to select each piece of framing lumber, they will 'give' (you're still paying top dollar) for the rejects left on the top of the pile. Right now, up in Pembroke, about 30 miles away, they are building a Home Depot and I'm hoping it'll smarten these local outfits up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 You're preachin' to the quire.Over the past decade I have been moving more and more toward enginered lumber.I use TJI for floor joist,same size and straight,LVL for headers and support.When it comes to 2x4's I order too many then pick the ones I want,then stack.I cut cripples/bracing from marginal ones and send back the worst.Home Depot etc..is great for variety but I never buy lumber there,I buy from a place that deals mostly in lumber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 I feel your pain. I went through the same frustration at times while building the various projects I have done around our house over the years. It was explained to me a while ago that our best lumber goes to two places. Now, this is not a judgment on my part, it is simply information I was given by someone in the lumber business that I am passing along. So, please don't shoot the messenger. Japan buys all of our select lumber, especially the Redwood. We never get the chance to even see it. Japan has already spoken for it. That's because they are willing to pay top dollar for it as they have few lumber resources of their own, and apparently, a lot of money. The best construction-grade lumber, including plywood, usually winds up in the southern states following natural disasters such as the recent hurricanes. This is for the purpose of reconstruction. So, that may be where all of your straight studs ended up. I believe this to be true because right after a hurricane has hit, I began to notice the studs at Home Depot and Lowes began lookin' kinda crappy soon afterwards and their price went up each time, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted December 28, 2005 Moderators Share Posted December 28, 2005 Hey it's the same problem down here, if i wanted to build a boat this wood would be perfect. Most of the plywood we get here comes from north Louisiana and the studs and other dimensional lumber come from the same area or more south . If you go to a lumber yard to get say, a few hundred dollars of wood, plan on it taking a half day or more. I am setting up a sawmill here so I can cut my own wood the only thing is 90% of the trees in our area are pine, with the other 10% being oak, My neighbor and friend had a large red oak in his yard die from bugs, we cut it up and sent it to a local sawmill. The price to saw it into boards was $160 he got back 650 board feet of nice red oak. When he heard I was going to build an entertainment center and buy pine, he gave me a hard time, he wanted me to use some of the red oak so I did and it looks better than the pine could ever look. The tv is a little large, 65", so i didn't have much room to work with, this was the only way to build it to fit between the windows. Here is a pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted December 28, 2005 Moderators Share Posted December 28, 2005 and another one, front view: Yes the windows are open 70 here today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 I have been moving more and more toward enginered lumber.I use TJI for floor joist,same size and straight,LVL for headers and support.When it comes to 2x4's I order too many then pick the ones I want,then stack.I cut cripples/bracing from marginal ones and send back the worst.Home Depot etc..is great for variety but I never buy lumber there,I buy from a place that deals mostly in lumber. I agree on all points including buying lumbar from a true lumbar yard... A lot of home renovation centers are not equipped to sell lumbar ... like my local Home Depot who insist in storing their lumbar inside for customer's convenience. [8-)] They purchase their studs KD (kiln dried) to reduce it's warping inside their store, but this is far from ideal conditions for studs which frequently look like those you guys describe. "Stud grade" lumber is exactly that... graded to be used as rough framing. It should be bought and installed while still wet... and never stored in a dry heated space. Once the sheathing is securely attached, most will dry pretty straight. That is one of the reasons why wood buildings aren't heated until after the gypsum board is installed. If you buy lumbar and have to keep it several days inside before using it... you should pile it tightly to reduce the warpage which will inevitably occur. If you're looking to build something that is free-standing (not anchored to the structure) or furniture grade you are better off paying more for engineered lumbar. ROb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 I'll throw in my me too's. I can't tell you how frustrated I've been from time-to-time when constructing this & that for the HT. But you know what? This lack of wood quality isn't totally new. I can remember going to Keel's Lumber (4 generations of lumber folks) with my Dad when I was 10 years old and watching Dad "eyeball" pieces of lumber for straightness and going through several pieces before he got what he wanted. And then there's the new breed of fast growing pine that Georgia Pacific, International Paper, and the rest are planting. Oddly enough, I bought some "select pine" 1x2's from Home Depot recently and they were tagged as being from Canada. Anyhow....... I feel your pain and agree with others that engineered lumber is probably the way to go for some projects. I'm starting to see more steel frame construction around here and wouldn't doubt if lumber quality (and cost) weren't the reason. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygmn Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Be greatful you get to pick through wood... Down here in hurricane disaster area....wood is scarce....and ya take what ya can get.... Pressure treated lumber seems to have just come out of the tratment thingy...as it is dripping ... dries in a day and is warped like pretzel..... Fence boards look like C's... Then ya need some dimensional 2x4 or 2x6 etc...and well...you have half a bundle to pick through and they are all for crap with knots everywhere...or knots knocked out...and warped beyond use.... roof sheathing...forget it.... Hardi panel Siding panels....I had to buy the last piece that was broken on corners....(half price & only needed middle half for my gable ends.. vinyl siding...HAHAHAHAHA...not gonna happen.. seems contractors are buying so much...there is nothing left for the DIYer.... I have to build my shed...and I am waiting until end of January... One more side to my fence...and will wait for 2-3 more weeks...before venturing out to lumber yards... Be greatful you have some to pick through... Very tough here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOOTERDOG Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 I'm so glad I'm not the only one with this lumber problem, not that I wish it on anyone. My biggest problem has been with the stage I'm building. Since its free floating and not connnected to any wall studs it made it difficult getting it level, although I did overcome the problems it was sure a pain in the you no what. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Stay away from Home Depot or any of the others when you buy wood. When I built both of my houses, I looked at the delevery piles in my future yard and every, I mean every piece of lumber was perfectly streight. One house was 15 years ago, and the other was 3, so it is not like it has gotten worse over the years. Contractors seem to know where to get good lumber. Its not at Home Depot or Menards. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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