Places To Buy Lumber

[Troy]

Howdy All,

I was just wondering if there other places besides home stores (eg Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) where a person can buy lumber? While the Home stores seem to have a large selection, I would think one could get better quality wood from a store that only sold lumber.

Oh, and I'm currently near D.C. if anyone knows a place nearby.

Cheers!

[Steve Wood]

I guess I'll be the lone decenter in this conversation.  I am in the DC area and have found the home stores to be a great resource.  What I like about Lowes or HD is that I can pick the pieces I want from the stock.  For hardwoods the both carry milled oak, maple and poplar which works for most of my projects.  I can pick the best straightest pieces from the bin and leave the rest behind.  I have found that most hardwood dealers sell un-milled wood and I don't have the capabilities to mill.  If they do mill they will charge by the hour.  If I need something that isnt sold by the big box stores I will go to the hardwood dealer but until then I will stick with my current plan.  Wurth Wood Group is a great resource as well, but they mainly focus on plywood and cabinet hard/supplies.  Just my two cents.

[justin waldron]

Hey Steve, Wurth can get you all the hardwood species out there and theirs comes milled to 13/16 and straight lined ripped on one edge.  J.C. Forest Products charges $25 on 100 board feet to mill, that includes down to 3/4 of an inch and straight ripped one edge.  This puts their price on Red Oak to $3 a board foot, which is better than half price of Lowes and Home Depot.  Not to mention that they stock Mahogany, Red/White Oak, Hickory, Maple, Cherry and the list goes on.  I have to plug these guys, I bought a good 2,000 board feet of lumber from them last year and about 1,500 this year, the material is excellent.  They will let you sift through the stuff too if you're looking for that "perfect" board, which I have done for some projects, but when I'm making cabinets I normally order 300 board feet at a time and take my chances.  The even do custom Millwork and things like that there too, can get any kind of ply you need.  It's a 2 man operation there too so remembering your name isn't a problem. 

[Steve Wood]

Hey Justin.  Thanks for the great guidance.  I will absolutely give JCF a try!  They sound like a great resource.  I am just outside of Annapolis an have not had much luck with the vendors around here.  Since I am mainly a weekend warrior it's also nice to use the home stores that are open at that time and just up the road.  As time goes by I will get more organized and better estimate the amount of material I will need upfront.

[justin waldron]

No problem at all Steve.  You're probably almost 2 hours from Fredericksburg, but if you buy a good amount it's still worth the drive.  I only used the home stores in the begining too, I didn't know about other places to buy lumber.  Mainly it's pretty neat to get your hands on species other than Red Oak, Maple, Pine and Poplar.