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Cost of lumber

2K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  wildwoodbybrianjohns 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
General question on what people pay for lumber in different regions of the United States. Obviously there are different costs and quality associated with getting lumber from a store (not a box store) and some guy in the country milling it himself. Just a curiosity thing, but what do you pay for kiln dried 4/4 rough cut cherry, black walnut, red oak, white oak or other common lumber in your state/area?

Upstate NY its about $4-5 a BF for cherry, red oak and maple. A little more for white oak. And around $10 for black walnut Everything is a lot cheaper if you find a guy cutting it himself out in the country.
 
#4 ·
Here in Az its expensive, not a whole lotta joints have the nice stuff from midwest, even mesquite here is getting pricey. I try to use some small mill wright fellas, but they are falling by wayside,

I"m headed back to midwest in the spring, gonna drag a trailer i think and or just buy one back there and haul some good stuff back, probably visit my oldest in ATlanta as i did make some contacts there for some goods. time will tell
Rj in az
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
We have trees here in Ohio which makes us more affordable than a lot of states. You'll find transportation being the "cost" to states with no trees. Imports are the different thing, since they come from elsewhere their points of entry have the lowest costs, so our watery border states win there, but again it differs due to transportation to move it further inland.

Beyond that the occasional pile of good luck can strike anywhere, like you see a Craig's List ad for thousands of BD/FT of choice lumber selling for pennies. Never question that just get in your car. On the scene you will quickly know if you wasted some gas.
 
#6 ·
I am cheap when it comes to lumber prices. If I can not find domestic lumber for $2-4 bdft, then I won't use it.
But I have no issues finding inexpensively priced lumber. Just about burned through 400 bdft of cherry that cost me $2 bdft, bought ~5 years ago; while local retail price is $6-7.

If I can't find it reasonable here in AZ, then I haul a trailer load back from forests in OH/IN when I visit family. Walnut is about only domestic wood that breaks the piggy bank, but I can get it locally for $7, and $5 in Midwest.

Biggest issue for AZ is lack of hardwood forests. All the domestic species shipped from east coast are $2-3 bdft higher here than where it grows. We have a lot of juniper and western cedar at reasonable prices from north central mountain ranges in state. Alder is also cheap in AZ, compared to elsewhere. FAS alder is just over $2 bdft.

IMHO - If you want low cost lumber, you have to constantly hunt for it. Skip the retail stores unless you need 1 board for a project. Want the cheap stuff, need to look for commercial sawmills, small sawyers, and lumber yards that process lumber for cabinet shops (and generate cull/shorts). Prices are always lower when buying 2-300 bdft, then they are for 20-30; so comparing prices on a board or three is not fair comparison.
Have to always be prepared to buy in bulk, and store it, for when the deal pops into your life.
Don't forget when you buy cheap, and share deal with friends too. :)

If don't know already about lumber hunting, use these tools:

Woodmizer web site - find a local sawyer:
https://woodmizer.com/us/Services/Find-a-Local-Sawyer

You mentioned upstate NY? That covers a lot of area.
Here is google maps search for sawmills near Syracuse as example of how to find mills hiding near you, or places you are willing to drive to get wood:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/sawmill+near+syracuse

Also try looking for "hardwood lumber near XXXX" replacing XXXX with a local town.

FWIW - Another thing to watch for is any company that imports exotic lumber located in your area. There are several importers located in S.CA; which provides lower cost shipping to AZ, compared to east coast.
One of them has been flooding AZ with $4 bdft 4/4 African Mahogany last 6 months. Some of the rift sawn boards look like QS sapele, which makes a stunning project wood for the half the price of sapele. It is almost insulting, mahogany from Africa is cheaper than hard maple from east coast?

+1 on Craigslist deals. Set an email alert for 'lumber', and deals eventually show up. Especially during home moving season. Lumber is usually not accepted by commercial moving services, and gets dumped at last minute cheap.

Best luck.
 
#7 ·
In NM it is also expensive, RO about $3, WO about $4, Walnut $8, cherry $5.

One key is to look for alternate sources. I've had good luck by checking out flooring suppliers. I get beautiful jatoba for $3-$4 per sq.ft. The pieces clean up to 5/8" thick, but otherwise excellent wood. I also check there clearance boards in the store where they may have leftovers of a few 100 sq.ft. for dirt cheap.

Less so now, but in the past I've got trailer loads of red oak for pennies a bf at local university auctions. The wood comes from dorm furniture made from solid hardwoods.
 
#9 ·
The local place that only sells s4s lumber sells 8/4 maple for about $20/bd-ft. Needless to say, I don't buy much from them. The place 35 miles away sells s2s 8/4 maple for about $6/bd-ft. I'm in California so all the typical hardwoods are expensive compared to what I see people back east quote.
 
#10 ·
Not enough info in your request to answer, you need to specify lumber grade which is the biggest driver to cost. Minimum widths and the size of the order will also impact pricing. The difference between highly figured Cherry, FAS and number 1 common is probably 20x or more. I've paid over $50/bf for highly figured 16/4 Cherry, but I've also bought it as low as $2.19/bf for FAS random width & lengths in 1,000 bf quantities….
 
#11 ·
A bit of an addendum to my original post. A local mill (Manchester, CT) just had a sale this weekend. While they had a variety of stock on sale, they had hard maple at $3/BF and $1/BF iwhen you purchase 100 BF or more. It was all 5/4 "character," there was quite a bit of nice stock to pick from and much of it was jointed on one edge and planed both sides. I got some curly and spalted stock along with regular old maple.

I also discovered happily that I can fit 100BF of maple in my Prius with ease!
 
#12 ·
Seems every time I go looking for any wood it has gone up in price? Maple and Walnut used to be about $5.00 bd/ft now over $20.00 for 8/4. I seldom look at 4/4. Not sure why our lumber in Canada is all based on U.S. prices?
Plus anything from the East that's heading West gets doubled in price and any "good" Cedar from the West heading East gets tripled!
 
#13 ·
Seems every time I go looking for any wood it has gone up in price?
- Andre
+1 Any time I actually need or want a particular species of wood, it always seems to be selling for highest price ever recorded in human history. Drives me nuts!

Sale:
.
.
$1/BF iwhen you purchase 100 BF or more. It was all 5/4 "character," there was quite a bit of nice stock to pick from and much of it was jointed on one edge and planed both sides. I got some curly and spalted stock along with regular old maple.
- cmacnaughton
+1 just confirms my earlier post.
Look for sales, buy in 100+ bdft quantity, and cheapest stuff is usually rustic or common lumber that often has figure hiding inside.
BTW - Congratulations, $1 bdft for kiln dried lumber is stock up price. Go back and get another load.

Cheers!
 
#14 ·
+1 just confirms my earlier post.
Look for sales, buy in 100+ bdft quantity, and cheapest stuff is usually rustic or common lumber that often has figure hiding inside.
BTW - Congratulations, $1 bdft for kiln dried lumber is stock up price. Go back and get another load.

Cheers!

- CaptainKlutz
Sadly it was a 5-hour sale. I think 100BF will last me until the next sale, though!
 
#16 ·
Domestic hardwood that I buy from the woodworking club is relatively inexpensive. We cut and solar kiln dry our own from donated logs. Last year we cut 23 walnut logs as well as some poplar, oak, sycamore and maple. We also bought 700 bdft of cherry for a $1 a bdft at an auction. Profits from wood sales pays half the cost of running the club's shop.
 
#17 ·
I just got cherry, bandsawn and kiln dried for $1 a ft., unplaned. He also sold me a flatmaster sander complete for $50. Said his back is shot and can't do projects any longer. Sadly, a place we will all be in time. If readable, attached is a price sheet from the Chicago area.
 
#18 ·
A bit of an addendum to my original post. A local mill (Manchester, CT) just had a sale this weekend. While they had a variety of stock on sale, they had hard maple at $3/BF and $1/BF iwhen you purchase 100 BF or more. It was all 5/4 "character," there was quite a bit of nice stock to pick from and much of it was jointed on one edge and planed both sides. I got some curly and spalted stock along with regular old maple.

I also discovered happily that I can fit 100BF of maple in my Prius with ease!

- cmacnaughton
Thats a heck of a deal on that maple. I bought some of the African Mahogany shorts but didn't even notice the maple sale. Parkerville are good guys and really the only place around now that CWG closed up
 
#19 ·
Thats a heck of a deal on that maple. I bought some of the African Mahogany shorts but didn t even notice the maple sale. Parkerville are good guys and really the only place around now that CWG closed up

- avsmusic1
You're not kidding. It was all marked $3/BF outside, and I didn't know it was $1 until one of the guys told me. I got there "late" at around 10 am so I'm not sure how much bigger the stock was at 7 am. We had to do some digging to get straight stock from a couple of the stacks. It was my first time there. Not only am I relatively new to using nice non-big-box wood, I had previously gone to a small one-man mill in Bloomfield.

They had some gorgeous looking sassafras too. But I know nothing about sassafras, other than I thought it looked very attractive.
 
#21 ·
i was there a little before 8 and there was probably 8 guys there buying 100+bdft - I actually had to wait for a cart
I guess i should have asked about the maple lol

- avsmusic1
The wife and I are building a farmhouse table for the dining room. We had decided on maple a while ago, or otherwise I might not have known either. My projects up until this have been decidedly smaller than dining tables.
 
#22 ·
I happen to be in casa grande today on biz, and managed to stop in and see the vendor recommended john goodwin, and what a hoot it was, hes waiting on a new saw mill, says hes almost fit to be tied been waiting for it to show. I went thru some product and managed to relieve him of some, but once he mills some bigger chunks am gonna go down and invest the retirement fund, lol. just a pleasure chatting with he and his lovely wife (or girlfriend, not sure which)
price was very palatable, and boy howdy did he have some beautiful pistachio chunks,
Rj in az
 
#23 ·
Part of my decision on where to retire was prompted by the price and limited availability of quality hardwood in many of the places my careers took me. So now, living on an old farm in central KY, my lumber supply is at my front door. My cost per board foot is measured in labor and time. I cut this black walnut two days ago… It will be on my band saw mill tomorrow… Then into the drying process… 70 odd acres of classic American hardwoods including Sassafras, Hickory, Maples, several oaks, persimmon, tupelo…
So many to choose from can spoil you.
Plant People in nature Wood Natural landscape Branch


People in nature Plant Branch Tree Natural landscape


Regards, The Kentucky Toolsmith!
 

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#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
I know this is an "American" thread, but I will give you some contrasting info for Spain, and specifically the island of Majorca, where everything is imported.

The primary supplier here for the boating industry and the cabinet shops has quality lumber of various grades. A s4s board, 2meters X 7cm X 2cm, of teak or sapeli is about 8euros, slightly more for the same in white oak. The "slab" thing is popular ATM, and a cupped, checked, bowed, twisted slab of american walnut, say 3meters X 45cm X 5cm will cost about 1000euros. The same in olivewood would be about 500euros.

I just bought some exotics from a spanish supplier to luthiers, all the stock is 15cm X 6cm X .06cm-
American walnut: 8euros for 5pieces
European maple: 8euros for 5 pieces
Ironwood: 17euros for 5 pieces
lacewood: 14euros for 5 pieces
ebony: 18euros for 5 pieces

All, ridiculously expensive, and I just found a mainland spain supplier thats doing sustainable forestry and milling and they have cherry and walnut for 1meter X 15cm X 1.5cm for 18euros per board.

I buy alot of rough wood from a local sawmill, holm oak, almond, olive, cypress, eucalyptus, carob, and he knows me well and always gives me a good deal. I also own a fair chunk of forest, but the oaks are precious and I only trim them, I would never cut one down unless it is dead. The pines, though, they are like weeds and regarded by the farmers as such, and who wants to build with pine!

These 2 photos show one of my oldest oaks, maybe 150 years old. She has alot of babies around her.
Natural landscape Twig Plant Tree Trunk


Horse Plant Tree Working animal Liver


What my forest looks like below. You can see darker areas of green lower down, those are oaks; surrounded by an ocean of pine. The pines are taking over the valley, and the farmers hate them and want to cut them all out, which they have done at the other end of the valley.

Sky Natural landscape Plant Terrestrial plant Tree
 

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