Getting ripped off?
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Wood and Wood Preparation / Getting ripped off?
- This topic has 17 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 3 months ago by griz.
-
AuthorPosts
-
4 January 2014 at 12:20 am #25162
Hello, all. I have a question about ordering wood from a mill. When I called to order some stuff delivered (I don’t have a car, and there are no lumber yards in DC that had what I wanted, so I have to order it delivered from Maryland), the girl who answered the phone told me that, e.g., 8/4 hard maple is $5.93/bf.
I did the math on a bunch of stuff, decided what I wanted, and called back, left a message.
When I got the call back, the price quoted for everything I wanted was almost twice as much as the person quoted me from their price book. I said I thought X was the price. The guy said that it would waste a lot when he dimensioned it and whatnot, and he had to take that into account in the final estimate.
He charged me before he dimensioned it. So it wasn’t an estimate of what he would lose that then got adjusted based on what actually happened.
I’m just wondering if I’m getting the woman-in-the-shop treatment–telling me I need blinker fluid and there are rocks in my gravel pan, that kind of stuff–or if it is typical for the final price to be so much higher than the straight-up price per board-foot.
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Is that$12 bdft delivered, for 8/4 dimensioned lumber? If so, that might not be a terrible amount. Its hard telling what’s expensive our not. Retail in Chicago, 8/4 surfaced planned maple is probably close to $10-12 a bdft, without the cost of transpiration. However, through craigslist, I have found two people who sell milled lumber out of there house, and charge $3bdft for any lumber they have on hand. one guy will deliver it for am extra charge and I would have to buy 100bdft.
4 January 2014 at 1:38 am #25171All right, that’s reassuring.
Yes, it’s about $10/bdft. Delivery is cheap at $50–would cost more than that to rent a truck. I was just really surprised at the price jump, and I hadn’t found anything about it online in any of the “introduction to the lumberyard” type videos and blogs, which are really my only source of information.
Thanks for the help!
Price shop, you will have a better idea what lumber its going for in your area. For me, walnut retails for$8bdft for 4/4 lumber at woodcraft. I can get it for $3 bdft, but its a70 mile round trip. However, I buy it from a guy in a farm and he is much more pleasant to talk than the people in the store. In your area, I’m sure you could find a lumber yard that specializes in cherry or clear pine for dirt cheap prices.
Well, Whitney, do you in fact need blinker fluid? First off, you are in an unenviable position, with no car, so this complicates your situation–and then you are a woman (egads). there are multiple issues, so let’s get too it. There seems to be disconnect between what “you want”, e.g. your expectation and the final “dimensioned out” quote. Depending on the grade maple you wanted(more waste in lower grades) you should expect 30 to 50% waste–others may say this is too much, but it depends on how perfectionist you are. So,if you think your Green and Green table will use 37 bd ft., at 10$/ft., and you EXPECT a wood cost of $370, it might be that someone else, looking at your plans, might get to a higher figure, and then there are shipping costs, which might easily double the cost from your original estimate.
For example, I recently purchased a 10 bd. ft. pack of red oak delivered to my Maryland address for $80. Obviously this comes out to way more than anyone is quoting red oak per bd. ft. That said, it was top quality stuff delivered to my door, and it was up to me to lay it out as frugally/persnickity as I wished.
If you want to buy from a local mill, it might pay to rent a vehicle, either to visit the mill, or depending on how much wood you need and the type vehicle you rent to visit and take away what you need. Paul has many good ideas, and one of his best is to build a prototype using inexpensive wood (from local suppliers, e.g., HD, Lowes, Galliher & Huguely) and this will help with details like layout, before you go off to the hinterlands in search of that killer piece of curly maple. In any case, at some point you will need to extablish a relationship with a wood source, and this is best done face to face. Hope this helps.
Jim MountUp here (Canada) our hardwoods come in around 4-9 dollars per board foot skip dressed, meaning rough dimensioned and depending on the wood. If you want good four side (planed and squared on all sides) then add another couple dollars. So I don’t think that quote is too far out.
Whitney,
Everything is well over priced in the wood business today and transportation is a must if you are buying from most suppliers.
My frustration with costs led me six years ago to purchase my own small sawmill and now I cut whatever I need as required. There must surely be some honest small mills like mine operating somewhere near you. I would check for portable band saw mills in your area and you might get delivery too. Be aware we are talking green boards that will need seasoning but band milled lumber can be cut to whatever sizes you require and is virtually a planed finish.
Check with tree companies too, they sometimes know the sawyers they provide logs to. Cabinet makers might give you the name of their suppliers too (and might even sell you wood) but then you’d have to shop for price. Good luck.
Joe B.
I have a different arrangement with my lumberyard. I choose my rough boards myself, then I mark the final dimensions I want from each with chalk on the board. The lumberyard then charges me an additional fee for milling the lumber based on the labour hours.
It can add 20% or so to the cost of the rough lumber but it’s worth it.
The first time I bought lumber- coincidentally it was also maple!- I did it the way you specified and the final price was about double the rough lumber price.
So I don’t think you are being ripped off, but there is a better way to buy your lumber if the yard permits it.
Richard.
4 January 2014 at 9:33 am #25200Hi Whitney,
I buying all my lumber from my local mill.All rough stock.I usually don’t buying big quantity, but I prefer to choose my lumber myself. Just don’t like idea of dressing lumber at lumber yard. I already have bad experience with this one. Level of humidity and temperature different in my shop and lumber yard. Just as example prices for lumber at my local lumber yard:Planing/ Ripping/ Cut to size $60 per hour ($20 minimum)
Laminating (table tops, wide boards etc.) $60-$75 per hour
Wide Planer 24” up to 50” $90 per hour ($50 minimum)
http://centurymill.com/domestic-hardwoods/
Cheers
SerthiyHello, this is purely a UK based view but three years back I took up woodwork in a big way, i took on a huge project (to me) when i priced the first load of wood from the timber yard, i very nearly fainted at the cost of machining it all up, so i made the decision straight away to buy it all in rough sawn and machine it myself, i bought a Band saw, planer thicknesser, and a couple of roller stands, i bought all that with what i saved on the first timber order and from then on i’ve not looked back, i’ve also not quite finished that project either (fitting out a narrow boat) but in my defence i did squeeze the restoration of another boat and a build of my new workshop in as well, loving the wood and looking forward to joining in here a bit!
Paul
14 January 2014 at 8:05 pm #25948here we go people Paul shepherd will mill all our projects lol not that i wanna put you on the spot Paul .
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.