Today's lumber quality and prices

[JDgreen227]

Went to the local Menards yesterday and purchased a dozen so-called "Select" 2X4X8's....$2.49 each. Made me recall the time back in about 1974 when I redid a room of my first house and the 2X4's I bought then were Olin Golden Pine, and they cost me 39 cents each. Sold the house back in '89, but I used a pair of the 2X4's from that long-ago time room redo for sawhorse legs for the project, and today when I compare the clear, finish-grade quality of the sawhorse legs from that period to the knot-filled and low-quality studs I just paid $2.49 each for....it amazes me how poor lumber has become and how much it costs.

 

[orezok]

A while back I purchased a standby generator. The crate it came in was all clear lumber with no knots. I saved the wood for finish projects.

 

[Looking4new]

I get to see the lumber that you guys down there are getting shipped in from up here. What JUNK! The only reason it is straight on the truck is because it is all banded together.
The stuff we have isn't much better. I buy econo studs, 2x4's x 8' long and first they aren't 2x4" they are something like 1&7/8 x 3&3/4 and the edges are all chewed up. If you want a nice clean edge on one you have to run it through the saw and square it up. By the time you are done they are 1&1/2x3&1/2 so much for 2x4.

 

[DarkBlack]

I always thought a KD 2x4 was 1-1/2 x 3-1/2. Or at least for the last 40 years.

 

[JDgreen227]

I always thought a KD 2x4 was 1-1/2 x 3-1/2. Or at least for the last 40 years.

The older part of my house was built in 1952, it was a kit house from Bay City, Michigan and they milled their own lumber. I have a few sections of 2X4's that I salvaged from the attic, they measure about a sixteenth over that 1.5" X 3.5" standard. The lumber I purchased yesterday is 1/8" under the standard.

 

[Stimw]

And gas was 25 cents a gallon in 1974!!!!! With no BS additives!

 

[300UGUY]

I bought some 2x4's at HD a few years ago, and was surprised to find a label that said "Made in Sweden". What the heck are the economics of that???

 

[TnAndy]

You can go to about any Big Box store and look at the END of a bundle of 2x4 studs.....you'll see tree center in about 80-90% of them....WHAT are they cutting lumber out of these days ? 6" tree the standard 'timber' now days ?

And yet, by building codes, I can't use the nice, clear lumber that comes off my mill because it doesn't have a grade stamp on it.

 

[DFB]

Living here in Vermont what you see is log trucks in the Northbound lane of the interstate and lumber trucks in the southbound!

I still believe you can get a better quality at independents than the gigantic home centers

 

[HillStreet]

Living here in Vermont what you see is log trucks in the Northbound lane of the interstate and lumber trucks in the southbound!

I still believe you can get a better quality at independents than the gigantic home centers

Agree with that. I do lumber business at my local lumberyard, big box store lumber is twisted and bent. Buying bead board lumber now for a garage cabinet, much better at local yard.

 

[dave1949]

Agree with that. I do lumber business at my local lumberyard, big box store lumber is twisted and bent. Buying bead board lumber now for a garage cabinet, much better at local yard.

I have never seen quality lumber at a big box store. I always wonder about so many people on TBN buying lumber at HD for example.

I buy from Hammond Lumber. They still saw there own for some KD stock and T&G.

 

[JDgreen227]

There are only 2 or 3 lumber retailers (not big box stores) in my area and they usually don't want to be bothered by the customer who only wants a dozen pieces. Friend of mine ordered a truckload of stuff from one of them a few years back, he told me the load was such poor quality he sent half of it back. At least at the big box stores you can pick through the stacks and cull out the crap.

 

[s219]

I hate paying street price for the crap lumber we see most of the time at local stores. It's darn depressing. But a couple months ago, I went to Lowes to pick up a few 2x4's, and noticed that they were very clear and straight douglas fir -- the real stuff, with a nice salmon color. I couldn't believe my eyes. I ended up buying two dozen to keep on hand, and used a bunch of them making some adirondack chairs for our porch. What a find. I should have bought more!

I did notice when we built our house, the lumber our builder had delivered was much better quality/grade than the box stores sell. He said that his supplier will come swap out any rejects on their dime, so they are super careful to only send out good stuff. When it came time to temporarily brace the 1st floor walls, the framers used a lower grade lumber for braces, and it was just like the crap I normally see at Lowes and HD.

 

[dave1949]

There are only 2 or 3 lumber retailers (not big box stores) in my area and they usually don't want to be bothered by the customer who only wants a dozen pieces. Friend of mine ordered a truckload of stuff from one of them a few years back, he told me the load was such poor quality he sent half of it back. At least at the big box stores you can pick through the stacks and cull out the crap.

That's a shame. I guess we are still a bit more "small town" here. For small to pickup full orders, you pick your boards with one of the yard guys, set aside anything you don't want. If I know I am trimming an end or ripping an edge, I tell them what dimension I need to be good. They are helpful with any size order.

I think that's just the way they operate, there is no real competition around. The nearest big box is almost an hour away.

 

[rtimgray]

I'm obviously going to be in the minority here, but I don't find the quality of lumber from Home Depot or Lowes much different from the local stores that I have available. I'm about an hour from Lowes/HD, and if I just need a few pieces, I always buy locally for convenience. When I started my 1,500 sq ft addition, conventionally framed, I got quotes from the local yards and Lowes/HD an hour away. I ended up with Home Depot: they were the lowest price, including free delivery, and were far and away the friendliest of the group that I dealt with. The local stores claimed to be giving me "contractor" pricing, and Lowes and HD both game me quotes from their "bid room", which to me seems to be about 10% to 15% off normal.

The lumber that was delivered, not hand picked by me, was as good or better than expected. All the boards had four good edges, clear and straight (although I will admit that some of the treated lumber began to twist after a little while, but I don't know of treated lumber anymore that doesn't.) In addition to the lowest price, friendliest service, and best delivery, they also kicked in some extra pieces of lot of lumber, including 5/8" plywood that I used for the roof decking, and the both the lady at the store and the delivery driver reminded me that if I found defective (warped, split, etc.), then I could bring them back to the store and exchange them.

I know that this story sounds like I'm a plant from Home Depot/Lowes, but I can assure you I'm not. I just had a really good experience and thought that I would share.

Good luck and take care.