How to Not Buy Crap Lumber

Some boards have to be perfect, and some don't. Learn what lumber defects are and
when to avoid them. Watched the Spec House Series? It starts here:

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Video Equipment and Misc.

[adammurray]

Our local lumber store, (town of 2300 in the middle of Wyoming), won't allow us to go through the bunks. When I was making a custom railing, and needed some super straight, knot free pine 2x6, I asked to go through them. Owner said to me, "I believe a good Craftsman can take any wood and turn it into what they needed to be." I stood up, walked out, and I've never been back. I now drive an hour and a half to a lumber store that truly cares about their customers.

[VideoNOLA]

To sum up: "Avoid the pain, skip the wain. Got a crown? Put it down. Pick it up, inspect for cup. Turn your wrist to look for twist. If there's a knot, you better not. Bark and pitch can be a bitch. Checks and splits are just the pits. Tighter rings for wood that sings. Number 2 will mostly do."

[Hey_Its_That_Guy]

Funny you posted this today. Yesterday, I went to "a big box store" to get some plywood. I was in a hurry and figured I'd save a couple of bucks. I just needed six (6) sheets of CDX (lower quality grade). I pulled ten (10) or so sheets off the pile by myself, looking for an acceptable one, while two employees stood there watching me. Looking through the rest of the stack, I realized they were all delaminated, badly. The entire stack was probably left out and got wet. I drove to a family owned lumber yard and bought what I needed. The guys in the yard had it loaded in my trailer before I could get of my truck and put my gloves on. It was all good stuff. Turned out it was almost $2.00 a sheet cheaper than the big box store. I'll never go back to the big box store for lumber. The little family owned outfit will get all my business from here on out, even if it costs a a few bucks more!

[panamafred]

I'm 75 and it hurts my heart to walk into a big box store's "lumber" department. And it frustrates my workmanship ethics to use any of this junky wood. At ten-years old, I'd ride my bike to the local lumber yard. I still remember that Mr. Eddie would wait on me. He'd ask what I was building and always led me, and taught me along the way, to the right board. And when I asked for a pound of 8d common nails, he would ask, "Are these for your father or for your treehouse?" When I said, "treehouse, " I now know that he would send me home with a very heavy pound-plus brown paper bag full of nails. With mentors like Mr. Eddie, it's no wonder that I had a long career as a carpenter. Oh how I yearn for the old days of the lumber business, although some good yards are keeping those days alive.

[jdt]

A carpenter friend of mine, would simply state "I'm not buying firewood" when the clerk pulled out a crappy piece out of a stack.

[jonjohnson]

On that label near the end, my guess is the “FD” means “full dimension” — that 8x8 is actually 8” by 8”, not planed down to something less and just nominally an 8x8.

[westonford]

As someone who works the lumber department at one of those big box stores, I appreciate you acknowledging that most boards have value despite flaws. Lots of people chase premium lumber at bargain-bin prices, and just make it worse for everyone, including the quality lumber yards which would have sold them better stuff with less fuss.

[goblingreen]

This guy is such a gem. Decades of knowledge provided for free in 15 minutes for us to consume and learn from.

[Wally-xc]

I am 63 years old and just got into the hobby of woodworking about six or seven years ago. I had not done any since high school. Or Woody has a group that built toys for different children’s organizations. Mostly go to children’s hospitals in the area. With permission, I get the leftover lumber from new houses mostly. Anything to them under 4 feet long is usually junk. We make a lot of little toys from this wood. Some of the things you mentioned in the video I already knew but some I had completely backwards! I thought the sinner of the tree was a good board for a 2 x 4! You really gave me a lot of new stuff to look at now when I buy my own lumber. Thank you so very much for taking the time to make these videos and share your wealth of knowledge!

[biohaz]

I work in one of those small lumber yards and I would like to play the video on repeat for all our customers…thanks for the upload and the support..:)

[TinManKustoms]

We used to have a wonderful mom and pop lumber store. They only sold the best lumber some of the defects like wein, big knots and split/twists where all set aside to be remilled into some other useful products like form stakes, 2x4s and other things. They weren't afraid to reject a load of lumber from their suppliers if it didn't meet their standards. I truly miss them they always let you pick what you wanted and always had fresh coffee and doughnuts available.

[michaeld]

I’m retired and work part time in the mill work department of a large orange big box store. Everything you say about the lumber selection available is true. You have to hunt to find the good pieces. However, contractors shop there for price alone and ‘good enough’ material. I frequently tell guy sorting through the moulding section ‘If you’re looking for furniture grade, you’re in the wrong store.’

[Glynchbrook]

“You can’t tell a tree how to grow” as my journeyman used to say when I was an apprentice. Great advice from E.C. as always!

[kreamysoaps]

My local home improvement store sells bundles of “seconds” lumber at 75% off. I buy them all the time to make boxes, and benches. That lumber will really test your skills 😅

[Miximinium]

Here ya go Scott, here's a cool tidbit; in the native Chinook WaWa, or trading language, the name for the Cedar is Kalakwahtie, which roughly translates to "tree of life".

That's how respected the Cedar is and has always been. Only the matriarchs in the community were allowed to peel off bark (which they made clothes and tools from) from the cedars, and they would only peel ~40% off the oldest trees. Some of those trees are still standing to this day.

[michaelrogers]

Hi Scott, our local Home Depot, and Lowes does sell junk lumber ! You are absolutely right again 👍. Thank you for all you do, and God Bless you and your family always my friend 🙏.

[ecleveland]

Just out of high school I got a job with a finish carpenter trimming out houses. I grew up helping my father build cabinets and other woodworking. I don’t think my boss believed I had that much experience and knowledge for carpentry. After I was through with the base boards, doors and windows he asked if I thought I could do the molding for the cabinet doors. I sorted through the boxes of molding and only used the best and made the most use out of the culled pieces. At first he was a little upset that I culled so much of the molding but I told him that’s the way I was taught to never use anything less for cabinets. He said from then on I was the only one that would be allowed to do cabinets and doors for him. Learning to grade wood was a valuable lesson my father taught me.

[chrismoody]

Absolutely; I use a family owned full service lumber yard. So many benefits. I can walk in and head to a contractor counter and make my order to someone who knows what I’m talking about in five minutes or less. I walk out with order ticket and the lumber is pulled and loaded for me. If my order is big enough it will all be delivered to the job still bundled. I’m free to cull any bad lumber and any overs will be picked up and refunded. Generally the lumber is much better grade, much straighter to begin with. I hate the big box stores.

[dallenloder]

Thank you for creating and posting this. I've been a general contractor for 35 years and a woodworker all of my life. I really like your realistic approach to picking out lumber and the fact that you can use boards that are less than "perfect". I don't want to leave my local lumber yard stuck with all of the less than perfect boards, they have to make a living as well.

[choimdachoim]

When I built my house in California I sourced all wood from a 2-location lumber company and had to stack all the studs with spacers out of the weather for a month because they were dripping wet and twice as heavy as a normal stud. My 2 X 10 joists for the second floor varied a 1/2" in width plus had severe crowning...caused me tons of trouble. Just because a company is small doesn't mean they are better. I'm glad you explained about looking at the end-grain; that's a question I've had for many years as to which cut will deform the least.