Where to Find Free Or Cheap Lumber

So where can you find cheap or even free lumber? the answer is normally all around you if you know where to look. So the question is where to find Hardwood that other people do not want for your woodworking projects. I usually look on craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for hardwood Lumber

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[sawman]

Construction sites often throw away tons of usable lumber. As long as you talk nicely to the foreman and are fine with pulling a few nails its a great way to get cheap construction lumber for free.

[carlkrebs]

i worked in aviation building cabinets, tables, galleys, and sideledges . i was the guy that ALWAYS stayed late on Holidays to clean up the shop . it allowed me to scrounge up a TON of exotic hardwood scraps . now that i am retired i have tons of all kinds of Select Exotic hardwood scraps and a 2 foot thick pile of extremely expensive hardwood veneers . It pays off doing clean up, BIGTIME . i also put in scrap passes twice a year at aircraft companies . i ended up with 2 rented storage bldgs slap full of all kinds of exotics to build clocks out of .

[lindrake]

I picked up 7 large book shelves from a library for 16 bucks. They were solid mahogany. My best score ever.

[lcsquared]

I recently went from big box store “lumber” to a hardwood dealer. Then I very fortunately found a local guy that salvages trees from construction sites and mills them into slabs. I’ll never buy from anyone else now. His price is nearly half the hardwood dealer and he has some amazing and beautifully grained pieces.

[B_COOPER]

My neighbor was kind enough to give me an assortment of wood. He told me and I quote, “it’s all in the shed!” He wasn’t very happy that his shed was stacked up nice and neatly with all of the other assortments of wood!

[joeorawczyk]

I live in the Mojave Desert in southern CA. We don't have trees. We do have some military installations though. And those large installations have their own landfill or dump site. They segregate their trash by material. I had worked at one of these places for 30-years and often drove my pickup to the "woodpile" near the landfill during lunch. I've built a pergola, a fence, a shed, a raised garden bed, a carport, and some furniture with free reclaimed lumber I've extracted from a military installation woodpile for free. Most of the wood is construction grade pine, but some hardwood too. They are happy to give away their scrap lumber because it means less that they have to process. They grind it into chips and compost it. They give away free compost too, but that stuff tends to burn roots.

[HEYTWIDDLELEEDEE-cp]

Cool.
You are my and my passed grandfathers kind of guy.

[jamesro]

Look up mitigation companies. At the end of the day, they have to spend $200-400 or more on dump fees. You can get great wood flooring that was wet. Talk to them, you can get the acacia, Walnut, Maple… As long as you’re fine with cleaning up the wood, you’re saving them a ton of money and you’re getting great Hardwood. It’s free, it saves them money, it’s worth the effort.

[andrewy]

Living in Chicago, the alleys are a great source of free lumber, everything from pallets to furniture (mostly particle board but the occasional solid wood piece) to actual lumber someone decided to toss. Gotta love the alleys.

[mrmosty]

I hit the “Construction Debris” section at the local recycling center. Can be hit or miss but I scored most of what I needed to do a 6’x6’ coop I’m working on.

[clowe]

I used to work at a lumber yard as a kid. We always had a “bone pile” of returned items from big time builders. Yards will often return wood that’s been outside in the weather that the builder couldn’t use. Only for the guys that buy entire home packages and have 10-20 homes being built at all times. Price is generally low and can be bartered down.

We had employees that have built entire pole barns outta this stuff. No joke! Took awhile to scab the wood, but done cheep.

Ask at yards when the mill work comes in……a lot of that has wood supports or crates that can be torn down into usable lumber.

Look to see if a local university has a second hand store or a large trash area. I’ve scored some amazing solid wood furniture, doors, shipping crates, ect. Don’t trespass. Start a conversation with the university facility department.

Salon schools is another place! They throw away everything. Talk with the maintenance guy. Shipping crates and furniture. Into scrapping metal…….salon schools is a good place. They burn washers, driers, piping, wiring, appliances like crazy! They are always happy to do less work.

Get know deck builders in upper priced areas! I’ve scored actual redwood that was 30 years old and I’ve had it for 20 years now. I’m currently trying to get some kind of deck wood…..it’s a type of Brazil hardwood. It’s on a open trailer in the weather! The owner didn’t like how it retained heat! I just built a goat play area outta 1/3 of it for him. I’m gunna get the rest come hell or high water! It has a fruity smell when cut. Very hard and dense. I’ve scored three pieces…….I’m plane it up and see what the wood looks like.

[markbaker]

Aloha James,
My source of free woods here in Wahiawa is' Floatsome', wood floating in the lake. It might be construction wood pieces or actual logs. I'm working on assembling the needed hand tools to make these 'finds' a manageable size to haul out as well.

[dragonfly]

Most of us are here because we have more time than money. Good tips! How do we identify old furniture that's good for lumber?

[edt]

I used to use pallet wood, but often times they are riddled with dirt, sand and even tiny stones since they generally have heavy loads on them and rest on the ground. You MUST clean them well (and obviously look for nails). I've ruined new planer and jointer knives because I missed some embedded gravel and whatnot. I've gotten nice wood out of them though.

[andrewking]

For small projects with unique woods I use branches I have trimmed on my fruit trees. If you don’t have your own orchard the local farmers market or garden center would be a good place to find them.

[fraforgt-r]

If you want basic construction grade pressure treated timber for interior/extols construction and big projects then just head to your local skip or get in touch with builders. They always have loads leftover after a project which they take to the skip or leave with the client as they don’t have room to store it themselves.
Pallet wood can also be used, I find it is best for outdoor projects like sheds because you can use them as walls without disassembling them. For hardwood, skips (if your lucky), eBay - reclaimed timber or just old furniture. Find something which is cheap, made of nice wood but in bad condition and dissemble it for the timber. I’ve used old pianos for plenty of solid sapele lumber before and it literally paying £1 to get one or even being paid money to take away the piano. If you want really fancy woods, it will be expensive. But veneer is a great option

[TheJohnharrell]

My local ATV dealer has lumber from the cribbing attached to the pallets to create the "box" they are shipped in! Takes a bit to breakdown, but after that the options are endless!

[BurnyTone]

It's Sunday and I'm getting my tools ready to go pick up a 1930s oak and walnut wardrobe. Have a nice day everyone.

[Clintboyd]

New subdivision areas where they’re clearing trees. We grabbed lots of beautiful Pecan. They had more than we could store at home. That was when I had a chainsaw mill, but it would also be fine for smaller pieces (like James’ firewood example). Good video, James.

[ericgrajeda]

Thanks for the insight on salvage wood for building a