How Much do you Pay for your Timber & Where?

[sitefive]

The prices here in UK are just insane for regular pine timber which should be cheap as chips :|
Mind you I'm used to ~£100 per cubic meter you pay in rest of europe , so anything over that seems already expensive for me but anyway Im not even looking at wickes/b&q where they charge like £700 per m3
Cheapest I have found is something around £300 from some timber yard on ebay which sells some CLS construction timber for that price,so not really the best...

im Located in Newcastle, maybe if anyone is from North-East area and knows any good place? Or where else I could look?
I have thought as last resort to buy some reclaimed timber, but at most places they want the same £300 per cubic meter for old rubbish timber which should be free.

 

[sitefive]

bumps (hammer)

 

[Adam9453]

if you can buy it cheaper in europe, perhaps importing it would be an option (depending on the shipping obviously)

 

[andymf]

Have you looked online at sites like less 2 build?

 

[dzj]

I live in Eastern Europe and I pay 400 Euros for a cubic meter of kiln dried pine.
Would be great if you could post a link for that ~£100 supplier.

 

[sitefive]

I live in Eastern Europe and I pay 400 Euros for a cubic meter of kiln dried pine.
Would be great if you could post a link for that ~£100 supplier.

where exactly are you?
In All Baltic states timber is around ~150-170eur/m3 depending on size for kiln dried, even less for fresh ,have been buying for that price for looong time.
Have done research that in Poland/ some places in germany near poland border you also get for that same price, Most of the timber is chopped down here or imported from Russia/Ukraine where its even more cheaper.
So really wondering where in eastern europe you pay 400eur? In some DIY shops maybe? Im talking about the timber yards here obviously.


Obviously For my own use Importing would be just nuts since I dont need that much to offset the transporting cost for few m3

 

[sitefive]

I live in Eastern Europe and I pay 400 Euros for a cubic meter of kiln dried pine.
Would be great if you could post a link for that ~£100 supplier.

where exactly are you?
In All Baltic states timber is around ~150-170eur/m3 depending on size for kiln dried, even less for fresh ,have been buying for that price for looong time.
Have done research that in Poland/ some places in germany near poland border you also get for that same price, Most of the timber is chopped down here or imported from Russia/Ukraine where its even more cheaper.
So really wondering where in eastern europe you pay 400eur? In some DIY shops maybe? Im talking about the timber yards here obviously.


Obviously For my own use Importing would be just nuts since I dont need that much to offset the transporting cost for few m3

 

[dzj]

I'm from the north of Serbia. Agricultural region, no forests, so lumber is shipped mostly from Bosnia, some oak from Croatia...
I buy the stuff directly from from the lumber/ kiln yard.
For 150/ 170E I can only get construction grade lumber, which isn't of much use.
Some years back, a few of my colleagues and I got together and imported some Romanian pine/ spruce.
Cheap stuff, not the greatest of quality, but to my surprise it machined very nicely.
Unfortunately, EU and other regulations put a stop to such activities.

 

[RobinBHM]

In the UK, redwood is about £300 per metre for fifths grade. Unsorted is more like £400 to £550, with sideboards being the higher price.

 

[Benchwayze]

Folks...
We live in Rip-off Britain.
I think we have to grin and pay up. With 20% VAT and set to rise, and nothing likely to change, maybe it's time to switch to reclaimed materials (Even some of that is pricey) or find another hobby.

 

[DennisCA]

A lot of people buy planed lumber from the large stores, they are setting themselves up to be ripped off, like someone else said, buy from a timber yard and resaw yourself, thats the way to get costs down. But you have little to no wood of your own so I guess timber yards are a rarity.

You probably want to live in a heavily forested country if you want cheap lumber, north is good, but not too far because then you no longer get access to things like oak and beech and ash. Somewhere south of Stockholm in Sweden, out far from the cities, would probably be ideal woodworking land, preferably with your own land so you can log and resaw your own. So pack your bags and move to sweden is my recommendation!

 

[sitefive]

cmon guys almost 500views to the thread and not a single answer as to where you get your timber, and this is woodworking forum!

 

[Benchwayze]

Okay sitefive. I agree.

I buy most of my everyday timber from Great Barr Sawmills. It's medium in price for softwoods and sheet goods. Their laminated pins sheets are pricey. Free cutting service though. They don't sell hardwood in quantities that would suit most serious woodworkers. So the stuff they do have is mostly small section, PAR, stored on end, and expensive.

For hardwood, and specialist softwoods I use George Sykes, in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Medium prices for the more common species. No more expensive than other places for the more 'exotic' species. The main thing is, their timber is top quality. They will prepare it for you if you wish, but you pay for that of course. They supply in boards, as you would expect, and not in 2 x 1s and 4 x 2s, as do the DIY stores. And of course their stock is always in stick, and not left in racks, standing on end.

I have always been happy with their stuff, and the last time I spent over £500.00 with them, they delivered free; about 20 miles from me.
A phone call to them results in conversation which tells you they know their trade.

I have no monetary attachment to the firm btw. Just a completely satisfied customer.


HTH folks

John

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I suspect you'll be thwarted trying to find any timber near £100/m³ here in the UK. In your area, a quick search for merchants includes the usual type of suspects - Lawson's Timber, Quay Timber, Watson's, Robert Duncan. Out near Alnwick there's A&J Scott who mostly specialise in fencing/decking type material. There are more choices if you stretch your search to Sunderland, Durham, Stockton-On-Tees, North Shields, etc. Most of these companies sell the standard mix of softwoods, treated and untreated, dressed or sawn, along with a range of hardwoods in different forms, and a selection of sheet goods. I guess most of these companies can supply what you're after as your enquiry seems primarily concerned with softwood prices.

Prices are what they are. We buy, we build, charge the client if that's part of the job, and move on. Your request for information reminds of the story of the man who complained to the timber merchant he was buying a particular size and type of wood from that the price was too high, that the same wood is always about half the price at a competitor's yard. The merchant asked the customer why he didn't go to the other yard to buy what he wanted, it being so much cheaper, to which the customer responded, "Oh, they never have any in stock when I go there". Slainte.

 

[JakeS]

cmon guys almost 500views to the thread and not a single answer as to where you get your timber, and this is woodworking forum!

Over the last few years, I have bought timber from:

- A local builder's merchant (who sell decent pine at kind of average prices)
- A couple of local timber yards (one of which has since shut down)
- eBay (only a couple of pieces, since the local timber yard just doesn't stock some species and I didn't want much)
- A liquidation auction (for one of the aforementioned timber yards)
- Breaking down pallets
- Wickes
- Homebase

I didn't answer previously as the only ones of those that are relevant for someone who doesn't live in my area are Wickes and Homebase, and I suspect you already know that they sell studding!

 

[damo8604]

I'm not too familiar with forum and server capabilities but I'm a member of another forum (non-woodworking related) and they have a link to a supplier map of the uk, forum members send in details and it gets updated accordingly.

Obviously it's quite a bit of work but would be a smashing reference to us all......

Just a suggestion :wink:

 

[BearTricks]

I'd like to see that.

 

[wills-mill]

Usually I'd look the other way in this sort of discussion, but you seem to be outraged that nobody is supplying timber timber ready to use at £2.85 per cubic ft or less. In most cases in this country, even bum basic softwood logs (for pallet or fencing material) costs are approaching £1 per cubic ft before haulage. The growth in wood fuel heating (massive biomass/ chip systems and woodburners alike) mean that the base price for lower grade soft and hardwoods has jumped a bit in the last few years...

I get mine from local farms, country estates, conservation bodies and historic properties. They have looked after it from anything from 20 to 400 years. I pay anything from £1.75 to £8 per hoppus ft of round timber. If I pay less or get timber for free/ no direct payment, it's because there is a large amount of time and equipment and paid people involved.

The following people have needed to put food on the table-
The chap that owns acres of land (who sees a tiny return from it every couple of decades)
The chap who made the access into the woodland and maintains the rides and paths
The chap who maintains the fencing, bridges, culverts
The chap that planted the tree
The chap that thinned the competition out (maybe three times)
The chap that felled the tree and removed the brushwood and firewood
The chap that moved it to the roadside
The chap with the lorry that moved the timber
The chaps that work for me
The chap that sharpens my blades
Everyone involved in supplying machinery, training, repairs, maintenance, pensions, osteopathic services....

The following things make timber more expensive than fresh air-
Wind damage
Drought
Animal damage
Felling damage
Decay
Poor access
The bits of the tree that aren't much cop for sawn timber
Diesel/ Oil/ Filters/ Tyres/ Tracks/ Batteries
Theft
Tax
Rent
Vehicles
Salaries
Electricity
Dieselly machines
Electricky machines
Offcuts and Waste- all sorts of trimming and sawdust and shaving
Rejects, misorders, misunderstandings and non-collected orders

If ywe would like a race to the bottom on pricing, then quality and choice follow straight afterwards, generally followed by skills, knowledge and employment throughout the entire chain.

If this discussion was on a food enthusiasts forum looking for the cheapest source of chicken or beef, it would pretty much head the same way- buy it in massive bulk from areas of the world with far lower costs, dubious paper trail, and less than transparent welfare and processing....