Hi

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .


NT

wrote:

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .

Scary huh!

Of the sheds, Wickes is usually slightly cheaper than most of the others
(if you don't mind banana wood!). A timber merchant will sometimes be a
bit cheaper again though[1].

[1] Potentially quite a bit cheaper if you are buying in quantity.


--
Cheers,

John.

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John Rumm wrote:
wrote:

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .

Scary huh!

Of the sheds, Wickes is usually slightly cheaper than most of the others
(if you don't mind banana wood!). A timber merchant will sometimes be a
bit cheaper again though[1].

[1] Potentially quite a bit cheaper if you are buying in quantity.

Hi John

Yes, I went to wickes as its the cheapest of them by a fair way,
sorted through the bananas, but the total at the till was still eye
watering.

Trouble with freecycle is people only give away small amounts of
timber at a time, and collection costs plus low goods value make it
not usually worthwhile. Then they tend to divide lots among people
making it no use. If someone would just give me a few hundred
quid's worth of timber I wouldnt complain


NT

wrote:

Yes, I went to wickes as its the cheapest of them by a fair way,
sorted through the bananas, but the total at the till was still eye
watering.

Wood is expensive now, wherever you go.
You've got to shop around for the cheapest local, small, Timber
Merchant.
There are 3 or 4 around here that keep a lot of wood in stock, but only
1 that I regularly use, as the others are not much cheaper than the
sheds.
Examples can be seen here for 'reasonable' prices:
http://www.woodyalan.co.uk/timberpriceseb.htm

Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

wrote in message
...
Hi

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .


The other problem is "variable" (euphemism for crap) quality you get at
sheds. Echoing what others have said, I would go to a local timber merchant.
Quality better and consistent, often cheaper plus you can get PFS[1] which
you can't at a shed.

I can recommend my local one (as I did in another thread), there's probably
one near you:

www.adhectic.co.uk



--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

[1] Planed, finished, size.

On 21 May, 06:59, (A.Lee) wrote:

Wood is expensive now, wherever you go.

Despite the fact it does grow on trees ;-)

Sorry, I'll get my coat!

wrote in message
...
Hi

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .


NT

Ya have the metric change to blame for that ie to get 2ft of a piece timber
these days you have to buy 1metre whereas before the change you asked for 2'
of it and you got what you asked for.

See what ebays prices are,bearing in mind most is pick-up only.

put 'timber' in ebays search engine.

In article ,
Bob Mannix wrote:
The other problem is "variable" (euphemism for crap) quality you get at
sheds. Echoing what others have said, I would go to a local timber
merchant. Quality better and consistent, often cheaper plus you can get
PFS[1] which you can't at a shed.

You have to know what you're doing, though, as many yards will unload
their crap on a newbie. Examine what they're offering and complain if it's
not up to standard. At least in a shed you can select the best of the
stock.

Wicks may also do a deal on substandard stock - I wanted some CLS of a
particular size where one end of all their stock was bent. But enough of
it straight for my purpose. Got it at half the marked price.

--
*Don't use no double negatives *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

George wrote:
wrote in message
...
Hi

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .


NT

Ya have the metric change to blame for that ie to get 2ft of a piece timber
these days you have to buy 1metre whereas before the change you asked for 2'
of it and you got what you asked for.

See what ebays prices are,bearing in mind most is pick-up only.

put 'timber' in ebays search engine.



Construction timber (spruce/fir) is a hell of a lot cheaper than
redwood, and IME it's pretty dry and stable these days. There are limits
to what it can be used for, but not that many. I think merchants are
beginning to stock it in a bigger range of sizes.

IMO you can forget the sheds for timber. They simply don't have the
facilities to store it. The store is too dry and the garden department
too wet. They might as well own up and admit that the shrink wrapped
compromise isn't working.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Bob Mannix wrote:

The other problem is "variable" (euphemism for crap) quality you get at
sheds. Echoing what others have said, I would go to a local timber
merchant. Quality better and consistent, often cheaper plus you can get
PFS[1] which you can't at a shed.

You have to know what you're doing, though, as many yards will unload
their crap on a newbie. Examine what they're offering and complain if it's
not up to standard. At least in a shed you can select the best of the
stock.

Wicks may also do a deal on substandard stock - I wanted some CLS of a
particular size where one end of all their stock was bent. But enough of
it straight for my purpose. Got it at half the marked price.


Yeah, I got £53 knocked down to £15 last time that way, just
offered to clear the lot. Was surprised they went for it, but they
did.
But you cant buy a lot of timber that way - well, they've got enough,
but most of what I need is good wood, not bananas.

I have had one thought. Since I wanted a lot of rough sawn I could
have checked out a salvage yard. There just wasnt time though.

There was a chap on ebay selling 200 cuft of oak for 200 and
something squid, as long as you dont mind high sapwood content,
who knows what odd sizes, its unseasoned and probably some
wavy edges. But thats a lot of wood to store, and I dont have the
time to get it, sort it, and get rid of what I don't need. And ebays
a
pita as well.

I saw a skip recently with loads of good stuff in, I think with
current
prices I'll seriously consider taking some next time.


NT

stuart noble wrote:
George wrote:
wrote in message
...
Hi

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right away.
Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber for less
than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .


NT

Ya have the metric change to blame for that ie to get 2ft of a piece
timber
these days you have to buy 1metre whereas before the change you asked
for 2'
of it and you got what you asked for.

See what ebays prices are,bearing in mind most is pick-up only.

put 'timber' in ebays search engine.



Construction timber (spruce/fir) is a hell of a lot cheaper than
redwood, and IME it's pretty dry and stable these days. There are limits
to what it can be used for, but not that many. I think merchants are
beginning to stock it in a bigger range of sizes.

IMO you can forget the sheds for timber. They simply don't have the
facilities to store it. The store is too dry and the garden department
too wet. They might as well own up and admit that the shrink wrapped
compromise isn't working.
I am in the process of constructing several compost bins, not wanting to
spend much money I noticed a house being built near me had a load of
timber piled up that looked scrap. I had a word with the builder who
said that it was for burning take what you want. Loads of, what I
consider good timber, though lots of nails to remove. Several pallets,
which brings me to the next point, there is a chap in a nearby town who
builds and sells sheds out of scrap pallets.

wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
wrote:

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right
away. Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber
for less than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .

Scary huh!

Of the sheds, Wickes is usually slightly cheaper than most of the
others (if you don't mind banana wood!). A timber merchant will
sometimes be a bit cheaper again though[1].

[1] Potentially quite a bit cheaper if you are buying in quantity.

Hi John

Yes, I went to wickes as its the cheapest of them by a fair way,
sorted through the bananas, but the total at the till was still eye

What do the sheds actually *do* with the bent rubbish? Every time I go to
buy a lump of timber I have to search past a load of boomerangs which
nobody's going to buy, so they must periodically burn it or something?

On Wed, 21 May 2008 20:15:26 +0100, Steve Walker wrote:

wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
wrote:

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right
away. Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber
for less than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .

Scary huh!

Of the sheds, Wickes is usually slightly cheaper than most of the
others (if you don't mind banana wood!). A timber merchant will
sometimes be a bit cheaper again though[1].

[1] Potentially quite a bit cheaper if you are buying in quantity.

Hi John

Yes, I went to wickes as its the cheapest of them by a fair way,
sorted through the bananas, but the total at the till was still eye

What do the sheds actually *do* with the bent rubbish? Every time I go to
buy a lump of timber I have to search past a load of boomerangs which
nobody's going to buy, so they must periodically burn it or something?

It never fails to amaze me what the 'sheds' do skip. A couple of years ago
I was with a builder friend who'd noticed that several sheets of floor
grade chipboard had been skipped. He asked the manager if he could help
himself & was told to take whatever he wanted. My friend was a very happy
bunny, he salvaged several sheets of chipboard, plywood, PSE timber which
had formed some sort of display in the store & numerous electrical tools
(several of which he managed to repair).

Don.

You don't say what sections you want, what quantities or for what
purpose (joinery/construction).

If you buy larger quantities from builders merchants, and you buy the
stuff they sell a lot of, and you keep a look out for specials,
savings can be made.

The high turnover lines are 18mm structural ply, 18mm osb, studding
and 50*200mm joists. None of them pretty materials.

If you're willing to consider reclaimed timber (and de-nail it
yourself) - there are a few yards dealing it, or just have the cheek
to walk up to smaller building works and ask if they have any scrap
materials.

On 2008-05-21 20:15:26 +0100, "Steve Walker" said:

wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
wrote:

Just bought a pile of timber from a shed due to needing it right
away. Bleepin ell the cost. Anyone recommend any ways to get timber
for less than usual? Dont have any tees to saw .

Scary huh!

Of the sheds, Wickes is usually slightly cheaper than most of the
others (if you don't mind banana wood!). A timber merchant will
sometimes be a bit cheaper again though[1].

[1] Potentially quite a bit cheaper if you are buying in quantity.

Hi John

Yes, I went to wickes as its the cheapest of them by a fair way,
sorted through the bananas, but the total at the till was still eye

What do the sheds actually *do* with the bent rubbish?

Every time I go to
buy a lump of timber I have to search past a load of boomerangs which
nobody's going to buy, so they must periodically burn it or something?

They put it to the front of the rack in the hope that the next punter
will buy it without looking. This is called merchandising. These
people learn it from discount supermarkets where the newer food is put
to the back and the older to the front.

Andy Hall wrote:

This is called merchandising. These
people learn it from discount supermarkets where the newer food is put
to the back and the older to the front.


Don't Waitrose practice stock rotation then? Or Harrods? Or Mr
Wensleydale's Cheese Emporium?

To be constructive: Harlows, who have branches in the Derby/Leicester
area, sell good quality timber at a fraction of Wickes prices, and on my
recent visits have been exceptionally pleasant to deal with.

--
Kevin Poole
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