Hi,

I recently asked here about woods for a garden gate and you kindly
recommended larch or douglas fir. My local timber merchant only seems
to sell pine! I found a couple of other timber merchants via the
yellow pages. One never got back to me with prices; the other quoted
over two hundred pounds for Douglas fir for a 6'x3' gate. I almost
fainted, I think I'll go for the gate made of platinum instead! Surely
that's OTT?

I've been sent a catalogue from Build centre which lists both douglas
fir and larch but not prices. I hadn't thought of them as a timber
merchant before. Has anyone bought from them? Are they any good?

BTW I see that Wickes and B&Q now sell "professional grade redwood". I
wonder which company did it first and who is copying? Does this imply
that the other wood they sell - they say it's pine, I think it's
banana - is not fit for professional use

Has anyone bought any redwood from one of these "sheds" and was it any
good? Was the price any dearer than getting it from a merchant? I
think merchants are the only option for anything 2.4m long but when I
bought skirting and architrave recently, I am sure that Wickes was
about the same price as the merchant.

TIA

On 30 July, 11:35, Fred wrote:

My local timber merchant only seems to sell pine!

That's typical, because they're probably a builders' merchant rather
than a timber merchant.

A real timber merchant is like this, which might give you a useful
comparison, even if they're not local to you.
http://www.bendreybrothers.co.uk


Larch ought to be cheap soon (Hah!), as there's a huge quantity being
felled in the SW at the moment, to avoid the spread of Sudden Oak
Death.

Fred wrote:
....
I've been sent a catalogue from Build centre which lists both douglas
fir and larch but not prices. I hadn't thought of them as a timber
merchant before. Has anyone bought from them? Are they any good?...

Wolseley UK (Build / Pipe / Plumb / etc Center) are one of my regular
suppliers. I've not bought Douglas Fir or Larch from them, but have
found their joinery quality timer to be good quality.

Colin Bignell

On 30/07/2010 11:35, Fred wrote:
Hi,

I recently asked here about woods for a garden gate and you kindly
recommended larch or douglas fir. My local timber merchant only seems
to sell pine! I found a couple of other timber merchants via the
yellow pages. One never got back to me with prices; the other quoted
over two hundred pounds for Douglas fir for a 6'x3' gate. I almost
fainted, I think I'll go for the gate made of platinum instead! Surely
that's OTT?

I've been sent a catalogue from Build centre which lists both douglas
fir and larch but not prices. I hadn't thought of them as a timber
merchant before. Has anyone bought from them? Are they any good?

BTW I see that Wickes and B&Q now sell "professional grade redwood". I
wonder which company did it first and who is copying? Does this imply
that the other wood they sell - they say it's pine, I think it's
banana - is not fit for professional use

Has anyone bought any redwood from one of these "sheds" and was it any
good? Was the price any dearer than getting it from a merchant? I
think merchants are the only option for anything2.4m long but when I
bought skirting and architrave recently, I am sure that Wickes was
about the same price as the merchant.

TIA

Redwood is the usual pine species you see in every timber merchant's.
Problem is, it comes in a variety of grades, depending where it's grown,
and the retail punter is not party to that information. Terms like
"professional grade" or "joinery quality" mean sod all really. IME the
sheds are truly hopeless. Lowest possible grade of whitewood, strangled
by plastic packaging in the hope that it will stay straight. By
contrast, timber merchant are usually good value.

I need some 3" x 1" for a bit of a picket fence and a gate out front.
Builders merchant £1.45 per m, timber merchant £2.19. In this case I'll
plump for the cheap stuff but, for anything indoors, it would be a false
economy.

"Fred" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I recently asked here about woods for a garden gate and you kindly
recommended larch or douglas fir. My local timber merchant only seems
to sell pine! I found a couple of other timber merchants via the
yellow pages. One never got back to me with prices; the other quoted
over two hundred pounds for Douglas fir for a 6'x3' gate. I almost
fainted, I think I'll go for the gate made of platinum instead! Surely
that's OTT?

I've been sent a catalogue from Build centre which lists both douglas
fir and larch but not prices. I hadn't thought of them as a timber
merchant before. Has anyone bought from them? Are they any good?

BTW I see that Wickes and B&Q now sell "professional grade redwood". I
wonder which company did it first and who is copying? Does this imply
that the other wood they sell - they say it's pine, I think it's
banana - is not fit for professional use

Has anyone bought any redwood from one of these "sheds" and was it any
good? Was the price any dearer than getting it from a merchant? I
think merchants are the only option for anything 2.4m long but when I
bought skirting and architrave recently, I am sure that Wickes was
about the same price as the merchant.

TIA

You could just buy ready-made. I've bought 2 pairs of gates from Cannock
Gates, good service and product:

http://www.cannockgates.co.uk/

Alan.

On 30 July, 11:35, Fred wrote:
Hi,

I recently asked here about woods for a garden gate and you kindly
recommended larch or douglas fir. My local timber merchant only seems
to sell pine! I found a couple of other timber merchants via the
yellow pages. One never got back to me with prices; the other quoted
over two hundred pounds for Douglas fir for a 6'x3' gate. I almost
fainted, I think I'll go for the gate made of platinum instead! Surely
that's OTT?

I've been sent a catalogue from Build centre which lists both douglas
fir and larch but not prices. I hadn't thought of them as a timber
merchant before. Has anyone bought from them? Are they any good?

BTW I see that Wickes and B&Q now sell "professional grade redwood". I
wonder which company did it first and who is copying? Does this imply
that the other wood they sell - they say it's pine, I think it's
banana - is not fit for professional use

Has anyone bought any redwood from one of these "sheds" and was it any
good? Was the price any dearer than getting it from a merchant? I
think merchants are the only option for anything 2.4m long but when I
bought skirting and architrave recently, I am sure that Wickes was
about the same price as the merchant.

TIA

Buiders merchant just buy gates in and mark the price up. Go to your
local fencing supplier. It's best to look a bit scruffy. If you're
buying other items, posts hinges etc you will almost certainly be able
to beat the price down. Payiing cash & taking away immediately. (Roof
rack)
You need to be confident and seem to know what you're talking about.
Check prices on the internet. Don't be afraid to say you've been
elsewhere if it's neccesary.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:49:38 +0100, AlanD wrote:

You could just buy ready-made. I've bought 2 pairs of gates from Cannock
Gates, good service and product:

And expensive when I looked at their prices a while back. I got three
gates (field, whicket side and mid sized whicket) for the price of
the field gate alone from Cannock. I used a local timber merchant &
timber product maker in Hexham. These gates are now nearly 10 years
old and are well made, no sign of any drop, or rot (dip treated).

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:05:51 -0700 (PDT), Andy Dingley
wrote:

That's typical, because they're probably a builders' merchant rather
than a timber merchant.

I think they are a builders' timer merchant in that they only sell
wood but they sell it to builders rather than cabinet makers!

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:08:05 +0100, stuart noble
wrote:

Redwood is the usual pine species you see in every timber merchant's.

I hadn't realised that. I naively thought that redwood was another
species, redder in colour than pine!

Problem is, it comes in a variety of grades, depending where it's grown,
and the retail punter is not party to that information. Terms like
"professional grade" or "joinery quality" mean sod all really

Yes, I had realised that "professional quality" labels were just for
marketing purposes.

In the timber brochure I was sent it talks about grade. the options
are "unsorted", "fifth", and "sixth". I am guessing that unsorted is
what it says and could be good or could be bad all mixed together but
what is fifth and sixth (and where are first to fourth)?

Thanks.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:49:38 +0100, "AlanD"
wrote:

You could just buy ready-made. I've bought 2 pairs of gates from Cannock
Gates, good service and product:

http://www.cannockgates.co.uk/

I have heard good things about that brand before but never bought from
them. Shame on you, this is UK DIY

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:38:21 +0100, "Nightjar \"cpb\"@"
"insertmysurnamehere wrote:

Wolseley UK (Build / Pipe / Plumb / etc Center) are one of my regular
suppliers. I've not bought Douglas Fir or Larch from them, but have
found their joinery quality timer to be good quality.

Thanks. Do you need to open an account or can you "cash and carry"? Do
they let the public (me) in?

BTW how are you? I downloaded all headers and am still working my way
through posts from 2004! There are so many posts: how does everyone
manage to keep up to date on this group? Do you sort posts by date so
the news ones are at the top? Back to my point: I read a post about a
heart valve. Did it all go ok? I hope you are ok now.

On 02/08/2010 15:33, Fred wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:08:05 +0100, stuart noble
wrote:

Redwood is the usual pine species you see in every timber merchant's.

I hadn't realised that. I naively thought that redwood was another
species, redder in colour than pine!

Problem is, it comes in a variety of grades, depending where it's grown,
and the retail punter is not party to that information. Terms like
"professional grade" or "joinery quality" mean sod all really

Yes, I had realised that "professional quality" labels were just for
marketing purposes.

In the timber brochure I was sent it talks about grade. the options
are "unsorted", "fifth", and "sixth". I am guessing that unsorted is
what it says and could be good or could be bad all mixed together but
what is fifth and sixth (and where are first to fourth)?

Thanks.

That has never made sense to me either, and I used to buy softwood by
the pack (around 4 cubic metres). A Finnish 5th is better than a Lower
Gulf unsorted, and Russian Karasea is the creme de la creme. Welsh
redwood is used for pallets. The further north it's grown, the higher
the price

stuart noble wrote:
On 02/08/2010 15:33, Fred wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:08:05 +0100, stuart noble
wrote:

Redwood is the usual pine species you see in every timber merchant's.

I hadn't realised that. I naively thought that redwood was another
species, redder in colour than pine!

Problem is, it comes in a variety of grades, depending where it's grown,
and the retail punter is not party to that information. Terms like
"professional grade" or "joinery quality" mean sod all really

Yes, I had realised that "professional quality" labels were just for
marketing purposes.

In the timber brochure I was sent it talks about grade. the options
are "unsorted", "fifth", and "sixth". I am guessing that unsorted is
what it says and could be good or could be bad all mixed together but
what is fifth and sixth (and where are first to fourth)?

Thanks.

That has never made sense to me either, and I used to buy softwood by
the pack (around 4 cubic metres). A Finnish 5th is better than a Lower
Gulf unsorted, and Russian Karasea is the creme de la creme. Welsh
redwood is used for pallets. The further north it's grown, the higher
the price

http://www.idostuff.co.uk/sections/D...ction%204.html explains:

"Timber / Lumber can be graded in to I, II, III, IV, V, VI, if they
where in the 21st century 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. However in the jargon of the
timber world, instead of saying “grade five” it’s “fifths” or written as
“V” etc.

OK.. got that, on to the next jargon.

Grades I, II and III aren’t actually graded, it’s the IV V VI that are
given grades. The first three grades are all lumped together and called
“Unsorted” “U/S”. I should think there's a commercial reason for this to
the benefit of timber suppliers."

Fred wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:38:21 +0100, "Nightjar \"cpb\"@"
"insertmysurnamehere wrote:

Wolseley UK (Build / Pipe / Plumb / etc Center) are one of my regular
suppliers. I've not bought Douglas Fir or Larch from them, but have
found their joinery quality timer to be good quality.

Thanks. Do you need to open an account or can you "cash and carry"? Do
they let the public (me) in?

They will sell to anybody, but with an account I automatically get a
trade discount and, this month, I got a booklet of discount vouchers
with an extra 15%-25% of various products, including timber.

BTW how are you? I downloaded all headers and am still working my way
through posts from 2004! There are so many posts: how does everyone
manage to keep up to date on this group? Do you sort posts by date so
the news ones are at the top?

That's what I do, then I cherry pick the ones that either look
interesting or where it appears I may be able to help.

Back to my point: I read a post about a
heart valve. Did it all go ok? I hope you are ok now.

Thank you for asking. With all the exercises they gave me to do, I'm
probably fitter now than I ever have been. I did have the advantage that
it was a preventative replacement, rather than a corrective one. As a
result, I was in good health when I went in, which helped my recovery. I
also believe that attitude of mind is a major factor in health and I
simply had no intention of allowing it to be more than a temporary
inconvenience.

The only side effect, which is also related to 'er indoors having a
nasty fall at Christmas, is that I have decided to take my pension and
spend more time going places.

Colin Bignell

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:21:09 +0100, "Nightjar \"cpb\"@"
"insertmysurnamehere wrote:

Thank you for asking. With all the exercises they gave me to do, I'm
probably fitter now than I ever have been. I did have the advantage that
it was a preventative replacement, rather than a corrective one.

Sorry for my late reply. I'm glad to hear all went/is well. I haven't
done anything more about the wood, despite being in their catalogue,
larch it seems is a special order, and not stocked in their branches.

I've asked a couple of merchants now but they only seem interested if
I'll order pallets of the stuff ;(