Lumber Supply - Northern Jersey???

[Ruhi Arslan]

After I decided not to set foot on the only place I knew to buy lumber, I am having no luck to find another place to buy lumber within 50 miles in North Jersey. I've been calling around to find 8/4 hard maple but some of them didn't even know what 8/4 meant or "hard" maple. There must be some place I can go to pick and choose or order from to pick up but no luck so far. Please help. Thanks.

PS. Reisen Lumber at Kenilworth is going out of business by the way so there may be some bargains left if anyone nearby.

[Prashun Patel]

Ruhi-
You are in luck!
I really like Steve and Janet at Boards N Beams.

http://www.woodboardsandbeams.com/Price-List.html

They're in Fairfield. They stock the occasional exotics, but they're super stocked on all the domestics. It's also a great place to get rough, thick, live-edge slabs. They also stock a lot of reclaimed lumber.

[John Mark Lane]

Ruhi,

Not sure where in North Jersey, but if White Plains is within your range you should check out M. L. Condon Lumber.

http://www.condonlumber.net/

Tucked away on a back street in an industrial section, it's packed with amazing stuff, including large and small pieces of many hardwoods, and a respectable amount of figured pieces and "art" pieces. Really nice people, too.

Mark

P.S. If you make the trip there, let me know -- I work five minutes away.

[Ruhi Arslan]

Thanks for the quick reply. The problem is that the Board & Beams was the place I decided not to go back to. First thing was, although I blame myself for taking his word, he mislead me to believe that the mahogany was a better substitute for the hard maple which he didn't have the right size stock unless I were to buy about 120 bd-ft due "waste" for the bench top I'm building so bought 60 bd-ft of mahogany, almost paying twice as much. Then, after figuring my mistake out, I went back to check if he had new stock. Maple pile was as exactly it was few months ago. He said he would order what I needed and he did so while I was there (8' boards, 8/4" thick, 7-8" wide - I think he ordered 100 bd-ft). I've followed up the following week but their phones were not working so I've emailed. He replied back saying that my order was ready to be picked up and stop by any time. I took the time off the work, drove 20 miles to get there to be told they didn't get the order. I couldn't talk to him because he was busy with someone else at that time but I've emailed him again to ask. He replied saying "We can not just sell an 8' and get stuck with the 2' waste. In the lumber industry that is usually how it works. Sorry for any misunderstanding or inconvienience." Issue was not about the 2' extra length. It is true that most of the boards he had 6 1/2 - 7" wide allowing me to get only one 3.5" from each costing almost twice as much anyway. But I don't think he got why I was not happy with him for making me do the extra trip with nothing different to offer.
I may have overreacted but it looks I have to eat crow and not give up on them... :(

[Prashun Patel]

Sorry you had a bad experience.

I've never had to special order from them.

I usually just shop from what they have.

I was able to negotiate good rates.

In fact, I've even had luck ordering on the phone from them and having them ship to my dock.

I do notice that at times they don't pick up the phone, but I think it's just because they're understaffed - not because they're unprofessional. That's just my take.

[Conrad Fiore]

Give Travis at Middle Valley Lumber in Long Valley a call to see what he has on hand.
http://www.middlevalleylumber.com/index.php

[dennis thompson]

I've used Boards & Beams many times & have always been happy with them. I'd say give them another try, I buy very small quantities (say 30-40 bf) and I've always found Steve very helpful.:)
Dennis

[Steve Blythe]

Try woodfinder.com. Just punch in your zip code and specify how far you want to drive.... good hunting, Steve

[Mark Ottenheimer]

I sent you a pm with info for Maple in NJ.

[Ernie Miller]

+1 On Condon Lumber. They have a fabulous variety of lumber. If they don't have it - you don't need it!

[Roger Benton]

try these guys:

http://www.rosenzweiglumber.com/

in da' bronx, only about 5-10 min from the GWB.

domestics, exotics, sheet goods.

prices won't knock your socks off but not unreasonable.

[Mitchell Andrus]

PS. Reisen Lumber at Kenilworth is going out of business ....

That's a real shame. Before moving I dealt with them for 13 years. About 5-6 years ago they moved to a bigger place and opened a custom mill shop with the planet's biggest DC. Flooring, etc.
.