Good Appalachian region source for Baltic Birch Plywood (the real stuff)

[Don Parker]

Hi. I am located in Charleston, West Virginia. I have a bathroom vanity and cabinet project on the "honey-do" list compiled by my wife. She and I have decided on a painted Shaker style construction, so I can use plywood boxes and hardwood face frames. So far, so good.

Here is the problem. The types of plywood available at my local Lowe's and Home Depot are not suitable for this sort of project. The quality of plywood available at big box stores has really gone downhill. Our best lumberyard went out of business a few years ago. There aren't any cabinet-grade plywood distributors located around here that I know of. The big box stores won't even order decent plywood for me. I have a Woodcraft about an hour and a half away, but they won't sell full sheets of Baltic Birch plywood, and their prices for the sizes they do sell have a pretty steep markup. Plus, with the sizes they carry, I would have a lot of waste. I need full 60" x 60" sheets of real Baltic Birch plywood, but darned if I can find a decent place less than 3 hours away to go get it.

My best option seems to be to order it from Baird Brothers and have it shipped FedEx Freight. I can do that, but before I pull the trigger, I wanted to see if anyone knows of any decent places within a few hours of Charleston that can sell me full sheets of real Baltic Birch plywood. The closest cities are:

Lexington, Kentucky
Columbus, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

As I am writing this, I am thinking of how much time and effort it will take to drive somewhere and get the plywood, bring it home, and unload it, compared to having it shipped by Baird Brothers. But, enough griping. Any suggestions on good retailers for Baltic Birch? Thanks for your help.

[Frankie Hunt]

My area (Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson City) is lacking Baltic Birch too. The big box stores have taken over and have limited what is available. It took me a week to find some 1/4 inch masonite and then I had to settle for double tempered and it was near $30 per sheet! Our single Woodcraft store went away last year too....

[Eric Keller]

I have heard that HD will ship it to store. Never figured out what to search for on their website in order to get it though

[George Bokros]

Hartville Hardware and Building Center, not quite to Cleveland. I buy my cabinet grade ply from them and my moldings.

[john bateman]

There's a Wurth Wood Group in Roanoke, VA, if that's not too far.

[Frankie Hunt]

There's a Wurth Wood Group in Roanoke, VA, if that's not too far.

Thanks for the note on Wurth. Its about a 2 hour drive from Bristol.

[Mike Malott]

I purchase my BB plywood from DSI here in Cincinnati:

http://www.distributorserviceinc.com/

Mike

[John K Jordan]

I buy it in Knoxville, TN. I can find the company and contact info if anyone closer to here is interested, send me a note. It is full 60x60" and half the price of what I saw at Woodcraft.

JKJ

[Bruce Wrenn]

For painted stuff, look at Columbia Forest Products "Pure Bond" at HD. Remember only the ends and inside of your cabinets will actually show, so not every sheet needs to be perfect on both sides. Went today to local HD, and sifted through stack to find a couple sheets good on both sides. Employee actually helped me go through stack. There was one sheet delaminated slightly on back side. He asked if I would take it at a 70% markdown. I took it as I need to make a jig to do dados (using router) and would serve me well for this purpose. Plus I'm doing a coat hook board that will only be seen on one side. (It's mounted to a block wall.) Forget buying plywood from Lowes. The last "Roseburg" that I bought at Lowes was just slightly better than the China stuff it replaced. I prefinish sheets before breaking them down. When I started cutting sheets down, veneer came off at cut lines. Got my money back plus a credit for time and materials used prefinishing sheets.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I would look into Industrial Plywood out of Reading, PA. I don't know how far it is from you, but I know they deliver.

[Don Parker]

Everyone--

Thanks for the information. Some of the suggestions are for places within a few hours of here that I might visit, so I will think harder about whether I want to go get the plywood or just have it shipped.

Bryan, regarding Industrial Plywood, that is pretty far away, but I appreciate the suggestion.

Eric suggested the possibility of Home Depot ordering Baltic Birch and having it shipped to the local store. I already tried that, and they can't or won't do it. Maybe some Home Depots can get it, but mine can't.

Bruce suggested looking at Columbia Forest Products at Home Depot. I have. There have been some positive comments about Columbia on this and other internet fora, but my Home Depot must pick from the reject pile at Columbia, because the stuff I saw was really not any better quality than the rest of the stuff at both Home Depot and Lowe's. The show face veneers are super thin, there are voids everywhere, and the boards already show a tendency to warp and delaminate. I would rather pay more money and get a higher quality plywood than the Columbia stuff I can get here.

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback.

[Chuck Skarsaune]

Scrounger's paradise in Asheville, for those of us in E TN, has some good stuff.

http://www.scroungersparadise.com/plywood.html

Just a customer, no affiliation.
Also a big stock of Ipe.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Check with a local cabinet shop and see where they get BB from. Not many shops use BB, as they can buy prefinished drawer sides for less than the cost of BB. If there is a tool and die shop in town, they use BB for templates.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Chesapeake Plywood in Baltimore MD. Web site says weekly deliveries to Louisville KY, which most likely means truck comes up I-64, or down I-79, thru Charleston on it's way to Louisville

[Don Parker]

It's funny you should mention Chesapeake, Bruce, because I had the exact same thought when I looked at their website! I will call them later this week to see what is possible. Thanks for the confirmation that it isn't unreasonable to think they might stop and drop off in Charleston on the way to Louisville.

[Ben Abate]

I read this link yesterday and thought it's a shame that you are having so much trouble finding what you want. If Pittsburgh is not out of the question for driving I'll contact my distributor so you can purchase thru me if you'd like. Baltic and Russian Bitch are just pretty much the same. Russian Birch is a bit less pricey both come in 60x60 sheets depending on thickness. What is the thickness you need? I hate to see someone have to drive that far for a few sheets of plywood

let me know
ben

[Don Parker]

Ben--

it's very cool of you to offer. Pittsburgh is a 4 hour drive for me, so I probably won't take you up on it, but I really appreciate it.

The more I think about it, the more shipping it via FedEx Freight makes the best sense. I can get 60" x 60" sheets into my SUV, but just barely. If I have to drive any further than an hour away, that's gas money and time away from other things like work and family and other responsibilities. And I still have to manhandle the sheets at both ends of the trip. I will talk to Chesapeake and see if they will stop and drop in Charleston, but if they won't, I know Baird Brothers will send me what I need, packed well, and delivered to my garage door.

As a side note, it is interesting to see how internet commerce changes everything, in both good and bad ways. I would not want to try to run a brick and mortar retail business nowadays, but many of the things such businesses choose to do in order to survive tend to make internet shopping the only viable choice, thereby making the brick and mortar problems even worse. Here is an example: I just want decent plywood. Maybe HD and Lowe's don't sell enough decent plywood to justify stocking it. I get that. But to ignore it as a potential item to sell just drives me into the arms of an internet retailer. HD and Lowe's could choose to sell it, but only via special order. They get the sale, at a decent profit, without an inventory investment, and I get to take advantage of their distribution system. But they choose to not do that. Oh, well. It's not my business to run.

[Jim OConnor]

Wood Werks in Columbus

Don, you could also come to one of the Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia meetings and ask there, lots of members and the meetings are right outside of Charleston.