lumber prices

[Thomas Crawford]

My stock is getting low, I had bought a bunch last year but need some more cherry and maple for some larger projects. Are you all seeing increasing prices on these types of species? I know at my local HD southern yellow pine is off the charts, as well as cedar.

[Stewart Lang]

I'm a hardwood lumber supplier and my prices have only gone up maybe 5%, some haven't moved at all. Shop around a little more. You want to find a dedicated hardwood lumber supplier, and not a big box store.

[Robert Mayer]

I cant believe anyone buys hardwood from any of the big box stores. Their prices have always been double or more compared to a hardwood supplier.

[Thomas Crawford]

No I don't ever buy hardwood from there, I was just wondering if the prices I saw on construction lumber were indicative of what I'd see at the supplier. I really stocked up last year and can't really remember what I paid per board foot. I'd guess I was in the $3 range for 8/4 knotty alder and somewhere $5-7 for 8/4 walnut and cherry.

[Stewart Lang]

No I don't ever buy hardwood from there, I was just wondering if the prices I saw on construction lumber were indicative of what I'd see at the supplier. I really stocked up last year and can't really remember what I paid per board foot. I'd guess I was in the $3 range for 8/4 knotty alder and somewhere $5-7 for 8/4 walnut and cherry.

Honest question here, wouldn't it be easier to call up your local supplier and ask what their prices are, as opposed trying to figure out what to expect from asking on here? Most places are pretty happy to give you prices over the phone, so that should get you an answer pretty quick :)

[Thomas Crawford]

Honest question here, wouldn't it be easier to call up your local supplier and ask what their prices are, as opposed trying to figure out what to expect from asking on here? Most places are pretty happy to give you prices over the phone, so that should get you an answer pretty quick :)

#1) No, not when I'm on Zoom calls all day :)
#2) thought I'd get more nationwide feedback or future looking statements possibly here on species I didn't currently want

But if prices aren't going up, then this will not be an interesting thread...

[Ron Citerone]

Just bought 4/4 hickory for $4.50 bd ft at hardwood supplier. Price was only up from $4.00 a year ago. I think Most of the prices I see online at the hardwood dealers are up only a little in a year.

[John TenEyck]

Well the prices for hardwood is up where I live, substantially. I talked with the guy I normally buy from when I don't have what I need from my own milling/drying operation. He said most everything is going up weekly. Poplar that I bought for $2/bf last year was $2.45 and that was at least 6 weeks ago so I'm sure it's higher now. 4/4 Walnut is $10 - 14/bf depending upon who you call. 4/4 Cherry and QS white oak are in the $6 - 8 range. I'm pretty sure prices are going to continue to rise for at least a few more months. Curiously, the price of most species of logs hasn't gone up nearly as much. Only walnut is ridiculous around me - $2K/1000bf - for raw logs.

John

[Alex Zeller]

I've been lucky. I've cut out the middle man and buy directly from a small mill who's prices are always better than anyone else. I would look around, if you have time, and see if you can find a mill that has what you need.

[Bill Carey]

I've been lucky. I've cut out the middle man and buy directly from a small mill who's prices are always better than anyone else. I would look around, if you have time, and see if you can find a mill that has what you need.

Same here. I found my guy using the wood miser web site's find a local Sawyer feature

[Zachary Hoyt]

We have a little mill and sell some wood and prices have not changed in 13-1/2 years. Ash and hickory and (when available) maple and elm are still $1 a board foot, red oak (when available) is $1.50. I had 400 board feet of red oak sit here all winter, usually it goes within a month or less of being sawn. These prices are for rough cut, wet or partly air dried. Demand is way down from last fall through now. I don't know why.

[Robert London]

Most other wood is pretty stable for prices. I get a lot of wood at my local klingspore store as they have a good selection and it’s convenient.

Facebook marketplace also has a lot of wood for sale. Poplar, maple, walnut. Nothing is really in short supply or gone up much in price.

It’s cheap pine lumber at Home Depot and Lowe’s that’s crazy expensive now. I’ve grown to hate pine and I enjoy working with poplar much better for a lot of projects.

[Andrew Seemann]

I got some flat sawn white oak a month ago. The price was up roughly 50% from a year ago. My supplier said they were having difficulty even finding QSWO. What they had was up 30% from last year. Cherry was up something like 25% or so it seemed.

Not as bas as construction lumber and OSB & CDX. That is through the roof. If the price goes up much more, I might be framing my shop addition in aspen and sheathing it in diagonal furniture grade white pine to save money:)

[Peter Kelly]

Well the prices for hardwood is up where I live, substantially. I talked with the guy I normally buy from when I don't have what I need from my own milling/drying operation. He said most everything is going up weekly. Poplar that I bought for $2/bf last year was $2.45 and that was at least 6 weeks ago so I'm sure it's higher now. 4/4 Walnut is $10 - 14/bf depending upon who you call. 4/4 Cherry and QS white oak are in the $6 - 8 range. I'm pretty sure prices are going to continue to rise for at least a few more months. Curiously, the price of most species of logs hasn't gone up nearly as much. Only walnut is ridiculous around me - $2K/1000bf - for raw logs.

JohnKiln dried F1F FAS Poplar is a little north of $3.50 BF from a mill this end of NY State right now. Can't imagine what retailers are selling the stuff for these days...

[Dave Zellers]

I know FAS but what is F1F?

[Peter Kelly]

FAS boards in any thickness 6" or wider.

[Doug Dawson]

I know FAS but what is F1F?
That means that you are _extremely_ unfit for military service.

[Dave Zellers]

That means that you are _extremely_ unfit for military service.

That's for sure!:p

[Dave Zellers]

FAS boards in any thickness 6" or wider.

Thanks- never heard that before.

[Jared Sankovich]

Kiln dried F1F FAS Poplar is a little north of $3.50 BF from a mill this end of NY State right now. Can't imagine what retailers are selling the stuff for these days...

Its 2.75 (up from 2.30) and 2.05 (no change) retail from the 2 closest yards.

[Rich Aldrich]

I know FAS but what is F1F?

From the NHLA rules. (National Hardwood Lumber Association)

FAS 1-Face (F1F)
One face meets FAS requirements and the poorer face meets Number 1 Common grade requirements. Usually combined with FAS lumber, thereby providing at least one FAS face.

We have been having lumber price increases over the last 2 months. For the manufacturer, prices have been depressed for a few years.

We cut a bit 70,000 bdft per day of hardwood found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Hard maple, soft maple, birch, cherry, - some ash, oak and beech. Our prices are wholesale, but I am in engineering and maintenance so I haven’t been keeping up with pricing.

Last I knew we were selling specialty maple like Birdseye for $3.50 per bdft. Select and better was $2.30. We sell direct but for most of you, we are too far away.

[Andrew Seemann]

I know FAS but what is F1F?


First or Second one Face at least 6" wide. FAS is graded from the poorer face and F1F is graded from the best face. The poorer face is #1 Common.

SEL (Select) is First or Second one Face that is at least 4" wide.

I haven't seen F1F poplar before. Around here it typically is the high demand, hard to get woods like Walnut or Quartered Oak that are F1F or SEL, but I suppose it might be a regional preference thing.

Looks like Rich beat me by a minute:)

[Tim Best]

I mostly post in the Neanderthal forum, but thought I would chime in here because finding hardwood lumber in North Florida can be challenging. Poplar has held steady in this region at about $3.50 BF for F1F kiln dried. It has been hit or miss finding it though. I found some 4/4 and 8/4 this week and snapped it up. 4/4, 6/4, 8/4 Black Cherry is easier find but roughly 2A-2B Common ~$3.50 - 4.50 range kiln dried. Wet black cherry is available at about $2.50 BF. (Much to my wife’s chagrin, I’ve had about 100 BF drying outback for about a year. Apparently, the stack is a bit unsightly and seems to attract the occasional rat snake.)The upside is that the number of sawyers has increased from exactly 1 within 50 miles to about 10 over the last year. If someone is looking for a source in North Florida/South Georgia, I’m happy to share.