# Is $4 per bf a good price on redwood?



## NOLAwoodwork (Feb 21, 2012)

Guy in my area is selling all heat clear California redwood for $4 per board foot. He said it is salvaged from an old house. I have never bought redwood before so I am wondering if this is a good price and what should I look for when purchasing?


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## Paul_R (Nov 26, 2014)

It's pretty standard for reclaimed in this area for some odd reason. New wood is cheaper.


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## jacko9 (Dec 29, 2012)

Yes new wood is cheaper but compared to some of the old growth wood that I bought from the dismanteling of buildings at Camp Parks back in 1970 I have never seen redwood that dark and dense since that time.

I purchased about 300 ln ft of full width 2x6" for 0.10 cents a foot and used it for all kinds of projects. 

The difference between real old growth and new redwood is night and day, if it's a deep red color and tight growth rings it's worth it compared to what you can find today.


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## Anguspapa (May 4, 2013)

I never thought redwood would be that much. In all honesty I don't know if that is high or low. I'm used to buying hardwoods. I use to live up in Eureka, Ca, with a big lumber companies, Louisiana-Pacific and Pacific lumber, clear cut the redwood quicker than a snap of a finger. And when I lived up there that was old growth. 
Eric


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

*Prices really depend on your area*



NOLAwoodwork said:


> Guy in my area is selling all heat clear California redwood for $4 per board foot. He said it is salvaged from an old house. I have never bought redwood before so I am wondering if this is a good price and what should I look for when purchasing?


I live in the Portland, Oregon metro area. There are plenty of sources of hardwoods here. Lots of independent sawyers with Woodmizers, Harbor "Fright" horizontal band saws, chainsaw mills, etc.

I hardly ever pay more than $1 per board foot for any hardwood. If the seller delivers and stacks it for me, I will pay a $1.25 per board foot. Lately, I have been collecting unwanted trees and rough cutting them myself. If they are too big for my equipment, I take it to a sawyer for $75 per hour. A fellow woodworker got some holly logs in 2014 fall that were too big for either of our shops. We took it from the pickup, straight to the sawyer. For $100, he got about 75 bd feet of holly...Nice....

I just picked up some Sycamore logs for free in January 2015. The logs are small enough that I can run them through my 18" bandsaw. I will probably net about 150 board feet out of the five (5) logs.

I am planning on getting a chainsaw mill. I have had to pass up on thousands of board feet of lumber over the last couple of years, because I do not have the hauling equipment for full size logs. If I could only cut the slabs on site.......

Eric


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## NOLAwoodwork (Feb 21, 2012)

ORBlackFZ1 said:


> I hardly ever pay more than $1 per board foot for any hardwood. If the seller delivers and stacks it for me, I will pay a $1.25 per board foot.


I would kill for these prices. I have been looking in my area for a smaller sawyer, but haven't found anything yet. The only places I have bought any hardwoods have been from some smaller lumber yards. The prices have been extremely high. ~$10 bf for walnut, $6 for cherry, and $5 for hard maple.


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

*Suggestions for finding wood*



NOLAwoodwork said:


> I would kill for these prices. I have been looking in my area for a smaller sawyer, but haven't found anything yet. The only places I have bought any hardwoods have been from some smaller lumber yards. The prices have been extremely high. ~$10 bf for walnut, $6 for cherry, and $5 for hard maple.


*1. Location *- Where are you located? Maybe, other woodworkers in your area can help you find some better prices. 

*2. Craigs List* - I usually find my lumber on Craig's List (CL). The last bunch I purchased was advertised at $200 for the complete pile on CL. The owner had a construction business that he was retiring from and he had a bunch of oak, cedar, douglas fir, etc that was left over from jobs. I really didn't want the wood, but I told him that I would give him $50 for it. He called me about four (4) weeks later and asked if my $50 offer was still good. I told him it was. I spent about 45 minutes loading up my truck and drove home with the load. I sorted through the load and gave any of the pieces I didn't want to my neighbor for his outdoor fire-pit. The rest, I have sorted, stacked and stored waiting for a project. 

The first pieces that I used for a project were some 8/4 rough cut cedar that was at about 4% moisture content. I jointed one side of a piece and the grain was gorgeous!!! My wife checked out the grain and didn't believe me when I told her it was from the $50 pile. 

I jointed and planed enough of the rough cut cedar to make a 18" wide x 18" high x 58" long bench for my garage. After seven (7) coats of polyurethane on the top and a coat of boiled linseed on the bottom, my wife didn't want the bench in the garage. She thought it was too beautiful for the garage. 

I attached a couple of photos of the bench before the final assembly.

*3. Fallen Trees *- Another good place to look for lumber in your area, is after a winter storm. We have frequent winter wind storms that blow trees down. A lot of people cut up the trees for firewood or get someone to do it for them. I try to get to the fallen trees before they are cut into firewood.

The fallen trees suggestion works if you have access to equipment that can handle the logs. I have a bandsaw that will handle up to 12" diameter logs (and a local sawyer that can handle up to 36" diameter logs), a stacking & drying area, a 12" jointer and a 20" planer to handle the rough cut lumber. If I didn't have the equipment in my own shop, I would be using the local Oregon Woodworkers Guild equipment to handle the lumber.

*4. Local ReStore (Habitat for Humanity)* - If you have a local ReStore in your area, you might find some very inexpensive wood there. You might have to make a couple of trips and do some work to make it useable. We have a couple of ReStores in the area. I have purchased some of their recycled doors for a Gazebo, hardwood flooring when I was a couple square feet short, etc.

*5. Pallets *- I am amazed at how much useable wood is in a pallet. Local companies a lot of times will put their pallets in the parking lot with a "FREE" sign on them. They sometimes put ads on CL, that say to just come get them. I have used some of the wood for drawer sides after being jointed and planed.

*6. Trade *- Trade with other woodworkers. I had a pile of 600 bdft of maple that I have been trading with a friend of mine that had a 300 bdft of walnut. My painter donated a couple of pieces of 4" x 10" x 12' long Mrytlewood for a couple of folding laundry racks that I made.

Sometimes, I just have to get creative in my search for wood. 

It has been a couple of years since I purchased any wood from Rockler or Woodcraft. If I needed a particular piece of wood for a project, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the wood from a retail outlet, but since I have found so many other sources, I doubt that I will be purchasing wood from a retailer any time soon. 

I still purchase my plywood from Lowe's or Mr Plywood. I haven't figured out how to get plywood on the cheap yet!! Maybe, someone has some idea on that......


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