Used to be, you could go out to load up some lumber and find a few culls in the stack, but mostly it was good straight boards that didn't warp and bend.

Nowadays, the opposite is the reality. Most boards in the stack are bent and warped and there are only a few good ones.

Even my small town yard is now getting the shit wood. I recently bought six 1X4s, two 1X6s, a 1X12, and a sheet of 1/2" A-grade plywood and had the kid load them up for me as I trusted them to give me good stuff. I get home with it and discover that out of the nine boards, four of them were unusable for my project (a furniture piece) and the sheet of plywood was so cupped it was mostly unusable as well. So, my plan to work on the project on Sunday was shot to hell as they were closed and I was unable to return the wood until this week.

I've noticed this more and more from both the local joint and the big box stores in recent years. Shitty, fast growing, hybrid imports are most of what is offered nowadays and this is what we get, crappy warped lumber.

And to top it all off, I get an attitude from the workers when I pick through the stacks to find straight wood. Not too long ago, I basically told a fella at Lowes to blow it out his ass when he gave me shit. I'll damn sure get what I pay for.

I can look out my window and see billions and billions of board feet of good quality lumber. God I wish we could still harvest it. Good paying jobs, an improved economy, and a quality product all shot to hell by the tree-hugging commie motherfuckers.

quote:

I basically told a fella at Lowes to blow it out his ass when he gave me shit. I'll damn sure get what I pay for.

You are getting old and grouchy like myself.


I have seen the time I got one of the local professionals that stand around the desk smoothing the girls to help me dig thru stacks of plywood,was at home depot though.
all have a superiority complex

Home Depot is my go to place of the big stores. Buying any wood there is a chore in finding anything worthwhile.

There's an Ace Hardware in town but they're way over priced, I only go there if I'm in the middle of something. For some reason, they do have great 2x4's -- tight grain, minimal knots, straight with no twists or bends and cheap! Sometimes I think I make up excuses to get 2x4's.

Its also a blast to buy pressure treated wood that is still wet.

Back in the day pressure treated wood lasted 20+ years but now thanks to the EPA your lucky if it last 8 years

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Its also a blast to buy pressure treated wood that is still wet.

Yeah, and when it dries out it splits, splinters, warps and generally just turns to shit.

At our place down in the Halifax, VA region I put up a deck around half the house. Used the best grade pressure treated deck boards we could find. Didn't want to have to do it again. Bad move. 3 years in and those decks need to have all of the decking torn off and replaced. Some spots so bad that I put the whole deck off limits.

Got into a helluva argument with the Mrs. over using some of that PVC type decking. Nice colors, etc and will never rot.

Got a bunch of crap about it, so 3+ years later the old decking is still there. And I have sworn that I will not mess with it again.

Bad enough when you have to deal with companies that sell shit products, but having to deal with family members that fight you too, I give up.

quote:

Originally posted by swani:
Back in the day pressure treated wood lasted 20+ years but now thanks to the EPA your lucky if it last 8 years

Last batch we bought and used as decking lasted less than 3 years. Needs replacement now, and has for quite some time.

Unless I'm absolutely desperate, (Sunday and I'm 1 2x4 short of finishing a project) I won't even consider buying lumber at Deep Homo or Blowes.

My last job before I retired, I worked for one of the two biggest lumber outfits in Eastern Maine and part of the problem is that they get shit from the mills. If we ordered #2, we had to unpack the lifts and sort it ourselves to cull out the #3 and even some Economy (read: crap) grade.

Pissed me off that our Branch Manager played fast and loose with the grading specs too. Lot of #2 stuff that I wouldn't have built a doghouse with.

I now buy 90% of my lumber from my previous employer's main competition. Prices are a wash, and some of their #2 stuff would easily qualify for Select. And I know for a fact that they get their lumber from the same mill, I know the driver. They just use a tighter grading system. Judging by their recent expansions, I don't think it's hurt their bottom line any.

Last time I needed lumber I spent an hour going through the 2x4 pile at Lowes. I thought maybe I was looking at vanilla Twizzlers.

I have a buddy that builds decks for a living and they are almost exclusively composite wood now. He told me years ago that wood was coming in still green.

You also had better not buy it until you are dang well ready to nail/screw it into place within days. Leave it for a week and you'll have a pile of corkscrews.

Several years back I dismantled (with some difficulty) an old cattle loafing shed that was on our property from the days when this was a working Ranch. It had mostly straight and clear lumber that was FAR and away better than anything one can find today. It was built in 1960.

We got some 2x8's and 2x10's that were 12 feet long with not a single knot! All straight as an arrow. Used several of them to build work benches, with some polyurethane finish they look like furniture.

Years back I had a few Carpenters mention that all the really good stuff goes out of Country, to Japan. wonder if thats true?

quote:

Originally posted by swani:
Back in the day pressure treated wood lasted 20+ years but now thanks to the EPA your lucky if it last 8 years

Yup, the yellow wood is crap. The old green arsenic treated lumber lasted 3x as long.

You are not referring to this stuff are you? He is now the richest man in Alabama whatever that means.

I am again amazed at the depth of knowledge on this forum.

The worst wood I ever dealt with "Iraqi" lumber. DOD was buying it in theatre and I swear not a board or sheet of it was straight. US wood was a premium for trading and guys went on line to get plans for projects using only one sheet of US plywood (because they couldn't get 2).

Now it sounds like 'US" wood is getting as bad as "Iraqi" wood. Kinda sad.

Last time I made something, I went to Home Depot for some stuff and for the 6 2X10's I needed. I totally messed up my back going through the pile looking for six decent ones. I had the lumber guy giving me the evil eye. I must have gone through about 50 to get six good ones. I got a couple of bad splinters sorting through them. Then I had to take them home and put the thing together. Of course, I forgot something and had to go back. By the time I was finished, I was cursing Home Depot, along with my back. Last time I went with a friend to get 2x4's for a model train bench he was making, and watched him pick through them from the van. It seemed to take him forever to get a dozen good ones. I guess that's how it is now.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
You also had better not buy it until you are dang well ready to nail/screw it into place within days. Leave it for a week and you'll have a pile of corkscrews.

Here's a stack of pressure treated stuff that was sitting out for about two weeks.

You're thinking of them for the wrong application. Those are pre-formed for ship hull construction

Construction Grade lumber is what it is. Cheap, readily available, inconsistent.

Demand and DIYers have increased exponentially over the years.

Everyone has the same problem, in every State and type of shop I've been in.

 
Construction grade lumber is simply not dried to the extent it used to be. Pure greed. Wet lumber continues to "move" (warp, twist, cup, etc).
 
When you pick through the boards, look for the few (look at the end of the board) that have the growth rings going vertical, rather than horizontal. There will be a few from each bundle. These will be the most stable over time.