5 Things You Need To Know Before Visiting A Lumber Yard

6/21/2021

If you have never been to a lumber yard, then you are in for a treat! With wood prices skyrocketing over the past year, lumber yards are your friend compared to big box stores. They have better prices, have more variety of wood species, have a variety of sizes, and have staff available to offer assistance.

We use Wall Lumber Company out of Mayodan, North Carolina, and the trip is always worth it. Most lumber yards have a similar feel, so here are five things you need to understand before planning out what you need and making a trip to pick out your wood pieces.

know which sections you will need

1	Most lumber yards are organized into 3-5 main sections and sometimes smaller subsections. You will typically see live edge wood or wood slabs, craft woods, furniture-grade plywood, wood mouldings, and your typical long and short cuts of lumber in a variety of hardwoods and softwoods.

rough cut boards and planing

2

If you're looking for typical pre-cut boards with exact measurements like you would find at Home Depot or Lowe's Hardware, then you won't find them here. Most boards vary in length and width and are often rough cut boards. This means that you will need to cut them to size and plane them smooth at home. If you don't have a planer at home, most lumber yards will plane them for you for a small fee.

wood grades and moisture content

3

All woods at Wall Lumber Co. are kiln dried, and it is probably safe to assume that this will be the case at most lumber yards. You will want to use kiln dried lumber if you plan to use the wood for craft projects, DIY projects, or furniture.

There are also different grades of wood, which affects the price of each piece. Typically, you will find select wood to be the best, which means that it has the least amount of defects. It also means that this tends to have the highest price point. 1 common might have some defects that are fairly minimal, making this type of wood best for small to medium size projects that work for a budget. 2 common tends to have the most defects and works best for smaller projects or if you can correct defects with wood fillers or epoxy.

Measuring your boards to purchase

4

The way a board is measured at a lumber yard is different than how they are measured at a box store. Since boards are not cut to specific sizes and you will do that on your own at home, they are measured and priced based on the board foot (bd. ft.).
How do you measure a board foot? Take a look at the equation below:

1" thick, 6" wide and 2´ long = 1 bd. Ft

Board thickness is also measured differently at a lumber yard as compared to hardware stores. Instead of a measurement such as a
2' x 4' at Lowe's or Home Depot, the boards at a lumber yard will vary in length and thickness. You will pick out the length and width needed for your project, but the thickness will be displayed by section. Rather than listing feet or inches, the board's thickness is on a 1/4" system.

4/4=1" - 5/4=1-1/4" - 8/4=2"

take time to explore options

5

The first time we were ready to purchase lumber from a lumber yard, we found it helpful to spend a morning exploring their options and prices, especially since there are so many wood species and options to choose from. We started working with craft woods first for various wall art projects before moving on to larger pieces of wood or plywood.

Once we got a better idea of what to expect, we took time at home to plan out how much wood we would need, what species we wanted, and the sizes we wanted to look for while shopping. This helps us to stay on budget and minimize waste. This also helps us to spend more time picking out good boards with no bows, cupping, or twists instead of spending our time looking at all of the options available.