All you need to Know before Buying Lumber from a Lumber Yard
If you are new to woodworking, you may be intimidated by having to visit a lumber yard. It is easy to feel out of place especially if you don’t know exactly what you are looking for since you wouldn’t know how to ask for it. There is a wide range of wood that you could choose from at a lumber yard, unlike a home center. At a lumber yard, there are a lot of stacks of timber that may rise to the ceiling and are categorized by species. Lumber yards also have reclaimed lumber gotten form aged buildings and barns. The wide variety of products to choose from makes it difficult to settle for particular lumber since you may not know the exact product you are getting. However, choosing a lumberyard doesn’t have to be that hard as you can learn by reading through this detailed guide.
The dimensions of their lumber, which is simply the thickness, is probably the most important consideration. There are a few standard thicknesses in which wood is sold depending on the size of the lumber when it is cut at the sawmill. A one-inch lumber will be called a four-quarter since the thickness is measured in quarters which are quarter-inch increments. You should remember that boards are never perfectly flat. You are advised to get a board that is a bit thicker than the final measurement you want to achieve and plane it down. You will be forced to remove material on each face if e board has a cup in it so that you can ma it parallel and even.
The pricing policy should play a significant role in your decision making. Most lumberyards will sell lumber by volume measured in units called board feet. Top determine the board width; you divide the result you get from multiplying the board width by the length by the thickness by 144 (all measurements are quoted inches).
Settle for a surfacing option that suits your needs. There are two main types of surfacing namely rough surfacing and dressed surfacing. Rough-surfaced lumber comes straight from the sawmill with a rough and even surface. If lumber is dressed, it means that it has gone through a plane. A board that has been surfaced on two parallel lanes is said to be designated S2S whereas one that has been surfaced on all four sides is called S4S. When buying surfaced lumber, you may have to pay a little more money.