Hi,
I'm a newbie. I'm also frugal -- OK, maybe even cheap. My bet is that at some point some new woodworkers will want to find cheap or even free wood or lumber. This is the story of how I managed to do that over the past three months.
I intend to use the lumber to build:
1) a very functional and non-fancy, miter saw table,
2) a chicken coop;
3) a dog house (a second one, let's see if I can sell one this time!);
4) maybe a standup desk.
5) a bed for me and the mrs.
As a newbie at woodworking, I wanted to get better at the craft -- but, to do so, requires materials. I hate paying retail for stuff that is fungible and it really doesn't matter if it is used. And, I really hate paying retail for wood, when I KNOW I'm going to screw up a project and need to scrap the wood.
So, this is my story of how I bought 150+ boards and 10 sheets of plywood, over three months, for about $110.
FEBRUARY-2011
In February 2011, this woodworking disease was in full bloom. I just finished my first "real" project (an air conditioned doghouse) and I wanted to build more. But, I didn't want to spend $100's of dollars on lumber to build doghouses, workbenches, etc.
So, I hit craigslist and sought "lumber" "wood", "2x4s", "2x6s", "2x8s". I also posted that I was willing to pick up wood that others were getting rid of or wood from a demolition. The ad offering to grab wood from others, produced zero -- I mean not even a phone call.
But, -- at least in Los Angeles -- every day or two, there was something of interest to me in terms of lumber. But, it turns out, the free stuff goes RIGHT AWAY -- I mean within an hour or two. Well, I work 9-5 -- I've got a new kid -- so, I can't always just run out.
FREE WOOD
But, by the first week of March, I found a guy about 10 miles from me, that had torn down his entire trellis. All treated lumber -- with some nails floating around -- but lots of wood -- some of the pieces 12'+. I went up there, loaded about 10-12 pieces, and promised to return in a few days when the weekend arrived to get the rest. But, by the time I got back there -- he'd given away the rest of the wood to a few other people.
In hindsight, I could have taken much more wood, had I just brought a saws all with me so that I could cut some of the boards in half so I could more easily get them home in my pick up (they would have fit in the lower part of the cab).
I also got a lead on some wood in another part of town, drove over to the location (it was a thrift store) and found a few small triangles of plywood (less than a square foot) and a few boards, less than 2 feet in length. I told the woman who ran the store, thanks but no thanks.
I did grab a few wood shelves from an office that closed. While it's a thick hardwood plywood -- and I'll make good use of it -- there are lots of nails in it. It seemed like a mediocre find at the time.
I probably made more than 25 phone calls, emails, and texts in search of free wood after that -- but never got anything.
LATE MARCH - PLYWOOD
I scoured the garage sale listings -- and did a bunch of searches -- and found there was a nearby garage sale where a guy was selling plywood he had just pulled out of his 10 year long storage locker.
I gave him $10 bucks and took home about 7-8 sheets of 4x8 plywood; 3-4 sheets of 3/4 inch, and 3-4 sheets of 1/2inch or so.
PAID WOOD
$60 BATCH OF ABOUT 70 BOARDS FROM GUY WHO HAD WAY TOO MUCH STUFF (AND IT TURNED OUT SOME OF THE WOOD WAS ROTTED ANYHOW).
About two weeks ago, I found a guy selling about 70 2x4s, a few 4x4 posts and a few 2x6s. I went over at night to inspect and offer. Unfortunately, he was a bit of a hoarder. So, it wasn't safe to pull the wood out of his place at night (and there was no light in the backyard). I gave him a $20 downpayment on our negotiated $60 deal (about $0.70/8 foot 2x4).
When I came back two days later, we pulled the wood out. It turns out the wood had been in the weather for more than a decade. The bottom third was completely rotted. He gave me some extra wood, but it was too much for too little. Nonetheless, I took a truckload of wood home. after I got home, i tested each piece of wood for its strength -- about 10 of the 60-70 or so pieces I took home failed (they cracked in half) so I threw them out.
So, I probably paid nearly $1 per usable board -- about $0.50 on the dollar. (that said, my friend, a struggling mom with two kids, desperately wanted a chicken coop -- that old wood will do just fine for the chicken coop; she fully understands my limited skills, the distressed wood, and short-term lifespan of the chicken coop). So, this was WAY too much in my view -- particularly since I can buy the same lumber, brand new, in the exact quantity I need, from Home Depot for about $2 per 2x4 x 8 foot board. Live and learn.
In fact, I promised myself those days were done.
Last night, I checked again to see if there was some wood around. there was some stuff around, so I sent emails. I'm always surprised to see how much of a secondary market there is for building materials. some of the larger wood collections had been purchased.
then, I found someone selling -- what they thought was $2k worth of retail lumber -- for $500 bucks. But, they had to sell it today, because they were moving out tomorrow. I texted. He called back within a minute.
I was pretty honest: I told him there's no way he's going to get anything close to retail, or anything close to $500. I didn't want to waste his time, and he didn't want to waste my time.
this time, I went in prepared. I brought a simple spreadsheet with me. First, the top of the spreadsheet told me the retail price of lumber that he had. 2x4 @ 8 feet were $1.97. 4x4 posts at 10 feet were $14. So, I figured if I could figure the retail cost, I could then work from that number, to a discounted distressed seller number.
So, here's the mini-system I came up with to lock in my numbers:
2x4s @ 4' or less: _____
2x4s @ 4'-6': _____
2x4s @ 7-8': _____
I figured for the 4' boards, I would simply assign a value of $1 -- half the cost of the 8' board. Same thing for the other boards. Then, I went to his lumber pile and counted all the boards. I came up with the approximate retail cost of all his lumber.
I was able to show him that his board lumber (he had plywood, but I didn't really want it -- I have too much as it is) -- had a retail value of about $500. and, no reason for me to pay retail here. He agreed and said how about $200. I said, no way. I'd be willing to give you $0.08 on the dollar, or $40 bucks. He asked me to come up to $50 and I agreed.
I had to make two trips -- and on the second trip, they brought out extra wood, threw it in with the deal and even gave me a 10 pound box of wood screws. I'll make good use of all the wood, I promise!
In any event, turns out experience really helps. This system -- where I can estimate the retail cost of the wood -- and then figure my percentage discount from that number -- is a much better system. (Turns out, knowledge IS power). I will use this system in the future. However, I now have several hundred board feet, that can be ripped, cross-cut, and refined down into several outstanding projects. And, when I totally screw up a project and have to start again, I can feel great about having wasted $5 worth of wood
.
I'll post a photo in the light (here's the downside though: I unloaded wood into back yard tonight. Of course, it's raining like crazy in California now -- so now I have a bunch of wet/weathered cheap lumber. . . oh well.).
--Craig.
ps - comments, criticisms and flogging are welcome.
I'm a newbie. I'm also frugal -- OK, maybe even cheap. My bet is that at some point some new woodworkers will want to find cheap or even free wood or lumber. This is the story of how I managed to do that over the past three months.
I intend to use the lumber to build:
1) a very functional and non-fancy, miter saw table,
2) a chicken coop;
3) a dog house (a second one, let's see if I can sell one this time!);
4) maybe a standup desk.
5) a bed for me and the mrs.
As a newbie at woodworking, I wanted to get better at the craft -- but, to do so, requires materials. I hate paying retail for stuff that is fungible and it really doesn't matter if it is used. And, I really hate paying retail for wood, when I KNOW I'm going to screw up a project and need to scrap the wood.
So, this is my story of how I bought 150+ boards and 10 sheets of plywood, over three months, for about $110.
FEBRUARY-2011
In February 2011, this woodworking disease was in full bloom. I just finished my first "real" project (an air conditioned doghouse) and I wanted to build more. But, I didn't want to spend $100's of dollars on lumber to build doghouses, workbenches, etc.
So, I hit craigslist and sought "lumber" "wood", "2x4s", "2x6s", "2x8s". I also posted that I was willing to pick up wood that others were getting rid of or wood from a demolition. The ad offering to grab wood from others, produced zero -- I mean not even a phone call.
But, -- at least in Los Angeles -- every day or two, there was something of interest to me in terms of lumber. But, it turns out, the free stuff goes RIGHT AWAY -- I mean within an hour or two. Well, I work 9-5 -- I've got a new kid -- so, I can't always just run out.
FREE WOOD
But, by the first week of March, I found a guy about 10 miles from me, that had torn down his entire trellis. All treated lumber -- with some nails floating around -- but lots of wood -- some of the pieces 12'+. I went up there, loaded about 10-12 pieces, and promised to return in a few days when the weekend arrived to get the rest. But, by the time I got back there -- he'd given away the rest of the wood to a few other people.
In hindsight, I could have taken much more wood, had I just brought a saws all with me so that I could cut some of the boards in half so I could more easily get them home in my pick up (they would have fit in the lower part of the cab).
I also got a lead on some wood in another part of town, drove over to the location (it was a thrift store) and found a few small triangles of plywood (less than a square foot) and a few boards, less than 2 feet in length. I told the woman who ran the store, thanks but no thanks.
I did grab a few wood shelves from an office that closed. While it's a thick hardwood plywood -- and I'll make good use of it -- there are lots of nails in it. It seemed like a mediocre find at the time.
I probably made more than 25 phone calls, emails, and texts in search of free wood after that -- but never got anything.
LATE MARCH - PLYWOOD
I scoured the garage sale listings -- and did a bunch of searches -- and found there was a nearby garage sale where a guy was selling plywood he had just pulled out of his 10 year long storage locker.
I gave him $10 bucks and took home about 7-8 sheets of 4x8 plywood; 3-4 sheets of 3/4 inch, and 3-4 sheets of 1/2inch or so.
PAID WOOD
$60 BATCH OF ABOUT 70 BOARDS FROM GUY WHO HAD WAY TOO MUCH STUFF (AND IT TURNED OUT SOME OF THE WOOD WAS ROTTED ANYHOW).
About two weeks ago, I found a guy selling about 70 2x4s, a few 4x4 posts and a few 2x6s. I went over at night to inspect and offer. Unfortunately, he was a bit of a hoarder. So, it wasn't safe to pull the wood out of his place at night (and there was no light in the backyard). I gave him a $20 downpayment on our negotiated $60 deal (about $0.70/8 foot 2x4).
When I came back two days later, we pulled the wood out. It turns out the wood had been in the weather for more than a decade. The bottom third was completely rotted. He gave me some extra wood, but it was too much for too little. Nonetheless, I took a truckload of wood home. after I got home, i tested each piece of wood for its strength -- about 10 of the 60-70 or so pieces I took home failed (they cracked in half) so I threw them out.
So, I probably paid nearly $1 per usable board -- about $0.50 on the dollar. (that said, my friend, a struggling mom with two kids, desperately wanted a chicken coop -- that old wood will do just fine for the chicken coop; she fully understands my limited skills, the distressed wood, and short-term lifespan of the chicken coop). So, this was WAY too much in my view -- particularly since I can buy the same lumber, brand new, in the exact quantity I need, from Home Depot for about $2 per 2x4 x 8 foot board. Live and learn.
In fact, I promised myself those days were done.
Last night, I checked again to see if there was some wood around. there was some stuff around, so I sent emails. I'm always surprised to see how much of a secondary market there is for building materials. some of the larger wood collections had been purchased.
then, I found someone selling -- what they thought was $2k worth of retail lumber -- for $500 bucks. But, they had to sell it today, because they were moving out tomorrow. I texted. He called back within a minute.
I was pretty honest: I told him there's no way he's going to get anything close to retail, or anything close to $500. I didn't want to waste his time, and he didn't want to waste my time.
this time, I went in prepared. I brought a simple spreadsheet with me. First, the top of the spreadsheet told me the retail price of lumber that he had. 2x4 @ 8 feet were $1.97. 4x4 posts at 10 feet were $14. So, I figured if I could figure the retail cost, I could then work from that number, to a discounted distressed seller number.
So, here's the mini-system I came up with to lock in my numbers:
2x4s @ 4' or less: _____
2x4s @ 4'-6': _____
2x4s @ 7-8': _____
I figured for the 4' boards, I would simply assign a value of $1 -- half the cost of the 8' board. Same thing for the other boards. Then, I went to his lumber pile and counted all the boards. I came up with the approximate retail cost of all his lumber.
I was able to show him that his board lumber (he had plywood, but I didn't really want it -- I have too much as it is) -- had a retail value of about $500. and, no reason for me to pay retail here. He agreed and said how about $200. I said, no way. I'd be willing to give you $0.08 on the dollar, or $40 bucks. He asked me to come up to $50 and I agreed.
I had to make two trips -- and on the second trip, they brought out extra wood, threw it in with the deal and even gave me a 10 pound box of wood screws. I'll make good use of all the wood, I promise!
In any event, turns out experience really helps. This system -- where I can estimate the retail cost of the wood -- and then figure my percentage discount from that number -- is a much better system. (Turns out, knowledge IS power). I will use this system in the future. However, I now have several hundred board feet, that can be ripped, cross-cut, and refined down into several outstanding projects. And, when I totally screw up a project and have to start again, I can feel great about having wasted $5 worth of wood
. I'll post a photo in the light (here's the downside though: I unloaded wood into back yard tonight. Of course, it's raining like crazy in California now -- so now I have a bunch of wet/weathered cheap lumber. . . oh well.).
--Craig.
ps - comments, criticisms and flogging are welcome.
