plywood price

[FrankInWI]

from our lower end retailer, for $13.95  I can get 1/2" CDX plywood.  Wording in store ad is;  

"1/2" CDX Plywood 4' x 8' Span rated pine sheathing. Nominal thickness. 123-1085"

Is all CDX plywood created equal?  Thinking of buying a lot at that price for 1 1/2 story roof, and for bracing, etc.  

Anything to be careful of?  REcomment other uses on 1 1/2 plan?

Thanks
Frank

[MarkAndDebbie]

From what PEG would consider our lower end retailer (HD) my list price (metro Atlanta) is $12.48. There may be a huge difference because of location.

[PEG688]

FWIW I'm a big Home Despot shopper  8-)

   It's their lumber that is a joke , any of there "Finish" lumber like  S4S R. Oak is way over priced.

  Plywood/ OSB  , sheetrock , hardware , plumbing , Etc . all are priced well and of good / average quality.

[highlight] The only thing they sell that is poor is real wood , framing lumber , PT materials , fencing , etc . [/highlight]


 Our local Home Depot is my favorite place to "shop" just not for lumber  

[FrankInWI]

PEG it wasn't HD I was referencing.  We have "Menards" as a retailer in midwest.  Many stores, compete most on low price.  I WAS shopping HD for home repairs and remodel of late....it's their credit card I have.  Now that I got a home equity loan and paid off them damn credit cards and have some money for building, I can shop where I need.  Do you feel HD is bad for lumber because of price, or quality?
Thanks

[PEG688]

Quality or lack there of , remember thats my opinion based on H/D  I've been in localed in Washington state (western Wa. ),and  Az. , Ca. when visiting family.

 The lumbe only seems to me to be poor quality, so much so I never paid much attention to the price.  

[JRR]

I agree the "real lumber" at HD and Lowes can be very poor.  But one good thing, you do your own selection ... so you can just leave it behind if it doesn't meet your needs.  'Course, soon as a few folks do this to a new opened bundle ... things soon get very "picked-over".  

And now, they never seem to have any thing longer than 16 ft (IIRC) ... at least, this is so in my neck of the woods.  Anything longer is special order.

But at our real lumber yards ... you first place your order ... then you drive 'round for the load-up.  If the wood is crappy and you don't want it, you're faced with having to deal with a refund,  and you leave the yard-guys feeling a bit blue.  It's not set up for "looking first, then buying", ... but of course they let you look first if you want.

Some (Ace) lumber yards offer a 10% discount for senior citizens on all building materials   ... I only mention that so you can take advantage when you're older.

[MarkAndDebbie]

Frank, I checked your HD - it's 14.97 there so it may be a good deal for you.

[tanya]

My dad worked for a plywood mill until he reitred.  If you can go directly to the mill sometimes they will let yu pick over the pieces and find some you want.  The Kettle Falls WA Lumber store is having a big sale for only $5 a sheet until it is all sold out if anyone is in the area.  I don't know what the quality is or why they are having the sale but I would never trust 1//2 inch plywood for anything it just doesn't hold up if there is a water leak or weight stress.  My take on building anything is to use the best materials I can afford because materials are less expensive than labor.  And I will never get used to that pressed wood stuff.  Talk about the potential for disastor.  

[FrankInWI]

Talking about lumber prices in general... I called closest lumber store to my property.  He's an independent.  I told him my first inclination was to go with the big stores, i.e. Home Depot and Menards (here it is big).  I told him I didn't want to pass up a chance to buy local if I could and asked him if he would be competitive with the big boxes on lumber and material prices.  He said they belong to LMC with $4 Billion buying power and he would be competitive.  Guess I'm going to find out when I give out the list.  I forgot to ask about returning the crap portion of the load, that is a requirement of mine.

Turns out LMC stands for "Lumbermands Merchandising Corporation" .  Their site mentions: "LMC is an organization, dedicated to providing outstanding service at the lowest total procurement costs with the highest return on investment in the industry."  It mentions channeling $11 Bil annual.

[glenn kangiser]

I have found that many times the local guys are as cheap or cheaper than the big box guys and if not may be willing to deal.  Big box guys many times sucker you in with some cheap stuff then nail you on the rest.

[MountainDon]

Prices vary with location / state, as well size of the town / city.

I recently bought some OSB for the gazebo roof; 7.44 at my local HD and Lowe's (600,000+ market area) and needed one more once I was up in the mountains. Choice was to drive 60 miles to the HD on the highway near home or drive 25 miles to the Los Alamos Ace Hardware lumber yard (12 to 14,000 population with maybe another 12K in the surrounding area.) The price there; 8.99 a sheet. Saved the difference in mileage and time though.

As for Home Depot and Lowe's (around here in NM anyways) the lumber doesn't seem to be all that much worse or better when generally comparing the BigBoxes to our local yards. I've seen twisty stuff at the small yard as well.

I have bought a lot of lumber at HD and some at our Lowe's as well. They're close to each other, convenient. Some days I have to really hunt for what I want, and be very particular. I'd need to drive another 10 miles to get to an independent yard.Some days, like today I had to settle for buying 12 ft. 2x6 instead of the 10 ft I really wanted. They're being cut into blocking so it didn't really matter much except the 10's would have been easier to handle on the roof rack.

[MikeT]

Up here in Portland, OR, plywood and in fact all lumber prices at HD really jumped over the past few weeks.  In mid June, I was able to but some OSB for a half pipe I was building for my son for $5/sheet.  Last night it was going for over $7 per.  The same increase was there for CDX.  $16/sheet which seems about a dollar or two higher than a few months ago.

mt

[peter nap]

Well.....I'm puzzled over the price of building materials. In this area, like much of the country, building is DOA and not likely to get better for a year at least.

I own a tree farm (I bought the land and the pines came with the deal). I hired a forester to appraise them and he told me prices were WAY down to about 1500.00 an acre. In really good times I've seen it at 6000.00 an acre..........But here prices of lumber have actually gone up.

Twisted, knotty, wall studs at HD (their best) are going for 3.29.

WHY aren't prices coming down and will they?

[williet]

Just got home from the local HD (Scottsboro,Al.)....OSB, 19/32, $10 and 32/32, $13.75...What gets me is the price of composite wood for decks. 1x6x8, $6.97. That's $14 a foot.

[JRR]

A cubic foot?

I did some info seeking on the composite deck boards sold by Lowes and HD.  The maximum joist spacing is 16".  I find that resticting.

[MountainDon]

... I believe that 16 inch max joist spacing is for decking that crosses the joists at a right angle. I've seen at least one of the brands state 12" joist spacing if the decking is installed at any visually more pleasing angle, 45 degrees or whatever. Even more restrictive if I was asked.

[JRR]

True!

[williet]

The good thing is the life of the borads. It was strait and looked good. Each board is the same width. The pressure treated was crooked, full of knots and sappy. The width was different by as much as a quarter inch.

The composite was about $2 to $3 more a board.....might be worth it?

[MountainDon]

My wife wants to use the composite decking for the porch on the cabin when it gets built. I'm not sure.  :-/ I'd like to see a deck/porch that's a few years old so I can see how it wears and weathers. All the info I've found has nothing but raves;  :-/ but then it's the manufacturers saying so. It's also heavy!!

Pardon me, my skeptical cynical side is showing again. And I love new high-tech stuff.

I talked her into using PT 2x6 for the gazebo. Yes, sometimes it's hard to find good material, but maybe I lucked out. I got a bunch of freshly treated wood that was quite nice. But then the treatment plant is less than 6 miles from where I live. Can be handy.

[fourx]

I used 8 foot long hardwood boards and left a little under half inch gap between them- the free flow of air elimates rot and the dust just drops through the gaps, Don.
8x4 plywood sheets are $38 in aussie dollars here..great stuff, I lined my house walls with it, dark stained with a picture-rail and ornate skirting boards it really dresses things up..

[MountainDon]

8x4 plywood sheets are $38 in aussie dollars here..great stuff,

Here they're 4x8 sheets.... 8x4 must be a downunder thing.    

Hey, Pete, just funning ya'  

Are you getting past the coldest weather now?

[fourx]

 ...It's the building upside down thats the hard bit, Don.
Yeah, it's starting to warm up now, and dry as toast.
..a little thread-drift- your friend George from Texas is on his way down to enjoy the Aussie spring weather...and after two years of planning he has decided to arrive two days early, locking up Sydney in a security-fest nightmare of road closures, swarms of choppersand SWAT heavies everywhere- in desperation the government has declared one of the days a public holiday to ease traffic congestion.
Good old George....

[PEG688]

: George from Texas is on his way down to enjoy the Aussie spring weather...and after two years of planning he has decided to arrive two days early, locking up Sydney in a security-fest nightmare of road closures, swarms of choppersand SWAT heavies everywhere- in desperation the government has declared one of the days a public holiday to ease traffic congestion.
Good old George....

Ya all can keep him if ya want In fact we'll throw in Hillary and you can have the set

[MountainDon]

I don't see how Pete can refuse a deal like that. Please!!  

[glenn kangiser]

swarms of choppersand SWAT heavies everywhere

What good news, fourx.  Do you think they will be able to get him? :-?

Put your finest on the job.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.