Ordering Lumber Questions

[prohomesteader]

I got my material list today and I'd like to order/quote the lumber.  2 questions

1. do most of you order all your lumber at once or as you go?

2.  when it says 48 LF 6x6x4 I assume that means "48 linear feet of 6x6x4 lumber", what does that mean? just pick some random lengths and add it up to 48?  thanks.

thanks all

[Jackson Landers]

1. It depends on whether you have the money all at once. It also depends on what the fee structure is for delivery. The place where I get most of my lumber from charges a flat mileage fee for delivery, regardless of how much material is delivered at a time. So I save hundreds of dollars by having one big delivery rather than 3 or 4 separate ones.

That said, it's rare that I have more than $1,000 at any one time for materials. And if you don't have the money for all the wood at once, it's just a dumb idea to let that stop you from building anyhow.

2. Yeah, some lumberyards charge by the total linear foot rather than by the individual piece. I've never dealt with one, though. 

[Redoverfarm]

Like Peg was say it all "depends".  I mean whether to get all your material at one. If you have a place to store and money is not the problem then yes.  But like me my site was limited to begin with and I only had delivered what I could use in phases.  Alot of DIY'rs will only buy what they can afford at one time and pay as you go.  Like I said it "depends".

I would assume that the LF refers to Lineal Feet but usually not the invoice I get. Mine will state 12 -6"X6"X 4'. Assuming this is for your piers.  You might price out 8' and cut in half which would be 6- 6"x6"X8' sometimes it is cheaper.  They usually charge a milling fee.  I would say that is what they are doing is just cutting them down as I haven't seen any 4' stock in the pier material.  

[GW]

If you do order it all at once make sure you store it properly or you will end up with a lot of warped lumber.

[prohomesteader]

thanks gw, redoverfarm, and jackson landers

depends eh?

our situation is this

we have the money to buy all at one time but no where to store the wood 

so i reckon we will be buying it as we go

thanks for the suggestions

also note, the LF is on the materials list from countryplans, not quoted from a lumber yard.

[OldDog]

I just ordered in stages from my local yard.  2 miles from home.

I would call in an order and they would have it banded for me to pick up.  They will even stack it in the order you want so it works out great to pull it as needed.

I used 2 big trailers and put them in the dry every night.  Worked GOOD.

Since I bought all my material from them they dropped the price $2k for the framing, roofing & siding!!!!!  Sure was a help in staying under $30 per foot complete.

Good Luck,
Bruce

[MountainDon]

Lots of depends....     

What does "everything" entail? Just the shell and sheathing, including the roofing, interior drywall or whatever?

If it's being delivered by the dealer is there a delivery charge? Here a delivery is $50; for a single stick or a complete assortment of lumber for the frame, the sheathing, roofing, etc.

How long will it take to work through the load?



Don't think there's a hard and fast rule.

[Jackson Landers]

Prohomesteader.

It's not hard to rig up something for on-site lumber storage. Drop some used pallets (always available for free) on the ground in a convenient place and stack the lumber on top of them. Build a simple cube around the stack of lumber using 2x4s. Either brace the corners with mitered 2x4 scrap or use box-type joints as if you were building a workbench. Then scab a couple of 2' long pieces of 2x4 to the middle of opposite sides of the top, sticking straight up. Put a 2x4 between them as a ridge board. Cover this whole deal with either a couple of tarps or some inexpensive plastic sheeting. 

You'd want to do several of these for storing an entire framing package. Make one too big and the spans between the corners would get far enough that the whole thing will come down with a good puff of wind, or you'd get sag happening before you were done using up the lumber.

Literally, this takes maybe 30 minutes to build. When you don't need to store lumber in there any more, you can disassemble it and use the 2x4s for something else. Bracing walls, blocking or whatever.  A pole structure like this won't exactly last forever, what with the long spans. But the live load on the roof is practically nothing and it only needs to last until the framing of the house is done.  This is fine for temporary wood storage.

I think there is an illustration of this sort of thing in John Wagner's excellent 'House Framing' book.  At least there was in the old edition.

[ScottA]

One of the things I've run into is that when you buy a large order it can get difficult to inspect and count everything. Something usually gets missed and you end up buying it again. I try to buy only what I can use up in a week or 2 at a time but I'm picking up most of my orders. Our yards charge $20 for a delivery so it's not really a big deal. If you are dealing with a real lumber yard and not lowes or homers then you may be able to talk to the manager to get a price break as if you where buying it all at once and just think of it as them storing your material until you need it.

[Okie_Bob]

You might consider buying a utility trailer and picking up your material as you need it. I bought a new 2 wheel trailer that has a floor 6' wide by 12' long for $570. It paid for itself many times over and I still use it frequently. It's amazing, the uses you find for a trailer when you have one. Home Depot charges $50 per delivery out here regardless of the size load. I guarantee you I've saved hundreds if not thousands.
Okie Bob

[TheWire]

One thing with delivery is not being able to control the quality of the lumber.  If its coming right off a stack of new lumber it probably isn't bad.  But if you have others sorting through a stack of lumber, and putting the less than desirable lumber to the side, like I do  ,  I gotta believe there is a good chance that is the lumber they are going to put on the truck for deliveries.