After 20+ years it was time to replace the wood bed on my 20' car trailer. Had a hard time finding acceptable 2x8s at HD, but found enough. Got home and installed and within one day the ends of boards starting splitting and cracking, some quite a ways up on board! Not worth tearing them all up to return; I'll just get another batch of crappy wood. Do they not dry this stuff properly or what? Can't believe they build houses out of this ****. No wonder I see so many crooked and bulging walls in new houses! Local scrap yard has a bunch of 18 ga. diamond plate I think I'll put over the top. Thanks for the vent.......
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Box Store Wood Frustrations
- Thread starter bfr57
- Start date
rlitman
Well-known member
I feel your pain.
They are full of water especially this time of the year, when you put a screw in you see water being squeezed out around the screw.. my local store sells so much there is no a dry pile to choose from.
They get rained on when they come down from the pacific northwest in trucks.
if you leave it in your garage they will mold where they sit of the ground.
builders know how to shave and work around it before finishing the walls, just that most of them don't..
They get rained on when they come down from the pacific northwest in trucks.
if you leave it in your garage they will mold where they sit of the ground.
builders know how to shave and work around it before finishing the walls, just that most of them don't..
JABgj
Well-known member
Always a treat to get lumber at HD. Spend the time to sift a pallet of stock, take it home and install it only to have it split and twist. Yeah, it's cheap, but I don't have time for twice.
Crossfire05
Well-known member
They are full of water especially this time of the year, when you put a screw in you see water being squeezed out around the screw.. my local store sells so much there is no a dry pile to choose from.
They get rained on when they come down from the pacific northwest in trucks.
if you leave it in your garage they will mold where they sit of the ground.
builders know how to shave and work around it before finishing the walls, just that most of them don't..
My father used to say always buy Douglas Fir lumber. He said it was a better grade and didn't have the moisture problems of the Southern Pine as he called it. I don't know if there is any truth to that but he was in construction his entire life.
davethorik
Well-known member
I have subbed for a general contractor that always bragged about how he "knew people" at Lowe's and could get lumber for a "deep discount."
One day was helping him make a retaining wall out of pressure treated 6x6, that he got the "deep discount" on. They were warped so badly that about half of them were twisted 90° from one end to the other.
Yeah buddy, they just give you the discount cuz of your personality...has nothing to do with the ****** excess lumber that is so messed up nobody will buy it..
One day was helping him make a retaining wall out of pressure treated 6x6, that he got the "deep discount" on. They were warped so badly that about half of them were twisted 90° from one end to the other.
Yeah buddy, they just give you the discount cuz of your personality...has nothing to do with the ****** excess lumber that is so messed up nobody will buy it..
There is a "2X4 Train" going through my N W suburban Chicago town daily.
A whole train of construction lumber.
Open cars, but all the bundles are weather wrapped for the trip.
I doubt anybody bothers to un-wrap them until they are brought inside to be sold one by one.
A whole train of construction lumber.
Open cars, but all the bundles are weather wrapped for the trip.
I doubt anybody bothers to un-wrap them until they are brought inside to be sold one by one.
7echo
Well-known member
I get better lumber and prices from a supply house as opposed to a big box.
A good option for PT lumber is to get kiln dried. Some places call it KDAT, Kiln Dried After Treatment. Some places call it Pressure Treated Kiln Dried.
A good option for PT lumber is to get kiln dried. Some places call it KDAT, Kiln Dried After Treatment. Some places call it Pressure Treated Kiln Dried.
dfiler2
Well-known member
Do you have any local saw mills near you? Hardwood will make a good trailer bed.
txvwnut
Well-known member
This reason is why went steel with my trailer floor this time.
383 240z
Well-known member
I decked my 18+2 trailer with white oak from an Amish sawmill. Sure it was fresh cut (green) but for less than $100 I'm not going to complain. I had a steel decked trailer, very slippery, I won't have another.
LS6 Tommy
Well-known member
Believe it or not, I'll take HD wood over 84 Lumber wood...
Tommy
Tommy
mustangmike6996
Well-known member
I had enough of crappy 2x4s from big stores. If I need more than a handful or only need to pick up lumber, Im going to an actual lumber yard.
redneckcharlie
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2009
- Messages
- 125
Wether it comes from the big box store or a local supplier, often the mills are from the same regions. Our normal humidity is around 30-40%. I only buy what can be framed for the day. It does not get unstacked at all until its getting used. Its not unusual for our framing to shrink 15-20% before inspections and sheathing or rocking. A perfect 2x6 at 8am is often curled like a banana by noon, much worse in the summer. I alwaya get a laugh out of the guys going board by board looking for a perfect piece not having a clue how to manipulate the material during there project.
If you get the box store lumber, stack it under shelter with small strips of wood between the boards, 2 feet apart. Place weight, like old batteries or concrete blocks on top of the pile, with wood strips under the batteries. Allow to dry for a month or more. Should have good lumber then. I use white oak that I dry by this method. I oil the trailer floor occasionally. BTW, oak lumber has a heart section which is darker than the outside sap wood, which decays easily. Try to get all heart lumber, in fact reject sap wood unless you can saw out the offending section. White oak lasts about as long as PT.
KEH
KEH
rlitman
Well-known member
... White oak lasts about as long as PT...
That depends on your environment. There are plenty of fungi that love to eat oak; even the heartwood. But many of these need to freeze over a winter, and have plenty of moisture too.
After 20+ years it was time to replace the wood bed on my 20' car trailer. Had a hard time finding acceptable 2x8s at HD, but found enough. Got home and installed and within one day the ends of boards starting splitting and cracking, some quite a ways up on board! Not worth tearing them all up to return; I'll just get another batch of crappy wood. Do they not dry this stuff properly or what? Can't believe they build houses out of this ****. No wonder I see so many crooked and bulging walls in new houses! Local scrap yard has a bunch of 18 ga. diamond plate I think I'll put over the top. Thanks for the vent.......
Did you buy kiln dried lumber or PT lumber ?
I wouldn't use kiln dried construction lumber for an open deck trailer.
PT lumber is generally still wet from the treatment, not unusual to see it twist/warp as it dries.
Bretny
Well-known member
When ever i need to buy PT lumber i always buy at least 2x what i need and let it sit to dry out. Pick the good ones and return all the ****. The PT is really bad around here. They dont even cover it in the bundle and KD PT is next to impossible to find.
3rdgendslmech
Well-known member
I've decked more than a few lowboy trailers and we would always use dried oak for it's durability. The owner tried to be cheap one year and get fresh cut oak and it only lasted a little more than a year and a half.
How did fasten the boards? Pre-drilled? Lag bolts?
How did fasten the boards? Pre-drilled? Lag bolts?
I get better lumber and prices from a supply house as opposed to a big box.
A good option for PT lumber is to get kiln dried. Some places call it KDAT, Kiln Dried After Treatment. Some places call it Pressure Treated Kiln Dried.
This is what I got we I resurfaced my deck years ago. It came for Cox Lumber, a well known wood treatment company in my home town. It was the last of the CCA lumber that Cox shipped. The company I bought it from went belly up in the 2008 meltdown.
rburke65
Well-known member
I stopped buying wood fromHD and other box stores. I have a small privately owned limber yard near by with beautiful looking, dry wood.
PNWguy
Well-known member
The reason this happens is that the forests are no longer allowed to mature before they are clearcut again. Trees that are mature enough to harvest are usually good for 2 2x4s and some leftovers for OSB.
If you don't believe me, go to the Depot and look at the ends of the 2x4 stack. Usually about half of them will contain the center of the tree. Look for a full circle of grain, and you'll see it.
Long time ago... trees were allowed to grow to a large diameter and then turned into multiple boards. Take a look at an old piece of structural lumber, and you'll see almost straight grain. It's almost straight because the diameter of the tree is so large that the circumference is almost a straight line when it only spans 2". Now that same tree is so small in diameter that it has a massive curve in the grain (again, this is all while looking at the end of the board).
You might get better wood at a real lumber yard, but don't hold your breath.
I'm about to build a flatbed for my truck, and am debating between 1" plywood and steel. Possibly some of the south American hardwoods, but that would be really expensive and probably weigh more than steel.
If you don't believe me, go to the Depot and look at the ends of the 2x4 stack. Usually about half of them will contain the center of the tree. Look for a full circle of grain, and you'll see it.
Long time ago... trees were allowed to grow to a large diameter and then turned into multiple boards. Take a look at an old piece of structural lumber, and you'll see almost straight grain. It's almost straight because the diameter of the tree is so large that the circumference is almost a straight line when it only spans 2". Now that same tree is so small in diameter that it has a massive curve in the grain (again, this is all while looking at the end of the board).
You might get better wood at a real lumber yard, but don't hold your breath.
I'm about to build a flatbed for my truck, and am debating between 1" plywood and steel. Possibly some of the south American hardwoods, but that would be really expensive and probably weigh more than steel.
wssix99
Well-known member
Did you buy kiln dried lumber or PT lumber ?
I wouldn't use kiln dried construction lumber for an open deck trailer.
Completely. Trailers typically use hardwood on them. Softwood construction lumber (treated or not) will only end up in a mangled disaster.
Here's a place that sells reclaimed semi trailer flooring - the perfect thing: https://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/semi-flooring/
Redraptor
Well-known member
That wood used for trailers and flat trucks is pricey. I used rough cut hemlock on our company yard truck. It's parked inside a lot so I don't have the rot issue.
RWorth
Well-known member
I just priced out 2x6 pt for my 36' commercial flatbed, Falmouth lumber,(local lumber yard), was $540, Lowes was $450, looked at the stock at Lowes and went to Falmouth lumber.
CJ7VFR
Well-known member
Here is the other side of this coin.
My wife wanted to add a short extension onto her garden, that was outside of the fenced part, so she could grow flowers in it. I said we could get a few of the 8 foot landscape timers that have the rounded edges on them, and make a nice extension from those.
While we were in Home Depot looking at the timbers, there happened to be one in the crappy wood section where they put the really bent up or cut up stuff. There was one timber in there that had about a 2 foot bend in it. It looked like a slightly straightened out letter "C".
My wife said, oh, look at that! Can we get that one to make a nice curve in the front of my garden extension? I was like WTF? You WANT to it to have a curve to it? She said yes. So we brought it up to the front.
The cashier looked at it and he said he was surprised they would even put it out to sell it, it looked so bent. He told us if we really wanted it, he would give it to us for free just to get it out of the store!
So we got it for free, and I was able to cut out the best portion of the "curve" that my wife wanted, and now she has her curved flower extension on her garden. It actually came out pretty cool looking, and it appears like we really went out of our way to make it like that!
Now she wants the same thing on the other side. So every time we go to HD or Lowes, we look at the crappy wood section for another curved landscape timber.
Jim
My wife wanted to add a short extension onto her garden, that was outside of the fenced part, so she could grow flowers in it. I said we could get a few of the 8 foot landscape timers that have the rounded edges on them, and make a nice extension from those.
While we were in Home Depot looking at the timbers, there happened to be one in the crappy wood section where they put the really bent up or cut up stuff. There was one timber in there that had about a 2 foot bend in it. It looked like a slightly straightened out letter "C".
My wife said, oh, look at that! Can we get that one to make a nice curve in the front of my garden extension? I was like WTF? You WANT to it to have a curve to it? She said yes. So we brought it up to the front.
The cashier looked at it and he said he was surprised they would even put it out to sell it, it looked so bent. He told us if we really wanted it, he would give it to us for free just to get it out of the store!
So we got it for free, and I was able to cut out the best portion of the "curve" that my wife wanted, and now she has her curved flower extension on her garden. It actually came out pretty cool looking, and it appears like we really went out of our way to make it like that!
Now she wants the same thing on the other side. So every time we go to HD or Lowes, we look at the crappy wood section for another curved landscape timber.
Jim
DieselNut88
Well-known member
Buy some southern yellow pine and coat with oil. It can be ordered at most lumber yards.
Isn't 84 Lunber a real lunber yard. The previous poster didn't have any luck there, either. I hope you have a better one. I have walked out if HD a number of times because I could not find enough clean lumber for the job. Doesn't it piss you off that the bad side is always face down? I gues it is so the lumbet yard will accept rhe shipment. The customer is going to turn it over. What happens to all that **** that nobody wants?I had enough of crappy 2x4s from big stores. If I need more than a handful or only need to pick up lumber, Im going to an actual lumber yard.
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James-W
Well-known member
Over the years I have found that if you want good wood you need to get it from a small local lumber yard. You will pay a lot more for it, but it is much better wood. If the project you want the wood for is to build something people will see, or if it is something you need to lay flat and not warp or split, then you want decent wood to start with. The wood the big box stores sell, for the most part anyway, is not very good. Even the plywood and OSB the big box stores sell is not all that great.
MushCreek
Well-known member
My house has concrete walls and steel studs for the internal walls. I simply couldn't find acceptable lumber anywhere. The factory made trusses were so crooked on the bottom chord that I had to cross-strap and shim the ceiling to get it flat- up to 5/8" in some spots. The engineered I-Joists for the floor seem to be pretty good and stable.
It's mostly the young, fast-growing wood that they harvest now days, bare minimum time in the kiln, and questionable grading that result in the **** lumber you get. For a trailer deck, pick through the best stuff you can find, get it bolted into place right away, and accept the fact that it's just a trailer deck.
It's mostly the young, fast-growing wood that they harvest now days, bare minimum time in the kiln, and questionable grading that result in the **** lumber you get. For a trailer deck, pick through the best stuff you can find, get it bolted into place right away, and accept the fact that it's just a trailer deck.
It's mostly the young, fast-growing wood that they harvest now days, bare minimum time in the kiln, and questionable grading that result in the **** lumber you get. For a trailer deck, pick through the best stuff you can find, get it bolted into place right away, and accept the fact that it's just a trailer deck.
Agreed on both accounts. I haul everything on my open trailer, from vehicles to fire wood, demolition to stone or sand. I run a shovel across it all the time. It's been used but not abused and has well paid for itself several times over.
Stellaontap
Well-known member
I just grabbed some 2x8 from the local lumberyard....they were definitely cut from logs that weren’t big enough to produce good 2x8’s. They were expensive too.
Eric
Eric
gtae07
Well-known member
I had better luck getting lumber from Lowe's than I did the specialty lumber yard. The Lowe's stuff was straight, dry, and whole, and didn't start molding right off the bat. But I think they get regular lumber from in-state (southern pine from G-P).
Finding pressure-treated stuff is another ballgame. You have to sift, be patient, and let it dry out.
Finding pressure-treated stuff is another ballgame. You have to sift, be patient, and let it dry out.
James-W
Well-known member
When I built my garage I got the lumber from a small town lumber yard and the wood was VERY good. I did have to return a small handful of 2X6's but not very many. For the most part the wood was wonderful, MUCH better than the wood at a big box store.
GarageGuy89
Well-known member
I buy straight from the mill. They are half the price of big box stores and the quality is better.
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Musicinabottle
Banned
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2016
- Messages
- 3,371
Now, I'm in timber country big time. I've also built homes since the early 1980s, so accustomed to great and horrible materials. That said, I've some of the best dimensional at Home depot, period. But that's up here too.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Look at real KD Doug Fir from a reputable full-service lumberyard. Huge difference between that and the SPF (Spruce-Pine-Fir) and Hem-Fir at the big-box stores...
MushCreek
Well-known member
Hard to find Douglas Fir in the east, especially the southeast.
AZ Pete
Well-known member
I've decked more than a few lowboy trailers and we would always use dried oak for it's durability. The owner tried to be cheap one year and get fresh cut oak and it only lasted a little more than a year and a half.
How did fasten the boards? Pre-drilled? Lag bolts?
hope it was white oak, red oak does not do well out doors.
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