Hello!! I’ve got a very exciting announcement.
I’m not a lumberyard virgin anymore!!!! You may be rolling your eyes like “yeah, so?” but this is a big deal for this girl!
I have always wanted to go to a lumberyard, I’ve always wanted to build stuff out of awesome wood, I’ve even googled local yards on multiple occasions. But I just couldn’t ever pull the trigger. There was something super intimidating about it, and though I’m not one that is easily scared off, I was terrified of this unknown world. A couple of months ago I was chatting with my friend who owns a cabinet shop and asked him where in the world he scored all of gorgeous wood that he uses for cabinets. He told me the lumberyard (of course) and so I asked him, how exactly does it work? He told me that he was pretty sure that they would sell it to me (that I didn’t have to be a tradesman) and that they would bring it out and I could pick the pieces that I want. Seemed easy enough. So when the time came to build Tyler’s headboard I was pumped and ready to go buy wood. at the lumberyard.
Deep breath.
The closer I got to the yard, the more nervous I became. I was actually sweating, which is a huge thing for me because I NEVER sweat. Even at the gym.
When I got there, I walked into the office. There were some seriously burly men behind the counter that looked up at me and kind of did the eyebrow raise head tilt like I was lost. (I’m sure looked like I was!) I told them that I wanted to buy some awesome wood and asked how one would go about doing so. They asked what kind I wanted (I had no idea! Is awesome a type?!) and pointed to a wall of different wood blocks. There are no prices, just types. So I picked my favorite and asked how much it was. When you buy wood from Home Depot its priced per liner foot meaning the width of the board doesn’t matter, it is just based on how much length you need. When you buy wood from the lumberyard it is priced per square foot, so they take into account the width and length of the board. I didn’t completely understand but nodded in agreement, acted like I knew what was going on, and they asked me to pull my truck into the dock.
A guy with a forklift and a massive pile of wood came out and I was sort of surprised at just how different each piece was. When you buy lumber from the yard its rough cut, meaning there is no standard size. You have to cut it to the size you need and smooth everything out yourself.
I picked a few pieces that had really pretty coloring, the guy took out his tape measure and measured the boards and wrote some stuff on a paper that I then took back into the office to pay for. I had NO IDEA how much this thing was going to cost me. I didn’t know if I was spending $40 or $400. It felt like I was walking the green mile because what if it was $400 and I had to tell them that I didn’t want to spend $400 and then I had to unload all of the wood out of my truck?! I would look like such a freak!!
Luckily it was only $70. Which I was very comfortably surprised about. After I had paid, they asked me if I wanted a donut and I felt a little bit like part of the gang. Granted I haven’t been back yet, but I feel like I could rock that lumberyard like a pro next time.
So, do you have any tips for lumberyard newbs? I would LOVE some more insight!
Tutorial for the headboard is coming tomorrow, but dare I say, it turned out pretty fantastic!
Can you hear the angels singing, pretty sure that the light streaming in helps with that sound effect a little….
via Mandi at My 1st Trip to the Lumber Yard
