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None of these points address the hardest parts of buying lumber for a beginner. The hardest parts are in no particular order * knowing the maximum dimensions y
by id_ris 6y ago
None of these points address the hardest parts of buying lumber for a beginner. The hardest parts are in no particular order
* knowing the maximum dimensions you can fit into your vehicle. Are you sure it'll fit in through the door or hatch and you'll be able to close it?
* knowing what cuts you can make at home, and which ones you need to have done at the lumber yard / big box retailer.
* if you need cuts done at the store, does that store offer that service? For example the Menards I shop at has an amazing selection of wood, but they won't cut any of it for me. The Lowe's has a smaller selection, but they do cuts for free.
* if you're having cuts at the store, make sure the saw is working before doing the hard work of choosing your lumber. Too many times to count I've spent 30 minutes getting all the pieces loaded on the cart and then noticed the "Out of Order" sign and had to leave empty handed.
* are you strong enough to lift the piece? Plywood comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets, and they can be heavy and awkward to move. A store employee can help you, but at some point you're on your own and will need to do it yourself, have some help, or fashion some tools to assist you.
* For cuts at the store, do you know what dimensions to tell the employee to cut at? Store cuts should be considered rough cuts than you true up later on. Make sure you account for this when dictating the cuts.
* Lastly, just assume you'll make mistakes early on. Luckily construction lumber in the US is pretty cheap, so you can afford a few lessons.
- audiometry 6y agoBuy some ratchet straps and be bold — you can drag home plywood on the roof of your car. Just batten it down well. (Unless you’re very precious about the finish of your car)
- kyleee 6y agobuy a few swimming pool noodles and put them underneath the load, very cheap and effective. Put a twist in the lengths of ratchet straps too and it will prevent them whistling at speed
- dylan604 6y agoif you're at a big box store like home depot/lowes, and you find yourself without the swimming noodles you can substitute the outdoor pipe insulation that comes in long foam tubes. or look in the moving supplies area for furniture pads.
- everybodyknows 6y agoOne more: The stores won't cut pressure-treated for you -- "It's toxic". So you'll need a circular saw, and a good respirator, which may be hard to buy just now ...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- fisherjeff 6y agoFor what it’s worth, PT lumber has been arsenic-free, in the US at least, for almost 20 years now
- TwoBit 6y agoThey still won't cut it.
- war1025 6y agoDoes anyone happen to know how toxic the new copper compounds are? Obviously they are toxic enough to microbes to make the wood rot resistant. Also a fun fact I learned since our deck was originally built 15-20 years ago shortly after the switch-over to the new treated wood: They needed to re-formulate the coatings they put on fasteners to hold up decent in the new treated wood. It took them a couple years to figure that out or at least for the knowledge to be widely known. All the screws in our deck that I took out were corroded to the point that many of them looked more like toothpicks than screws when I removed them.
- stevehawk 6y agoA few of those bullet points sound like a reason to have a friend with a truck.
- war1025 6y agoMany home improvement stores also let you rent a truck for something in the neighborhood of $20. Also, you could check with your local lumber yard. Their products are often slightly more expensive, but also significantly higher quality. Plus, the one I go to will deliver for free within city limits.
- gcheong 6y agoHaving a sunroof has saved me more often than I care to admit.
- war1025 6y agoHaving just rebuilt a deck and installed 200sqft of wood flooring, I'd like to add that if you are just dabbling in around the house projects, you can get much further than you might expect with a hand saw. I have a circular saw, but it both scares the piss out of me and is hard to keep on the line. A hand saw theoretically takes longer, but I also don't have to worry about my kids getting hold of it and killing themselves. If I was cutting plywood to size, I'd probably still get out the circular saw, but for basically everything else the handsaw is my tool of choice.
- eric4smith 6y agoOne of my favorite You-tubers Andrew Camarata told the story of how he got a chainsaw at 10 years old. He hid it from his dad for months and used it. Then when his dad saw it he allowed him to use it on the provisio that he "be careful". The trouble with the world today is that we're no longer allowing our kids to do anything useful for fear that they "injure" themselves. So everyone grow up not really knowing even how to hammer a nail. I sympathize with your feeling having a kid myself, but without exposing them to even some slight danger, they will not grow up learning how to navigate the dangers in the world.
- war1025 6y agoWell, they're 4, 2, and 2. Maybe in a couple years we'll get more adventurous with power tools. They're still working on "don't run out in front of cars"
- calvinmorrison 6y agoFewer kids probably after missing fingers these days
- germinalphrase 6y agoSawstop saws are pretty cool [0]. I’ve been in the woodshop of a nearby high school that has two of their table saws installed. On the wall are attached three wrecked blades from a student setting off the safety mechanism. Each one could have been some kid’s finger or hand. I’m sympathetic to your argument - but power tools aren’t ‘slight’ danger. [0]https://www.sawstop.com/ https://www.sawstop.com/
- fingerlocks 6y agoWith an inexpensive battery powered sawzaw you can rough cut the lumber in the parking lot. That resolves pretty much all your bullet points.