Wickes timber prices

[MattF]

I'm lucky to have a proper sawmill at canonbie down the road, he'll cut what ever I want and treat it properly but its rough sawn and fencing/shed/stable material, no good for stud walls etc

And he's really really cheap!

Cheap always helps. I tend to go with planed/studwork timber for everything, even external work. I've generally found that planed seems more resilient to moisture than rough sawn, so I just use it for everything nowadays. This wood I'm after at the moment is for some racking for the shed, and possibly also for something along these lines, eventually:

 

[julianf]

We used to get 20% discount at Wicks.

My partner's boss's son worked there... We were down as his 'cousins' for the family discount : )


Wicks is cheap for a lot of stuff - as cheap as anywhere ive found for things like cement or sharp sand if you buy 10-off, but, as i say, timber was cheaper (for us) at a specialist (after the family moved away : )

 

[julianf]

Cheap always helps. I tend to go with planed/studwork timber for everything, even external work. I've generally found that planed seems more resilient to moisture than rough sawn, so I just use it for everything nowadays. This wood I'm after at the moment is for some racking for the shed, and possibly also for something along these lines, eventually:

Is that your photo? Looks interesting.


We've just put in a new floor in the 'lounge' here, as the joists / boards / skirtings were all rotten.

The house is old ish (1850s) and its all stone and lime plaster etc. so we did not want modern laminate fooring.

The solution - a load of old scaffold boards, some time with a belt sander, and a load of floor wax. The floor looks like its been there 80 years (in a good way), and it cost less than the cheapest laminate available : )

 

[doubleboost]

I needed some oak or beech to make a trolley for my Lister
Wicks & B&Q just did not understand
I went to a local timber yard
The foreman came out with this scabby old plank of wood
Once he had put it through the band saw the transition was amazing
Proper English oak
2 inch / 4 inch 8 foot long £15 cash
Proper job

 

[julianf]

When i get some spare cash (&space) a planer thicknesser is on my 'wants' list.

I was not that into wood previously, but, if you need custom stuff, you can knock up exactly what you want, to fit the space, for less than you would buy a crap ikea throw-away for.

Examples -

Our bedroom door used to be the tounge and groove wall down the side of the stairs.
Our bathroom cabinet used to be the stud work behind the dry lining in the old kitchen (and its slate top used to be an old snooker table)
The floor was old scaffold boards

Im saving the remains of the joists i pulled out of the floor to make a kitchen island with. Theyre aincient oak, but they'd rotted at the ends, and in the middle - still plenty of good material left.

This beam was out of an old barn close to where we live -

(note, its elm - elm hasnt grown that big in the uk for a good number of years!)

(that hearth was the same snooker table too!)





Which is nicer than what was there -

 

[MattF]

Is that your photo? Looks interesting.

It's one I found online of a machine room/workshop floor. I'll dig out the link and post it. I'm sure I bookmarked it somewhere. Was thinking of trying something similar in the house. Our lass has been nagging me for ages over flooring, but I refuse point blank to have laminate, and not fussed on tiles, so this seemed a good possibility.

We've just put in a new floor in the 'lounge' here, as the joists / boards / skirtings were all rotten.

The house is old ish (1850s) and its all stone and lime plaster etc. so we did not want modern laminate fooring.

The solution - a load of old scaffold boards, some time with a belt sander, and a load of floor wax. The floor looks like its been there 80 years (in a good way), and it cost less than the cheapest laminate available : )

It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of alternative thinking, time and patience, isn't it. Just because no-one's done it or it not being generally done doesn't mean it can't or won't work. Any chance you might have a photo or two of the finished floor? I'd be interested to see that.


Edit: Just seen your photo's. Looks like you had your work cut out for you there. Some tidy repurposing.

 

[MattF]

I needed some oak or beech to make a trolley for my Lister
Wicks & B&Q just did not understand
I went to a local timber yard
The foreman came out with this scabby old plank of wood
Once he had put it through the band saw the transition was amazing
Proper English oak
2 inch / 4 inch 8 foot long £15 cash
Proper job

It's lovely when you get what appears to be a grotty piece of timber and then see it after a bit of work, isn't it. The top on my bench was like that. My dad gave me a few boards years ago. They were green bright with moss and such. The brother-in-law ran them over the planer and they were practically mint underneath.

 

[MattF]

This is the page where I got that photo of the flooring from.

http://www.pa.msu.edu/services/machine-shop/shopfloor.htm

 

[bigegg]

Whenever I want timber, I always head to my local scaffolding firm (Trad) and buy their old boards - 50p a foot for 9inx1.25in.
Wire brush/pressure wash. Run it through the planer. Gorilla glue+biscuits/splines of I need BIG lumps (like for fence posts).
resaw or rip to size.
decent planer/thicknesser (dewalt or elu) is about 250 quid. half decent table saw about 100. bandsaw about 150ish.
less than a decent welder!

 

[brightspark]

Whenever I want timber, I always head to my local scaffolding firm (Trad) and buy their old boards - 50p a foot for 9inx1.25in.
Wire brush/pressure wash. Run it through the planer. Gorilla glue+biscuits/splines of I need BIG lumps (like for fence posts).
resaw or rip to size.
decent planer/thicknesser (dewalt or elu) is about 250 quid. half decent table saw about 100. bandsaw about 150ish.
less than a decent welder!

christ thats dear . i been paying 2 quid for 12 footers as many as i want

 

[bigegg]

That's the *official* price.

 

[MattF]

The scaffolders round here seem to be the type who wouldn't part with their own turds if they could help it.

 

[bigegg]

The scaffolders round here seem to be the type who wouldn't part with their own turds if they could help it.

Strange as it sounds, you want a BIG firm - the sort who do 12 storey office blocks.
They scrap boards after every job, and are usually glad to get rid - especially over winter, when there's no DIY gardeners wanting "couple of bits for my allotment"

 

[sardine]

Cheap always helps. I tend to go with planed/studwork timber for everything, even external work. I've generally found that planed seems more resilient to moisture than rough sawn, so I just use it for everything nowadays. This wood I'm after at the moment is for some racking for the shed, and possibly also for something along these lines, eventually:

we need the lowdown on this one, thickness, adhesive, ect.

 

[TTT]

The whole builders yard thing is a joke. I was at one of them a while back, wanted a tin of MAPP gas. Its £10.50 or somthing at toolstation, and you get free delivery over a tenner. They wanted £17.90 for the tin PLUS vat! I told them, without aggression, that that price was just crazy, and, suddenly, it drops to £11 inc.


Builders merchants are like being in some north african market.

That reminds me of the time I was trying to buy a decent size plate of steel for a work bench top. Asked for something like 1000x500x10 steel, quoted near £200. Said no thanks and suddenly they found an offcut exactly that size for £100! Said no thanks again and found somewhere else.

 

[Rig Pig]

Jewsons undercut everyone on my last building project, I rang round every supplier in the phone book.

 

[Kent]

In case some don't Know the DIY sheds will deal with trade at way different prices than they do retail, also the likes of B&Q sell to pensioners cheaper on Wednesday. Watch calling the timer yards and builders merchants for charging more to a guy off the street because the sheds are doing that also in spades.
I have spent usually about 50k per annum with the likes of TP, is it so bad I get a bit of a deal over Fred Blogs for his two lengths ? All said and done most builders merchants and Timber yards will still deliver FOC and the fact remains you can buy about 500 screws at the merchants for the price of 50 at a DIY shed, who is diddling who?

 

[brightspark]

l

Jewsons undercut everyone on my last building project, I rang round every supplier in the phone book.

maybee they did but that dont mean u get the best price whatever u buy . i allways get the best price on everything i buy but it has to be done over 3 wholesalers or play one of against the other on certain things and they will match the cheapest on there over priced gear

 

[ukracer]

Jewsons is a good place just go and speak to the manager and ask what they can do for you....

 

[Kent]

l
maybee they did but that dont mean u get the best price whatever u buy . i allways get the best price on everything i buy but it has to be done over 3 wholesalers or play one of against the other on certain things and they will match the cheapest on there over priced gear

a good idea especially if you tell them that's what you do, I used to deal with a fella who used to send out lists of stuff he had bought in the past for pricing as if they were new jobs just in- just to keep suppliers thinking he was getting better prices when he said "no thanks got it elsewhere this time". Sooner or later you find a branch manager who will price stuff in line with his weekly volume requirements rather than his profit desire.

I use about four steel suppliers at present though I don't send out fake jobs, even do this on small jobs. Always polite in my reply when I get it elsewhere mind. Besides anything else its always good to have at least one high quote you can show your customer on the materials if they start to negotiate price.