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where else than Homedepot or Rona to buy lumber, plywood, plank ?

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Newbie
Jul 3, 2006
68 posts
GVA

where else than Homedepot or Rona to buy lumber, plywood, plank ?

I want to make some shelves, an attic staircase, some furniture, etc.

Where from could I buy wood, plywood and all that stuff, but cheaper than Homedepot?

I'm in the Vancouver area.
10 replies
Deal Addict
Mar 21, 2006
4478 posts
478 upvotes
Burlington, Ontario
Unfortunately with Home Depot being the third largest retailer in the world, you may have a hard time finding timber lumber any cheaper.

But there are several timber stores other than Rona/HD/Lowes. Many of them are more set up for contractors who know exactly what they are looking for and offer delivery to a job site.

Look in your local Yellow Pages under building supplies, or lumber.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Nov 20, 2002
873 posts
37 upvotes
Edmonton
I agree :arrowu: , in terms of dimensional lumber, the major centres like HD and Rona tend to be the best priced and they also tend to be roughly equivalent in price - they all try to keep prices about the same, quality is a different matter.

If you are looking for specialty woods (e.g. cherry, mahogany, etc), you would find plenty of choices at a place like Windsor Plywood, however you will almost surely not find cheaper prices there.

Once you get away from common building materials (lumber, drywall, etc) I have found that HD tends to be on the more expensive side, something that I attribute to the price of maintaining their "flashy" appearance! ;) I find that Rona and even moreso, [rfdlink=/forums/autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=24]Canadian Tire[/rfdlink], can be cheaper for things like plumbing and electric. However the amount of disorganization seems to be inversely proportional to prices! :P
Deal Addict
Mar 22, 2005
2008 posts
10 upvotes
I agree with looking through your phone book for lumber yards. There are many alternatives to Home Depot. You'll get different grades, types and species not available at Home Depot. Home Depot and Rona only carry the most common types and make you think the only types of trees in this world are spruce, pine, red oak, maple, birch and cedar. I haven't seen much walnut, mahogany, ash and so forth.

If you're building furniture, you'll want higher grades of rough sawn hardwoods not available in the big box stores. They have a limited selection of milled hardwood (mostly 3/4), but you pay double the price of rough sawn and it's likely cupped anyway. Big box stores don't joint their hardwoods for straightness, so if there's a defect then it'll still exist after milling.

I used to buy 1/2" plywood sheathing for about $40/sheet at Rona because it was the cheapest, somewhat acceptable grade for shop projects. Then I found local lumber suppliers that sell 3/4" shop grade hardwood ply in much better condition (C3) for around the same price. For furniture and cabinets where you need G2S plywood, I don't think Rona or Home Depot sells it. I saw some plywood labeled "cabinet quality" for $80 at Rona, but I think it was only G1S. I haven't seen similar sheet stock at my local Home Depot.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jul 14, 2005
673 posts
154 upvotes
Out IN BC you also have Windsor (like what the other posted said), but also Curtis Lumber, Dicks Lumber, Standard Building Products ...
Newbie
Jul 3, 2006
68 posts
GVA
I went to Windsor Plywood and found they have all kinds of wood, from pine, fir and cedar to maple, oak and exotic species. Different sizes, cuts and finishings.

I also found Nucasa (aka The Finishing Touch).

Exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks for all the replies.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Nov 20, 2002
873 posts
37 upvotes
Edmonton
yeah, Windsor plywood has an impressive selection!
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jan 30, 2005
787 posts
Check out Totem too. I Found the HD had the worst selection of lumber, whenever I made a search the wood was warped. Totem was an actual lumber yard.
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Newbie
Jan 8, 2008
3 posts
Vancouver
I see this is an outdated post but I wanted to mention that Smith Plywoods is another great store as an alternative to HD/Rona. Crazy cheap/competitive prices!
Deal Guru
Jan 25, 2007
12695 posts
7861 upvotes
Paris
The box store veneered plywood has 4-5 layers where most lumber stores have 8-10 layers and a void free ply centre. Usually for less money too.
Deal Addict
Dec 17, 2007
2625 posts
1620 upvotes
Alliston, ON
KeizerSoze wrote: I see this is an outdated post but I wanted to mention that Smith Plywoods is another great store as an alternative to HD/Rona. Crazy cheap/competitive prices!
Good advertisement for your company in an 11yr old thread...

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