Good morning,
I am new to the Calgary area and looking for a supplier of Douglas fir .
I travel throughout Alberta a lot so any supplier is a help.
I need to make some window and door casings for an addition to match the rest of an 80+ year old home.
There is a bin labeled Hem-Fir in the lumber bin at HD but the selection is really thin and the wood is a very pale color, making me think it is hemlock and not Doug Fir.
Thanks,
Adam
Replies
That's right, the FIR in HEM-FIR refers to various species of true fir (e.g., balsam fir), not Douglas-fir. Douglas-fir is always graded separately, or sometimes combined with larch (which has similar mechanical properties).
What is the appearance of the wood that you're trying to match? If it's old, it's probably clear, straight-grained stock, with relatively narrow annual growth rings. There are suppliers for that kind of material, but it's more of a specialty item, not something you're going to find from a conventional construction materials vendor. You're probably going to have to look further west (e.g., Vancouver) to find a supplier, although they may have distributors in Calgary.
-Steve
Most of the wood in the house is straight grain and it is a big variety of super tight grain and some wider grain. It's all stained pretty dark dark so I can probably get away with another species of wood and no one will know.The addition was done by the owners (my in-laws) many years ago when money was tight and skill was minimal. The window trim put on at the time was cheap and looks it. It doesn't match the rest of the house at all. New case work and all the paint, tile etc. is the Christmas gift from their kids and their partners.I figure I'm close enough to BC that there must be mills around that stock Doug Fir. Even if its rough stock, I can mill to dimension.Thanks.
Do the "real" lumberyards around Calgary not stock any at all?
-Steve
I'm also in Calgary. Forget HD. You could try Black Forest (if you haven't already) but their prices might make you shudder (if you haven't already!). I'd give LumberKing and PJ White Hardwoods a call, both run by good folks.
saschafer - Real lumber yards are what I'm looking for.PeterThomson - I'll check out Black ForestQCInspector - That list is a great help brad805 - 1000bdft is a bit much. I think I need about 35Thanks to All
35bdft, ahh, not much at all. If you go to black forest take a look in the back at their CNC. Pretty cool machine. They have some amazing carvers too for their door manufacturing. I was in Calgary a few weeks back and was chatting to one of their door production guys and commented about the carvings along with the joinery so he gave me a quick tour to show off a recent carving in one of their doors. I thought their wood prices were high too, but then I am used to rough wholesale prices. I do not recall any Hem-fir displayed on my trip.
Brad
"I do not recall any Hem-fir displayed on my trip."
He's looking for Douglas-fir, not hem-fir.
-Steve
Yes, you are correct. My bad. Should be pretty easy to find doug fir now that someone has offered some milling help. I built a jig from some salvaged doug fir on the weekend and after milling the stock looked great other than a few 3" nail holes.
Brad
"...the stock looked great other than a few 3" nail holes."
Wow. I'd like to see the nail that makes a 3" hole. Its size would have to be measured in dollars, rather than pennies. ;-)
-Steve
You are a stickler for details mr. shark :) A common 3" long nail, I do not recall its diameter, but around 1/8" +- 1/16".
Try LumberKing if you're going to try Black Forest. BF has a great selection but can be a bit of a "boutique" shop. LumberKing is an old cabin on a woodlot in the NW (Deerfoot and 38th ave?). Much better prices that BF, if they have it in stock.
The stock PJ White has for walk-ins (you and I) is pretty limited, it's what's left over from custom builders. There can be some screaming deals in there sometimes, but it's hit or miss in terms of availability.
Lumber King 4544-8A St NE - That him?
Never been up there myself. What do they usually carry?
Pretty good selection, actually, at least for domestic hardwoods. Prices are generally a bit less (sometimes a lot less!) compared to Black Forest for 4/4 lumber. Where LK shines is 8/4 lumber... only a slight (10%?) increase cost per board foot over the 4/4 lumber. Black Forest seems to generally charge per board foot (20% to 40%) for thicker stock. There are exceptions of course, I always check both for prices.
Example LumberKing prices... $CAN/bf for 4/4, doesn't include shorts (<6' lengths)
ash
3.15
domestic beech
4.99
birch
4.95
basswood
3.5
cherry
7.1
hickory
4.69
maple
5
Red Oak
3.95
popular
2.7
walnut
6.25
Thanks Peter,
It's been a while since I've had to purchase lumber from BF, but it seems to me that 4/4 Cherry was $11 for shorts.
I believe that Bacon Veneer also sells wood, ever buy from them?
Thanks all,I hope to be doing some shopping on Friday.Adam
Last I saw, cherry was $10.80/bf at BF for regular lengths of 4/4 cherry, maybe $7/bf (maybe less, can't recall exactly) for their shorts.
I haven't bought from Bacon Veneer -- to be honest, I'd never heard of them until your post but will definitely have to pop by and take a look.
LumberKing is a neat place, definitely no frills! The "office" looks like a trappers cabin (log cabin, no kidding) that was skidded in at the turn of the century. Friendly guys though, with a decent selection at decent prices. Very few of these places left, it seems!
Cheers,
Pete
http://www.phoenixwood.ca/forum/index.php?showtopic=787&pid=4614&st=0&#entry4614
Try one of the companies on this list.
I looked into buying Hem-fir from PJ White as suggested by another, but they do not carry it. They explained that the window/door manuf buy direct and other than them, there is not a lot of call for it. I found several wholesale suppliers in vancouver, but they want to sell lifts only. You probably do not need 1000bdft. Sorry I cannot help.
Good luck.
most lumber yards carry clear fir in the mouldings dept. Expensive.
In the past I've cut material costs by rough ripping smaller components out of 2x fir joists, and air drying them down to millwork moisture befopre milling them, but for some years now I even found 2x fir joists were getting scarcer and scarcer.
Some of the wholesalers are selling VG (vertical grain) fir ply which, although in the pricier range, might make sense for stuff like interior sills with an applied edging. Yu might also wanna try PJ white to see if they have rough fir.
If you find it rough and don't have the capabilities to surface it etc, drop me a line.
Eric
in Calgary
I've poked around in the 2x bins looking for fir and haven't found anything worth bringing home.I can surface the rough stuff if I can find it, but i appreciate the offer to help.Adam
Besides door jambs and cabinet wood, which can run 8 bucks a bf, the best DF logs go to make wide and long joists and rafters. The wider and longer the board, the better the log. There is a price break at 18' where longer gets more expensive, but 18' 2X12's on the West Coast right now go for around 80 cents a bf. Maybe a tad more in Calgary.
Find one and highgrade what you need from it. There are some very nice VG 6/4 boards hising in these cheapo 2X12's.
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