Travis Perkins timber

Wickes just requires the right buying method. Their stock is a mix of good & bananas, go when they've brought stuff out, sort through it & you're good. Go when the shelves are near empty & all you'll see is bananas. If you can go more than once to buy it generally works fine. If in a rush, go elsewhere.

NT

I went to wickes last week to get 16 lengths of 8' 6"x2" - figuring I could just about get them in the boot with the seats folded down.

Unfortunately the only stuff they had in stock were 3m and 3.6m lengths. Just as well I thought to take my 18V circular saw as well, and setup shop in the car park :-)

Also worth finding a very busy branch - less time for stuff to deteriorate on the shelf. I find if I buy plaster at our local one, its quite often still warm!

Mainly just very fast growing timber species are most often used...

Don't you actually check it before buying?

I did, but I missed the curve on one axis. Which I only spotted after I'd painted it up and butted it up against a straight piece of wood - the curve was obvious.

This was the best of the bunch they had, which was even worse. And the reviews on the Wickes site suggest they send out bananas on delivery orders, when you don't get a choice. And sometimes it would be better to buy the longer stuff for delivery, rather than set up a saw bench in the car park.

Theo

Sadly, it depends a lot on the individual branch.

Ridgeons used to be good for timber, but not so much now locally.

I used TP a lot because I had a trade account and a twin wheeled trailer with an 8' by 4' bed and a ladder rack so I could go and sort through the racks of timber and pick half way decent lengths and then take them away in the trailer.

If you rely on delivery then you take your chances.

Sadly, the trailer has been sold on. Happily I don't need much timber these days.

I still miss that trailer {sniff}.

B&Q and Homebase used to be awful for timber. S*it as a very s*it s*it thing.

For good timber go out into the countryside to a real timber yard. Costs a bit, though.

Cheers

Dave R

The problem I have is that none of the local timber companies open at all over weekends.

One is almost within sight, and decent prices, but getting there during opening hours can be difficult.

Reject it.

Taking it home is cheaper. Delivery makes sense if you're buying a lot.

NT

What ever you buy, once you get it home and it dries out then it distorts.

Wickes only sell C16 timber. You're bvetter off going to a proper merchant and buying C24 which should have more consistent moisture and fewer knots.

But the bars from my Astra F don't fit my Astra H, sod it.

Some of it from illegal logging in the Ukraine.

The best timber should be from Russia, nice and slow growing, but they are restricting exports.

I have both. Although the trailer is only 5'x3', I can can carry 8'x4' sheets on it with a small overhang at the front and a larger one at the back. I have had a 5.2m joist (for my conservatory) on the roof bars and

My father once took an extension ladder to France (to work on their holiday home) - the sections slung side by sides *under* the roof bars ... to keep under the height limit and avoid having to pay extra.

SteveW

The art of cutting timber that doesnt, exists, but cheap it aint.

Quarter sawn stock from tree boles - not branches that grew under assymmetric stress - is possible.

In general though its about one length in 10 or less.

Timber - structural lumber, as opposed to that intended for joinery - needs to be understood to be an approximate material.

That is why engineered wood is so popular.

Its just better.

I always look down the length where the foreshortening makes any curve obvious. There is usually some other chap doing the same and you give a little nod. Serious timber comes from local Avon Timber. It is straight.

Simon.

My exprience with drying wickes stuff indoors before use, which I normally do for 1 or 2 months, is that most of it's fine, but it is wise to buy a bit more as the odd one isn't. It still works out cheaper in total than other suppliers.

NT

The timber I bought from Wickes the other week was Tanalised C24 (although they had labelled and catalogued it as C16).

For joists and similar applications, a bit of curve is not a bad thing - just make sure you "camber up" each timber as you fix it, and you end up with less sag at mid span.