# Best place to buy wood in Northern VA



## WEC

Hi all,
I'm new to the forums and have only been working wood as a hobby for a couple years. I've been planning out some larger projects (cabinets & some book cases) and I'm struggling to really figure out how to find the best places around me to buy the lumber. I'm trying hard to avoid the big blue and orange stores and I've done some goolge searching but thought I would see if there was any out there in my area with recommendations. Essentially looking for considerations of cost (shocking I know) but also quality and variety. Any and all recommendations would be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
-WEC


----------



## CrafterOfWood

NoVA can be a big area, but I'll give you my favorite locations around the Manassas area:

http://www.northlandforest.com/manassas.shtml
http://www.viennahardwood.com/
http://cpjohnsonlumber.com/

Always interested in finding other sources as well.


----------



## pj1

Great to see someone else from the area on here. I am just getting into woodworking as well so by no means an expert. I first went to woodcraft in springfield but their wood selection is very minimal. As the store representative said "we are much more of a tool store that sells a little wood than a place to come get wood" He did however point me in the direction of Vienna Hardwood mentioned in the above post. I haven't checked it out yet but he mentioned reasonable price and selection. Good luck and be sure to post any good finds you come across so I can take seconds!


----------



## WEC

Thanks for the suggestions! The Manassass area is EXACTLY what I was hoping to hear about since I'm in the Gainesville area myself.

I've looked at going to Northlandforest a few times but they were closed the one day I actually ventured over. Had not heard of viennahardwood nor cpjohnsonlumber so I'll have to give those a look as well.


----------



## CrafterOfWood

Be prepared when you go to Vienna, it is not a well organized lumber yard. If you touch the wrong board, you may end up under a pile. It is an interesting place that you have to visit at least once though! Good luck.


----------



## jroth33139

I have used Exoctic Lumber in Gaithersburg. Very well organized, nice people, if you don't mind the trip into Maryland. http://www.exoticlumberinc.com/

Echo the comment about Vienna Hardwood. The folks are nice, but not very organized and not the selection one can get elsewhere.


----------



## ScottC

If you are in Gainesville then by all means go to Northland Forest Products. I VERY HIGHLY recommend them! Excellent selection, fair prices, very friendly and very helpful. They will either help you all you need or leave you alone to figure out what you want. You pick the wood yourself. You should go today as they are open on Saturdays. Do not be intimidated at all when you walk in. Just introduce yourself and then go crazy. They will even let you back your vehicle through the roll up doors to load your purchase. I used to live in PWC but now live in Fairfax City and it's still more than worth the drive for me to go NFP.

Unfortunately, I can not recommend Vienna Hardwoods at all. Poor selection and not very helpful. Horrible set up and arrangement of their facility. They seem to be more interested in selling hardwood flooring these days.

CP Johnson has excellent lumber but he is down in Culpeper so that is a little far from me. When I have bought from him it was at the Woodworking Shows.


----------



## pj1

I agree with your opinion on Vienna hardwood. I went there this week and it seemed very unorganized. I went looking for some 6/4 hard maple and purple heart. They didn't have it and when I asked about ordering it he said it may be many weeks. Pretty disappointed. That was my first ever "lumber yard" trip and it was not what I expected. Next time I will make the trip up and check out Northland and Exotic Lumber. Thanks for the recommendations. I am down around Tyson's so it isn't too far a trip.


----------



## ScottC

Vienna Hardwoods is downright dangerous!

I forgot to comment on Springfield Woodcraft; They do have some selection of woods, but as implied earlier, that is not their main sales item. You may find some nice boards, but they don't restock very often. The prices are actually not bad, and they are good if you need to find one board to finish a project. They also have a club card so you can earn 10% off after you spend $100. They are probably best for turning blanks and small exotics.

One other to mention is Colonial Hardwoods in Springfield/Newington. They are actually a combo cabinet shop, hardwood and supply seller. Decent selection, but their prices are the highest of all mentioned in this thread. They do have a nice cut-off bargain bin that you can pick through, but there are no guarantees on what you may find from day to day.

I have seen a couple of sawyers on Craigslist in NoVa, but I have not dealt with them. Seems like green wood most of the time.


----------



## WoodWorkers

Hello. Any chance anyone knows of a lumber yard open on Sundays? Thanks for all the links and suggestions above, I checked out all of those, no luck so far.

I think it would be rare for one to be open on Sundays, but would definitely go there tomorrow if they are open.

Need some ground contact 2×6s and hope to lay them down tomorrow while the weather is decent.

Thanks!


----------



## WoodWorkers

Adding on to my first post - I meant:

Hello. Any chance anyone knows of a lumber yard open on Sundays IN VIENNA / Northern VA / MD?


----------



## jar944

> Adding on to my first post - I meant:
> 
> Hello. Any chance anyone knows of a lumber yard open on Sundays IN VIENNA / Northern VA / MD?
> 
> - WoodWorkers


Not other than home depot or lowes. Most real yards close early Saturday as well.

Northland is open till 4 on Saturdays, but don't expect to find treated lumber there. Also since you mentioned you were just starting out they do have some s4s poplar and some s2sr1e most of their selection is rough boards.


----------



## AandCstyle

You might contact Herbine Hardwoods. I just found them yesterday through woodfinder.com so I don't know what he has. It seems like he doesn't have regular hours so he might be willing to help you on a Sunday. I know that he promptly answered my email and was quite helpful, but I don't have any first hand experience other than the email exchange. HTH


----------



## WoodWorkers

jar944 - thanks for the tip about Northland boards.

AandCstyle - thank you for letting me know about http://www.herbinehardwood.com and the http://www.woodfinder.com site, both great to know about.


----------



## jfoobar

Since this old thread has been updated this year, I'll update it again. On 4/16, the Northland Forest Products store in Manassas *closed*. As a very minor consolation, they are in the midst of expanding their Troy, VA location. However, since it is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from much of NoVA to Troy, this doesn't help many of us much.

I have not yet been to Herbine Hardwoods, but it certainly is a heck of a lot closer than the remaining NFP in Virginia so I'm sure I'll get up there sooner or later.


----------



## joshtp

I'll just add that Hardwoods in the Rough just opened in Manassas a few months ago, though I haven't visited it yet:

Hardwoods in the Rough
8428 Quarry Rd
Manassas, VA
(571) 292-1234


----------



## CharlesNeil

2nd Hardwoods in the rough


----------



## AandCstyle

I haven't been to Hardwoods in the Rough, but I have been told that it is either owned or managed by the person that used to manage the Manassas NFP. I will try to visit it if I ever finish my shutters.


----------



## FredWorkshop

Hardwoods in the Rough is a great place! We also have a hardwood lumber store at The Fredericksburg Workshop. We are located at 1104 Summit St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401. Our facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/theworkshopllc/

Thanks!


----------



## HokieKen

For the record, I visited the Fredericksburg workshop a couple weeks ago when I was visiting my sister. Great place and the guy that helped me, Tim I believe was his name, was super friendly and helpful. I wanted a couple bf of a couple exotics and he gladly cut down larger pieces for me. Highly recommend you drop in and check out their set up there - kind of a community shop in addition to the lumber racks. Really cool place and fair prices on hard to find exotics and figured woods.


----------



## ChefHDAN

Southern Maryland is really not too far from NoVA, if you don't mind going over the bridge. Dennis of Southern MD Hardwood runs a great sawmill and has some awesome wood, I was there a few weeks ago and he was putting 8/4 slabs of 27" diameter holly into the kiln, it was gorgeous. He also farm raises fish on the property and has great deals, and often has freebies for his woodworkers, last time it was a cooler full of Chincoteauge Oysters to sample. Maybe an hour's drive from the Wilson bridge through some pretty country, its out in the middle of nowhere, and his hours are always kind of different, just give him a call and he'll take good care of you. Click the link to see his specials for the month and also see the tab for fishing if you've got kids, they'll have a hell of a time, there's some really big ones in the ponds.


----------



## Hudsonwoodworking

I'll add Dunlap Woodcrafts in Chantilly. It's not a huge lumber yard, but you can find some good stuff. We get most of our wood from there, doesn't hurt they are right across the parking lot. ;-)
www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com


----------



## sawdustdad

Closer to NoVa than Troy, VA, is Wurth Wood Group (formerly Plywood and Plastics) at 1701 Rhoadmiller St, Richmond, VA 23220. Prices are very reasonable. Would be under 2 hours from most of NoVa.

Siewer's Lumber and Millwork at 1901 Ellen Rd, Richmond, VA 23230, is a huge place with a great selection. Prices are higher than Wurth but the selection is an order of magnitude greater.

Siewers and Wurth are only about a mile apart off the Boulevard Exit of I-95 in Richmond.

If it's any help, the VA ABC warehouse is in the same neighborhood…


----------

