# Where to buy Wood in St. Louis



## ThinShavings (Sep 14, 2009)

I am very frustrated. I spent all day trying to find someone to sell me a 4×4 sheet of 1/4" Lauan. I used to buy all of my nice lumber at Wood'n Shop, but he moved out to the boonies and only sells online now. So now I don't know where to buy nice lumber. I ended up at Woodcraft to buy a sheet of 1/4" baltic birch, but this is not what I wanted.

So my real question is, is there anyone within St Louis City/County that sells good hardwood? I was directed to St Charles Hardwood, which is fine if I want to spend my Saturday's driving instead of cutting wood. I live in Webster Groves. Any other suggestions for somewhere to look that might be closer? St Louis Hardwood in Sunset Hills didn't seem very interested in selling to me as a home woodworker. Was I just rubbed wrong? Is there anyone else on this side of town?

Thanks for any help from anyone 'round here!


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Charles, I have found some pretty good lumber deals on Craigslist. They do not come along on a daily basis but do appear regularily. Here are are couple of posters that are selling hardwood lumber in the St. Louis area. They may be of some help to you.


----------



## woodnplug (Mar 28, 2010)

St Charles Hardwood,s has a location just off 141 near the Gravois Mill shopping plaza. It's on the street behind Old Navy store. Not too far from WG. You better call them for their hours cause I don't think they're open on Sat afternoons, maybe just mornings.


----------



## StLouisWoodworker (Jul 7, 2007)

If you are looking for local domestic hardwoods and some exotics, try:
Rockler , 11977 St. Charles Rock Rd
Bill Cerny (independent mill & kiln in Edwardsville, ph. 618-410-5431)
Scott Wunder (another independent, ph. 314-574-6036)
Main suggestion: come to a meeting of the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild and talk with members.
meets at Creve Coeur Community Center on Ballas Rd. 3rd Thur. each month, 7PM
see http://www.stlwoodworkersguild.org


----------



## Chuckthewoodchuck (Feb 9, 2012)

St Louis wood worker guild looks interesting it would be a long trip for the meetings.


----------



## ThinShavings (Sep 14, 2009)

Thanks for the input, I will look into that.


----------



## cFurnitureGuy (Sep 14, 2009)

In addition to St Charles Hardwood, rockler and woodcraft here are a couple more options… 
*U-Pick Hardwood* has a large selection of woods (but doesnt currently carry sheetgoods. i have talked to the owner and he is looking into it though). I know its not close to Webster Grove but its only about 10 mins further from Woodcraft.

U-Pick Hardwood Lumber
80 Triad South Dr
Saint Charles, MO 63304

*Lumber logs *is not open everyday! .... i think they only open once or twice a month but has some really great hardwoods and super prices! they just moved to a larger building… check out the blog below.

Lumber Logs LLC 
Address: 5103 Farlin Ave. 
St. Louis, MO 63115 
Phone: 314-570-1175 
Web Address: www.lumberlogs.blogspot.com/


----------



## GCotton78 (Dec 28, 2011)

Yeah, you need to get in touch with Scott Wunder. His business, Wunderwoods is on the St. Charles riverfront, just south of highway 70.

I also go into St. Charles Hardwoods in Fenton now and again because it's the closest i have found to where I live in Affton.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.


----------



## RobertT (Oct 14, 2010)

Couldn't you buy lauan at any homedepot lowes menards? As far as hardwoods go the guy from u pick hardwoods is very helpful and resonable fella. I will have to check out Wunderwoods and Lumberlogs.


----------



## TheKiltedWoodworker (Dec 21, 2006)

I'm confused.

You're upset because you can't find a source for 1/4" Luan ply. But you're asking for recommendations for hardwood lumber?

Do you want a source for plywood? Or did you just change topics?

None of the lumber places mentioned so far will have Luan ply. All will have lumber of various qualities and prices.

St. Charles Hardwood might be a BIT further away (say, 15 minutes?) than U-Pick Hardwoods or Wunderwoods, but… let's be honest. None of them is going to see you in a car for more than 40 minutes from Webster Groves. If you make the trip once every few months to pick up the necessary lumber for a project or two, I don't think you'll be that put out.

The fastest way to get to U-Pick and Wunderwoods is the Page Extension. It's a barely-used 8-lane highway. (You can go as fast as you want, if you like speeding tickets, or you can just drive the speed limit and actually get there faster, if you account for the time it takes to go through getting a ticket…) It takes no time at all to travel from St. Louis County to St. Charles County anymore.

So take 44 to 270 North to Page Extension. West on Page Extension. For Wunderwoods, get off at the first exit across the river and take the bottom road North for a bit. (Google will get you the rest of the way there… I don't know the road names off the top of my head; I just drive to his shop.)

For U-Pick, take the Page Extension. Get off at Kisker Road and go right. Turn left onto Central School Road and then take the next immediate left into an industrial complex. Keep driving until you get to the end and U-Pick is the second to last building on the left. Big sign out front, you can't miss it.

*The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild would NOT be a far drive for someone from Webster Groves. * We meet at 7:00 PM the third Thursday (i.e. tomorrow, at the time of this post) of each month at the Creve Coeur Community Center. It's between Ladue and Olive on New Ballas Road.

Scott Wunder is almost always there. You could talk to him about wood. Craig Norsen, owner of U-Pick Hardwood, was our presenter for last month. Sorry I didn't see this topic sooner or I would have let you know so you could attend the last meeting and find out more about him.

In Summation: St. Charles isn't that far away. Don't be afraid to cross the Missouri River.  And the SLWG meeting location is even closer. Plus, dues are only like $30/year. Super cheap. You should check it out.

Good luck sourcing your plywood. Never use it, so I don't have any good answers for you, but the stuff I've seen at Lowes and Home Depot is pretty much crap.

Ethan


----------



## ScottStewart (Jul 24, 2012)

This is an old post, so I don't know if anyone is still looking…

My understanding is that St. Louis Hardwoods is closed.

St. Charles Hardwoods also has a Fenton location and stocks some ply. They do not carry any rough lumber, only S3S and S4S. All their lumber is stored vertically, so I have issues with how straight it is. Guys are nice enough, but service is kind of underwhelming.

I've never been there, but Schaller hardwoods has a South county location. I've heard the customer service is pretty good and they stock some sheet goods.

I don't know of anywhere in the St. Louis area other than lumberlogs to get rough sawn lumber. They are only open 4 hours a month retail, but they say they can set up appointments for other times for orders over $150. Prices are great.

I don't have any experience with the other St. Charles locations, do they sell rough lumber?

If there are other sources for rough lumber in the St. Louis area, I'd love to hear them.

Scott


----------



## Kinloch (Aug 15, 2012)

Charles, 
The only place I have found the wood I'm looking for is here:

http://flamemahogany.com/store/

They have mahogany crotches that don't exist on the market anymore.


----------



## JesseTutt (Aug 15, 2012)

Add Fehlig Bros. Box and Lumber to your list. It is in North St. Louis City. I buy my popular and oak there. I can get rough 4/4 or 8/4 rough and they will surface it if you want.

Here is their address:
1909 Cole St.
Saint Louis, Mo. 63106
314-241-6900

I have heard of Great Central Lumber up in Alton: 314-355-0203. I know that they supply larger quantities, I don't know about small quantities.

Is Hibdon lumber still open in Saint Louis City? I believe that it was downtown somewhere.

I have shopped at Schaller Hardwood Lumber. They have a good selection of sheet goods. They have a small selection of hardwood. Their main location is down in Popular Bluff. If you want, say, 3 pieces of lacewood they will have the next truck bring 3 pieces up from Popular Bluff. The truck runs twice a week. They don't seem willing to bring up 10 pieces and allow you to select three.


----------



## ThinShavings (Sep 14, 2009)

Ethan: Yup, my time is valuable.

Kinloch: Your advertising is distracting from our St Louis thread.

To everyone else:
Yes, please go ahead and post places to get wood in St Louis. I like the list and if there are any more feel free to add. Everyone's looking for different things, and some people even like high quality plywood.

Obviously, my thread is 2.5 years old, but that's ok, keep adding. I now get most of my wood from St Charles Hardwood from their Fenton location.

I do need to stop by LumberLogs before my next project, they have a pricelist online: http://www.woodfinder.com/listings/012869.php

And let me also add to this list. If you want to buy some dead rainforest, Hibdon Hardwood sells a large selection of exotics. They are down just north of the arch on Broadway. They claim to specialize in meeting the needs of luthiers:
http://www.hibdonhardwood.com/


----------



## wunderwoods (Aug 26, 2012)

Charles,

I hope it isn't too forward of me, but I heard my name mentioned a couple of times and thought it wouldn't hurt to jump in (thanks Don, Ethan and Gabe). I would love to have you out to my new shop. It isn't next door, but I don't think it is too far from you and worth the drive, if I do say so myself. I could show you around and we could talk wood for awhile. I have or can get most any domestic species in all shapes, sizes and grades (I have a hard time passing up logs). Check out my sawmilling and woodworking blog at wunderwoods.com to get an idea of what I am up to and if you think I can help out. Feel free to contact me directly at 314-574-6036.

Here is a photo of part of my shop and some newly acquired and for sale nutting lumber carts:


----------

