# Cost of Wood UK v US



## Markslawes (Aug 28, 2018)

Hi all

I was wondering how much the cost of wood is in the USA, is it cheaper than the UK?

I find it so expensive here that I have to pick my moments before I can splash out on a bit of wood.

Here are some examples of what we pay (I think the prices are pretty reasonable for UK having searched)

All 1000mm length

£19.87 Sawn AB Walnut 26×150mm = $26.30
£9.94 Sawn American Ash 26×150mm = $13.07
£11.59 Sawn AW Oak 26×150mm = $15.24

Just a small sample


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## GR8HUNTER (Jun 13, 2016)

Hi Mark *HERE* is what I pay at my local wood supplier :<))

SORRY buy I guess you have to do the math as I was looking for love in math class LOL :<))


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

More in the UK. the Walnut in your example would be about $18 USD here, or about £13-14. It's $11 USD per boardfoot for me. But these are American woods so you have higher shipping costs.


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Mark, I find that even regionally, in the US, some woods are more expensive than others.

Typically, the difference is accounted for in transportation costs.
Wherever you are in the world, the wood that grows locally is usually the best value when purchasing hardwood.

In the Northwest USA, Alder is commonly available at fairly reasonable cost. As you go further East, the cost of Alder increases, or is completely unavailable.
Likewise on the East Coast USA, Walnut and Cherry is more common and prices fluctuate accordingly.

I spent some time in Portugal years ago and there were very few native species of hardwood. The most common wood was African Mahogany which was imported across the Mediterranean nearby. It was still fairly expensive, but other foreign woods were cost prohibitive, if they were even available at all.

BTW, English White Oak is beautiful and likely fairly available to you, I would think. (We pay a bit of a premium in the US for it)


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## recycle1943 (Dec 16, 2013)

Tha last time I paid anything resembling retail for any lumber was when I bought some Yellow Heart and Purple Heart.
Everything else that I use I buy on Craigs List and it is never choice wood, quality wise. The difference being that I can afford to work around some flaws and in a lot of cases, I incorporate flaws in the design that actually enhances the end result.
Many of my bowls have knots, infarctions and actually have holes thru the walls. Wormy chestnut is a prime example of missing and holes. 
I guess my point is that I deliberately do not seek out prime lumber because it's too expensive. It all depends on what you are building.


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## lumbering_on (Jan 21, 2017)

I think the best comparison would be native trees to native trees because importing costs a lot. It also depends if the wood is dressed or rough. I can generally get oak for around $3-4 a bf, but that's rough. It's $18+ for S4S in a local big box.


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## Markslawes (Aug 28, 2018)

Thanks everyone

I guess it's swings and roundabouts as you say better prices the closer you are to the source. It does not look like we are wildly apart in prices for our respective native woods. I think that oak is pretty reasonable here, but woods that are a little more unusual like Purple Heart seems to be quite big in price difference. But I am just running away with myself, I am like a kid in a sweet shop seeing all these beautiful grains and colours and I want to try them all. Well fingers crossed I win the £123,000,000 lottery tonight and I will try them all ;-)


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

You ought to see what wood from Australia (for example) costs here in the US. Maple is stupid expensive on the west coast of the US. So is cherry. I was shopping for some cherry for a project many years ago, and could only find 4/4 in 5" widths, as a maximum. The guy told me that "Cherry trees don't grow all that big", lol. One of the guys in my carving class has a slab of cherry 8/4 by about 14" wide and 24" long that he paid less than $20 for when he was back in New York state (I think). Cherry is stupid expensive as well, in California.

Then again, I went to a local yard to get a piece of clear Doug Fir 1"X8" and it was over $5 a LF! They had it and I wanted it. The local Lowes and BORG don't even carry it, anymore. Stain grade door jambs? HA! Good luck with that.


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## lumbering_on (Jan 21, 2017)

> You ought to see what wood from Australia (for example) costs here in the US. Maple is stupid expensive on the west coast of the US. So is cherry. I was shopping for some cherry for a project many years ago, and could only find 4/4 in 5" widths, as a maximum. The guy told me that "Cherry trees don t grow all that big", lol. One of the guys in my carving class has a slab of cherry 8/4 by about 14" wide and 24" long that he paid less than $20 for when he was back in New York state (I think). Cherry is stupid expensive as well, in California.
> 
> Then again, I went to a local yard to get a piece of clear Doug Fir 1"X8" and it was over $5 a LF! They had it and I wanted it. The local Lowes and BORG don t even carry it, anymore. Stain grade door jambs? HA! Good luck with that.
> 
> - Dark_Lightning


Don't look at this 

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-other/ottawa/lumber-maple-eastern-red-cedar-some-ash-and-some-black-cherry/1370791998?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

This comes from a town about 40 mins from my house, and all prices are in CAD, which is roughly 30% less than the USD.


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Nice selection at great prices.
Unfortunately, by the time you got any of that wood into the lower 48, it would probably cost about the same as what is here already…


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