# Why is it so hard to find untreated 4x and 6x lumber?



## wfedwardsjr

So I thought I would make it easier on myself by using 4x or even 6x SYP for my next workbench. Lowes and Home Depot only carry pressure treated lumber in that thickness, which I understand because they are mostly selling to people who are building decks or whatever. But even calling local lumber yards, nobody can even special order untreated 4x or 6x material. I got a call back from my last lead and she told me that the only untreated 4x material she can find is in cedar??? This is really surprising to me. Has anyone had any luck sourcing thicker SYP boards that are not treated?


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## ste6168

Did you ask at Home Depot? Only reason I say that, is I have purchased them from HD in the past, and they weren't in the lumber section where I would have expected. Cant speak for Lowes. This was probably close to 8 years ago though, I built a small-ish trebuchet as a college project.

Edit: Here is a link to the product at Home Depot. I did a search for my parents zip (Pittsburgh, PA) and it appeared as though 3 local stores had them in stock. My zip (Eastern NC) yielded none. Good luck.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Mendocino-4-in-x-4-in-x-8-ft-2-Better-Kiln-Dry-Doug-Fir-Lumber-16714/205329065?AID=11210757&PID=6158738&SID=ie1p3908pn00zey7001rw&cm_mmc=CJ-_-6158738-_-11210757&cj=true


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## Ripthorn

Part of the reason it is so hard is because it takes a much larger tree to yield a nice 6x piece than it does a 2x. Today's companies want to turn out as much product as possible, and letting a tree grow the extra however many years to yield a nice 6x piece does not get them their money back as well. Factor in reduced demand relative to 2x, and those are your most common reasons.

On a side note, I went to a construction supply place with our Boy Scout troop to ask for material donations for boats we are building. The guy said we could help ourselves to a pile of weathered material out back, which had a couple 6×6 fir beams, about 12' long each. You might see if any construction supply place around there has anything like that.


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## AlaskaGuy

No shortage here but then I go to a real lumber yard.


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## RichardHillius

Maybe it's based on where you live. When I built my last bench I had no issues finding 4X6's even in select grades. Even the big box store had wet nasty looking untreated 4X6's but they did have them. My guess would be laminated beams have pretty much replaced these pieces for indoors construction so there just isn't the need for them anymore but that's just a guess.


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## BasementShop

> No shortage here but then I go to a real lumber yard.
> 
> - AlaskaGuy


Braggart! Chuckling. Color me jealous…


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## chrisstef

I would suggest 4×4's. I just finished my bench out of 6×6's and I had to farm out all the jointing. They were just too darn heavy and unwieldy for my shop equipment. They whooped me.


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## JoeinGa

> I would suggest 4×4 s. I just finished my bench out of 6×6 s and I had to farm out all the jointing. They were just too darn heavy and unwieldy for my shop equipment. They whooped me.
> 
> - chrisstef


.
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I like this guy's thinking. If you do build it out of 6X6s, you better build it where you want it to end up, because it'll take 6 men and a boy to move it if you dont


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## bondogaposis

You need to find a local mill, they will have what you need.


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## cabmaker

As stated…..you ll need to go to a real lumber yard….

I also recomend glueing up your legs from pepped dimension llbr

Especially if you using syp

Jb


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## WDHLT15

The problem with 4" or 6" thick lumber is the time that it takes to dry. 2" lumber takes over 2x as long to dry as 1" lumber. Try drying 6" thick lumber. Just not profitable for most mills.

I do cut and air dry pine 4×4, but they are not a primary product.


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## FirehouseWoodworking

Have you thought about Douglas Fir? I realize it is more commonly found on the West Coast, but you might be able to order that. I know that Menards in our area (Midwest) stock it (4×4 and I believe 6×6). When I worked at both Home Depot and at Lowes, we could special order it. I can also get it ordered from our local lumber yard here.

Just a thought. Good luck!

Cheers!


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## PhillipRCW

Search woodmizers website for local saw mills. OR see if HD's website allows you to ship untreated pieces to that store by you. I've never run into this. I can get 4x and 6x untreated here.


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## HokieKen

Just looked at local big-boxes around here. 4X4 Doug Fir is the only thing bigger than 2X available that's not treated. No SYP.


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## wfedwardsjr

No Douglas fir here. I have checked around and contacted both real lumberyards and the box stores. Home depot can special order 4×4x16, but there's a minimum order of 16. Plus if I can't pick the boards, that's a deal breaker. I'll keep checking around. Thanks for the feedback


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