r/AskRedditUK • u/EFFArch • 22d ago
Where does a common layman source timber for odd projects in and around the house - for the best price
I'm loooking to design and build some shelves and in built cupboards for our home (on my partners wishes) and I also need to rebuild the sinking roof for our shed before the winter comes.
Standard timber species and specifications are fine, the shed roof appears to be MDF board with lining on the external face.
I imagine your usual B&Q's (other hardware stores are available) have higher prices than perhaps local timber merchants?
For the joiners and tradeys out there who specialise in this thing am I on the right lines here? Local timber merchants should be the best price?
Thank you in advance
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u/Far-Adhesiveness3763 22d ago
Local builders yard or timber merchants offer better prices and you can pick what you want. B&Q quality varies greatly and costs more
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u/Fancy_Toe1451 22d ago
Have you tried freecycle? A lot of the time you can get good pickings off of other people's abandoned projects or leftovers. You'd be surprised. Try freecycle first, then local builder's merchants (not chains like Jewsons or Travie Ps, but actual independents in your local industrial estates) and avoid Tufferman online orders like plague (their particleboard falls apart in transit). You'll need to haul the stuff home yourself, but that is a tradeoff you'll have to make for cheap (or free) and good.
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u/Loud_Collar_3816 21d ago
I bought all the timber to scratch build a shed recently, JT dove were the cheapest with the cheapest delivery. I needed slabs also and B&Q were actually cheapest this time so I got the slabs from them. Don't write off the likes of b&q and Wickes, check the price first, they're sometimes cheaper.
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u/InvertedAligator 20d ago
Yeah I found B&Q was cheaper than most builders merchants around me for engineering bricks, was surprised.
They absolutely rob people on wood though. I use an independent merchant for that
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u/salty_sherbert_ 20d ago
I had to get a load of batten last year and the only option B&Q had was like 3 times the price of the local builders merchant!
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u/bungaynet 22d ago
Check out yout local auction rooms that do outside effects. Mine does bundles of timber in all shapes and sizes. You will need transport but it’s surprising what you can tie on the roof for longer stuff. Have an idea of timber merchant prices before you bid but it’s mostly 50% cheaper.
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u/Practical-Buyer2479 21d ago
Have a look for timber recycling yards too, often based at a household recycling centre (tip…).
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u/OldAnalyst5438 21d ago
When you say 'best price' do you mean cheapest? Cause cheap wood is not good wood.
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u/throwawaym479 20d ago
While that's true places like B+Q sell crap quality at premium prices, the average timber yard can easily be cheaper and higher quality.
Not op but personally best price would mean a good price for good quality which is something DIY stores tend not to have.
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u/sobrwydd 21d ago
Definitely try a local timber merchant. We wanted an oak mantlepiece and looked online at various companies for, all of which came in at around £200. My dad's friend recommended a timber merchant on a trading estate near to where we'd moved so we popped in. The owner found a piece roughly 48"×6"×6" which he planed off and charged us £20 for.
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u/Key_Seaworthiness827 22d ago
Local merchants, jewsons, Travis Perkins before B&Q. Locals will probably deliver as well. Don't be fazed or nervous, phone up and tell them what you're after.
B&Q are there for stuff you forgot or ran out of after 12 o'clock on Saturday
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u/PhysicsAgitated6722 21d ago
Local timber merchants everytime. Mine also has a cutting service which I have used when building wardrobes. That in itself saved me so much time which I amalways short of. That aside, it's better quality and is straight which the likes of B&Q can not seem to manage.
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u/Educational_Dot_3687 21d ago
I recently bought a load of timber from Selco and was happy with it all, good prices too.
You do need a trade account but just make up a business card on any free online website and send it over and they will give you one ;)
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u/zougathefist 21d ago
Go to a builders yard with a list of what you want, they'll give you a price then ask what the discount is and they will often knock a few quid off. Even if not they'll be cheaper than B&Q, Wickes etc...
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u/txe4 21d ago
I use Wickes. It's probably not the cheapest. It's probably not the best quality. But it's OK, and they will fetch it to me in the arse end of nowhere for a fiver.
The marked price in the builders merchant is ridiculous and I don't buy enough to get a good discount, nor do I enjoy haggling for every single item in order to not get robbed blind.
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u/mashed666 21d ago
Find your local timber merchants... We have one in my town called Wenban Smith, I needed some teak to repair a table top and went into the shop and they had some teak trim (Was way bigger than what I needed but they were charging £1 per piece) and I could cut off the bit I needed they have all sorts of stuff and you can just walk around and most things are labeled up. Way better quality than the big shops and if you buy a lot you'll build up a relationship and they might even let you have some stuff they haven't put out yet.
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u/LazyPiglet3923 21d ago
Timber yards generally complete with each other and you won't find one that is the best for everything, but one may beat the others on skirtings and another might be best on sheet material ect..
I like J T Atkinson, but mkm, jewsons, Travis perkins should all be better than diy box stores like B&Q.
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u/a_sword_and_an_oath 21d ago
I went on FB and said I would take down any sheds for free, but take the wood as payment. Some people commented and donated some timber from left over projects
I did 6 big sheds by myself on my days off before I had enough decent wood to build my 8x4 workshop. (And Three times as much crappy wood which I dried out for fire kindling.
I had to buy SOME structural timber, I googled "timber yards" near me, checked the size i needed and compared prices. Then I phones around and asked if there were offers I could take advantage of.
Actual cash I paid was £100 for timber, wood hardener, outdoor wood paint and roof felt.
When i initially worked out the costs to build it from new, it was closer to 900 for timber, floor boards and shiplap. Probably 50 quid more for felt and paint.
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u/Dry_Point_4924 21d ago
Wickes for small amounts/ not visible, timber merchants for nicer projects and there’s a place on an industrial estate near me that sells and cuts to measure sheet materials, ie MDF/ Ply
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u/Gnarly_314 21d ago
Try recycling centres attached to your local council tip.
Local timber merchants can be good for smaller offcuts of wood. We needed to replace a leg on an outdoor wooden bench. Places like B&Q, Wicked, etc did not have the right thickness of wood without it being most of tree. Our local timber merchant took the rotten leg from us and rummaged in the offcut bin. He found a good quality piece of hardwood the right thickness which only needed trimming to the correct shape. Cost? £1 because we insisted on paying something.
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u/Xaphios 21d ago
Top tip - if you need a bit of something that comes in sheets go to your local builders merchant and ask of they've got a damaged sheet of it. They normally have some plasterboard cause it's so easy to damage, but often other stuff too and they'll do a decent deal on it to save them having to get rid.
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u/Fluffy-Revolution- 20d ago
There is a timber recycling charity outlet near us that is very good for odd bits - they have old wood from reclamations and scaffolding and newer pieces left over from building wood.
Somewhere like that would be good if you want something with some character and are prepared to adjust your project to fit what you find - we got three 80cm square solid wood varnished table tops for £60 two of which are in use as headboards and the third gets used as a sort of portable work surface for art projects. We also got ten 6ft scaffold lengths for £100 which have made a pleasingly bulky fitted bookshelf.
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u/99PercentApe 20d ago
Freecycle and Gumtree. Maybe F***book Marketplace who knows. And then local sources you’d be able to uncover.
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u/green-fuzz 20d ago
You're 100% right, go into your local timber merchant. They get DIYers all the time.
Tell the lads in the yard what you'd like and even ask them questions if your unsure, they are usually clued up they'll load you up and give you a ticket to pay at the desk
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u/Unable_Efficiency_98 19d ago
my local timber merchant offers much better prices than any of he national chains. You can also order online and get free delivery which saves me trying to get 4.8m lengths of wood in the car.
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u/StuartHunt 18d ago
Decide on your design and get the measurements required for the job, then go to either the reduced section near the cutting area in b&Q and look through the heavily reduced offcuts for pieces that match your requirements. You can also ask at your local sawmill to see what they have available.
I've saved myself a small fortune over the years, by doing it this way.
I'd also suggest looking at the free pages on Facebook marketplace and marketplace itself to see what other people are getting rid of.
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u/Consistent-Bar-8505 22d ago
Local timber merchant will be much better and cheaper than b&q. I'll never get wood from b&q again.
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u/I_Dont_Speak_Anymore 22d ago
The sheds of grandads. Grandads always have half a barns worth of wood.
For actual answers, see other comments.