If you've made the mistake of asking someone at Byggmax for advice regarding wood, you quickly learn that there are better ways to go. While I may not always be able to answer questions at my job, I always make sure that the customer gets help from someone more experienced than me if I encounter a problem.
Edit; if you also consider the actual price difference between, say XL and Byggmax (if you're brave enough to ask for a discount at XL), it evens out
Edit; if you also consider the actual price difference between, say XL and Byggmax (if you're brave enough to ask for a discount at XL), it evens out
I usually buy at BYGGmax because of the price - there's quite a big difference. Sure, there are many crooked studs, and sure, that's because people toss them around so they twist, and the staff doesn't seem to have time to clean up - BYGGmax is a bit like a sweatshop in that way, at other yards you even get help loading or can discuss for 15 minutes about some new screw.
When you take the timber home, it can be as straight as anything - but my experience is that it bends when it dries, it doesn't seem to matter where you buy it, so you have to try to build with it fresh but then you'll inevitably get drying cracks later.
When I built my fence, I got 1200m of paneling and battens respectively from BYGGmax - they hadn't re-wrapped the bales, but they said södra on them and I only discarded about 5 linear meters.
When you take the timber home, it can be as straight as anything - but my experience is that it bends when it dries, it doesn't seem to matter where you buy it, so you have to try to build with it fresh but then you'll inevitably get drying cracks later.
When I built my fence, I got 1200m of paneling and battens respectively from BYGGmax - they hadn't re-wrapped the bales, but they said södra on them and I only discarded about 5 linear meters.
Byggmax has good lumber. Or well, the same quality as others. It’s just regular Moelven lumber.
If there's a difference, it's probably the willingness to weed out the inferior quality, which varies both between different Byggmax stores as well as all other lumber retailers. Byggmax also has the problem with all the “idiot customers” who think they are the only lumber customers in the town. If they need 10 pieces from a stack of 500, they don't give up until they've dug through the entire stack and then leave the mess looking like it did after the Battle of Somme. When that lumber has been lying like that for a few days, almost all the pieces are crooked.
Speaking of Byggmax, I think I've witnessed how much the staff matters. I've actually always thought that Byggmax in Uppsala felt quite OK. A couple of years ago, they had a rock-solid guy who even knew quite a bit and was pleasant and fun to exchange a few words with.
But last time I was there, a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked. The entire store was in chaos. Price tags were massively missing, items were misplaced and jumbled. Empty and picked over here and there but disorganized everywhere else. The lumberyard wasn’t much worse than I’d seen before, but it was obvious that no one was tidying up the sections from time to time, though it has always been a bit hit or miss with that. The guy at the register I wouldn’t have dared to ask which side of a hammer to use for nailing. (After a truly irrelevant answer to a question I had).
Yes, the staff matters a lot. I hope it was temporary and that it looks better the next time I visit – any month now.
If there's a difference, it's probably the willingness to weed out the inferior quality, which varies both between different Byggmax stores as well as all other lumber retailers. Byggmax also has the problem with all the “idiot customers” who think they are the only lumber customers in the town. If they need 10 pieces from a stack of 500, they don't give up until they've dug through the entire stack and then leave the mess looking like it did after the Battle of Somme. When that lumber has been lying like that for a few days, almost all the pieces are crooked.
Speaking of Byggmax, I think I've witnessed how much the staff matters. I've actually always thought that Byggmax in Uppsala felt quite OK. A couple of years ago, they had a rock-solid guy who even knew quite a bit and was pleasant and fun to exchange a few words with.
But last time I was there, a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked. The entire store was in chaos. Price tags were massively missing, items were misplaced and jumbled. Empty and picked over here and there but disorganized everywhere else. The lumberyard wasn’t much worse than I’d seen before, but it was obvious that no one was tidying up the sections from time to time, though it has always been a bit hit or miss with that. The guy at the register I wouldn’t have dared to ask which side of a hammer to use for nailing. (After a truly irrelevant answer to a question I had).
Yes, the staff matters a lot. I hope it was temporary and that it looks better the next time I visit – any month now.
I shop a lot at Byggmax. There can be a big difference in quality between the bundles, but I don't think the timber you get at other building supply stores is better. Ugly knots and wane edges are a bigger problem than crookedness. When I went through the bundles at Byggmax the last time I shopped there this week, there wasn't much of what others had sorted out and that lay like pick-up sticks that was crooked. It was waned, transport-damaged, and had ugly knot holes. If XL and others can't be bothered to advertise the price they are willing to sell the timber for, it's their own fault. Decking timber doesn't need to be perfectly straight; it's the heavy battens you need to watch out for.
Member
· Västra Götaland
· 1 709 posts
I am seriously looking for a sawmill in the Gothenburg area that I can buy directly from.
This concerns timber for at least one large new construction, some renovation, and an extension, so even though it's not a large-scale operation, one should be able to find a good partner here.
Do you have any tips?
This concerns timber for at least one large new construction, some renovation, and an extension, so even though it's not a large-scale operation, one should be able to find a good partner here.
Do you have any tips?
The only sawmill in the Gothenburg area I can think of right now is Derome.
Then there are probably a lot of local farm sawmills in the region around the city.
Then there are probably a lot of local farm sawmills in the region around the city.
I'm getting sick of this crap soon.
Honestly, those of you who work as carpenters. How much do you accept?
When do you send the junk back and ask them to send OK materials?
Here's a 45x70, 4.80 long. Substantial waney edge on half of the rule.
Would you have sent it back?
Then I also got several serious propeller pieces and some that would be suitable for making rocking chair runners.
Honestly, those of you who work as carpenters. How much do you accept?
When do you send the junk back and ask them to send OK materials?
Here's a 45x70, 4.80 long. Substantial waney edge on half of the rule.
Would you have sent it back?
Then I also got several serious propeller pieces and some that would be suitable for making rocking chair runners.
I've shopped at the local hardware store/lumberyard, which is now part of the XL-bygg chain.RobZombie said:
I've paid a completely normal price for the timber. So I assume you mean that I should file a complaint?
Of course, you should file a complaint.Mikael_L said:
As with so many other things, we must stop buying and accepting crap (cheap lumber, moldy electronics, subpar craftsmanship, etc.) but also be prepared to pay what it "should cost" and demand quality accordingly.
Edit: by that, I don't mean that you've "bought cheap and demand expensive" but that this is the price we all pay in a market where large construction stores push down the entire market, making it difficult for even those who are fundamentally serious to maintain any form of quality.
And for that matter, this applies to many more industries than construction, but that's a discussion for another time.
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Or Byggmax. Even their low-priced timber isn't that bad.RobZombie said:
Of course, Mikael_L should file a complaint about the timber. It's perfectly reasonable.
At "my" XL-Bygg you can return all the timber, even stuff that’s not faulty but just left over. That's an advantage over Byggmax, where you can't return timber at all.
I've shopped quite a bit at ByggMax in recent weeks and been really pleasantly surprised. I don't remember the sawmill but maybe Derome? Anyway, the decking was perfectly fine without any wane edges. The only thing I was a bit unsure about was the 45x195 because it had some cracks, but I have now built a footbridge with a span of 3.6 meters (the ends of the 3.6-meter beam are on the ground but the rest is in the air) and it doesn't flex at all. I only have 28x120 decking on top so the beams probably hold up.
I've also bought some 22x95 pressure-treated to use as paneling on the woodshed, and it's also high quality. This has been at BM in Hisings-Backa and Kållered. I first went to Bauhaus because they advertised low prices but, of course, they didn't have anything in stock. BM seems to hold the same prices as Bauhaus but actually has stuff in stock. Hornbach seems to be the cheapest, maybe I’ll make a trip there soon.
/Anders
I've also bought some 22x95 pressure-treated to use as paneling on the woodshed, and it's also high quality. This has been at BM in Hisings-Backa and Kållered. I first went to Bauhaus because they advertised low prices but, of course, they didn't have anything in stock. BM seems to hold the same prices as Bauhaus but actually has stuff in stock. Hornbach seems to be the cheapest, maybe I’ll make a trip there soon.
/Anders
I recently had a load of timber delivered from XL.bygg. Much of the studs and battens I have thrown into the return pile. Pure rubbish with knot holes, wane, and other damage. The boards I'm going to use for the house facade seem better. However, I haven't had the chance to go through that pile yet. It seems, as someone writes in the thread, that the best thing is to pick out the timber yourself. I ordered because I judged that I didn't have the extra time to stand at the lumber yard and pick and choose... bit me there. Now I have to stand and sort the timber on my garage driveway instead.