buying hardwood

[Yvonne]

Can anyone suggest where we can buy hardwood (to make exterior door weatherboards)?

We have tried local wood yards and DIY shops but all they seem to stock is pine? Alternatively, can we buy ready made weather boards here in France?

Thanks,

Abi

[sharkhunter]

you could try a local sawmill for oak cut to a rough size and finish them off yourself, hugh.

[Cassis]

Have you asked at your DIY store?  Mr Bricolage and Brico Depot stock solid oak in various sizes.

[Deimos]

My local Brico's sell planks of Oak. Generally they are individually wrapped in polythene, each with a glossy printed sheet of paper. Decent quality Purchased this way they cost a fortune - totally unrealistic pricing to my mind. Earlier this year Leroy Merlin were selling planks from a pallet. Quality made them ideal to be cut into 30-50 cm lengths and used in a wood burner.

I have found one timber merchant who had some planks of Oak of varying sizes. They were pretty awful. Apart form being split, they were meant to be planed but all had patches where the wood was twisted away so bits/patches were still rough sawn - thus difficult to do much with without planing further. After that you could maybe do some marquetry ? I think they were probably getting rid of off-cuts from a manufacturer who used Oak.

I am watching this thread as I need to source a load as well.

Ian

[Cassis]

I seem to recall that ours sell lengths of 60x60, 75x75 and some larger.  Not cheap, but if you only want one length, e.g. to make a couple of weathersills for your doors, it's not going to break the bank.

[Chris Head]

It's sooo worth planning ahead if you're on a renovation project and know you're going to need Oak. Timber bought in advance from the sawmill and sat for a few years will save a fortune and it will also mean that you don't have to run around looking for the stuff you want. The only down side if you're needing dried planking is that it won't be propery dried, finding good quality LOCAL Oak that is well and evenly dried can be a real nightmare, but for constructional green Oak you just won't beat your local sawmill.

Another way is this, it's a real gem....see if you can buy what the timber merchant might consider as firewood quality Oak, most often they're in 2m - 2,5m lengths, very often have really decent diameters and can also yield some great character timber. I've just bought about 15m3 for I think about 300euro (liquide of course). I'll get a mobile sawmill in to convert it and I'll be left with 7-8m3 of sawn Oak for a seriously low price. In truth one carving will pay for the whole load.

Standing Oak is also often available and advertised in the local free papers on a 2/3 - 1/3 basis, I've just started scanning the local papers for felling this coming winter. Basically you fell the trees and you get to keep 2/3 of it, the owner gets 1/3, if the trees are of a decent enough diameter you're looking at a wonderful way to source timber for sawing. But don't go taking big trees down if you don't know what you're doing.

Good luck!

[Gastines]

Don't know what area you are in but just about 8kms out of St.Malo on the N137 is a wood supplier who only supplies hardwoods.If of any interest I'll look up firms name when passing.

Regards. 5mins from St.Malo

[Yvonne]

Hi,

[:)] Thanks for the offer but we live in dept 15 - a bit too far, I think. Unfortunately, all the sawmills /woodyards we've tried around here  only work with pine so we may have to go slightly further afield.

Thanks to everyone,

abi

 

[Val_2]

We always buy our hardwoods like iroko,bois exotique etc in Reseau Pro formerly Pinault if you have one near you or planked oak from the local scierie. You do have to buy by the plank from RP or the whole tree in some cases and its not planed either.

[Jonzjob]

A point to watch with iroko. If you are doing anything that causes dust then I would advise you to use a dust mask as it is carsenagenic (spelling?). It also brings my arms up to a lovely red colour and my eyes follow suite. Once it is worked it is just about as good as teak, but I won't work it!

Thank you Val, I'll have to have a look in our Resaue Pro. I didn't know they sold hardwoods?

[sharkhunter]

In my local reseau pro we can buy whole tree sections at various lengths and diameters. Got one 80 mm thick and 3 mts long for a bathroom we were doing, seen plenty at 35/45 mm as well. There's a good wood mill in La Coquille that sells furniture quality oak, used it once to build/make a bar top for a local pub. It can be found if you look long enough.

[Deimos]

The Reseau Pro selling Oak and hardwood must be a local thing. I drove out to my nearest one today (and it was a massive place) and they did not sell any Oak in any form. Just bog standard construction timber plus some planed 1" sq and 2" sq.

So I went back to Leroy Merlin and they had a pallet of Oak offcuts (though they did not call them off-cuts and did not price them as off-cuts). after spreading the contents of the pallet around the floor I managed to find a plank I thought I might be able to work on and give a good home - but I still felt ripped-off. I really needed a plank of Oak and cannot keep hunting forever. Plus, one can end-up spending more on petrol with all the chasing around than just paying the rip-off prices.

Ian

[Chris Head]

But Ian if you could find and develop a relationship with a sawyer you could probably have what ever you wanted for prices you'd laugh at! I often have folk popping in for the odd plank or chunk of Oak that I would consider less than useful, it gives me alot of pleasure to know that they are using my waste for some project that is important to them, I always refuse payment but have had some great wines as a result!

 I wonder if the language is a barrier to folk hunting out where the timber really is hence the wasted time trawling around retail outlets?

[Deimos]

Language probably does not help but I think finding specialist things is difficult when moving to and new area. Just takes time to find out where different things can be found - particularly with fewer companies using Yellow Pages these days (at least fewer more specialist places - my theory anyway). It often used to take me some time to find the less standard stuff when I used to live in the UK. For example, I wanted to buy a lorry load of top-soil and it took me ages of asking around to find somebody who could sell me a load.

I know of one saw mill locally (run by the brother to somebody a local friend knows). I have not visited yet as I was originally told he only sole green Oak and I am generally after fully seasoned stuff ready to use. However, I might now follow up the suggestion and go see what he actually has.

I actually do have a source for smaller lumps that I have not yet used. A local carpenter said if I needed smaller bits for turning I could always contact him. However, I'm needing larger planks at the moment. I did ask the carpenter where he got his Oak but he went "vague" like it was some secret supply he had and was not going to let others in on the secret. I might push a bit harder for where he gets his Oak from as well.

Ian

[Chris Head]

Of course the chap went 'vague' Ian. If  I were of a mind to I could make alot of money from people like you, when in fact the solution is just so simple, you and alot like you are trying to find a commodity that is so readily available here that you wouldn't believe it, yes it's a little hidden but if you've got the balls to go and confront the gruff non English speaking suppliers who really don't care for the English and not take no for an answer then you might just come up with what you want....if not you'll spend a whole lot of time picking through pallets of firewood at DIY outlets looking for something to use that you know is seriously overpriced and c r a p.

I can source Oak and Sweet Chestnut for next to nothing simply because I fought the racism that the backward foresters and sawyers readily display against 'foreigners' whilst most of the rest of you just get frustrated about it and scrabble through waste to find a bit of wood that you can use or resort to buying reams of  awful softwood from the DIY outlets.....food for thought?

 

[rusheslake]

Keep an eye on French ebay...

Always good for a bargain or 2

[Alane]

Chris

I've just seen this ad in our local paper

"A vendre 15m3 de bois de charpente chene 15 ans de sechage. Differentes sections en un seul lot 4000 Euro. Particulier".

Confirmation of your advice and I'm very tempted as I still need a fair amount of timber to complete my renovation and know that I could flog the rest on e-bay in the UK for far more than €270 per m3.

I've brought oak from the local sawmill but this is the best deal I've seen..

[Chris Head]

It sounds very good Alane, perhaps a little too good? Maybe they need the money right now or maybe the timber isn't quite what it should be? Questions questions!

Go & have a look, but have a really good look. If they're genuine they won't mind you delving deeper into the stack. The Oak should all be that lovely silvery greay after 15 years, look for disproportionate amounts of sapwood on larger section (not good if you need structural integrity) it will be darker, almost black in comparison to silvery grey, obviously check for distortion, have a really good look for insect infestation. Try to guage the quantity is as they say it is. Have you got a moisture meter? They might perhaps have stretched the drying time a little. Make sure it isn't Red Oak (Chene Rouge/Americain).  Any planking of 30-50mm would kiln dry beautifully, greatly increasing its value (flooring furniture etc) I guess you're not very close to me or I'd be happy to pop out. Can you take any pictures?

 

[Alane]

Chris

I am back in the UK and was planning to return later in the week but will probably not now get back to France for some weeks due to other demands. In all likelihood the timber won't stay around that long so I won't follow it up. If you yourself or anyone else is interested  the ad was in the Pont Audemer L'eveil (not far from Honfleur and Rouen) and I can pass on contact details. .

[Chris Head]

OK Alane, thought you were on the spot and in a position to move. I'm not interested myself, I have more than enough Oak but hopefully somebody might be interested.

[Clair]

Now that I know you're in the Cantal, I can point you to our local woodyard in Sousceyrac (edge of Lot/Cantal). Alternatively, there's a woodyard in Le Rouget (Cantal). They both sell oak in various state, sizes or can do to order...

You could also try Girardeau in St-Céré/St-Laurent-les-Tours (Lot) where we've ordered all sorts of oak beams and planks. They're also very helpful even if you explain what you want to do with little drawings (non-technical person typing!)