Cheap building supplies are out there!

[Kris5902]

1/2” plywood sheathing here in BC Canada is up over $80 for a 4x8 sheet. I’m sitting on three full pallets of 3/4” for our house build... I’m practically rich! We bought it in 2017, when prices were normal. I build most everything out of pallets or home milled lumber I scavenge from piles. If you have a decent tree stand or several good neighbors with good ones as well, it might be worthwhile investing in a portable sawmill. We have a woodmizer and it can mill most of what we can fall, although it’s currently off island with a cousin. It’s also a good way to make a bit of side cash if the “project” isn’t subject to building codes in your area.

 

[Shblack]

I have tried to repurpose crates and pallets. So frustrating trying to get the nails out and not destroy the boards. What's the best way to remove the nails?

Getting pallets apart can be a real pain, especially when they used the twisty nails, even worse if it’s gotten wet and the nails have rusted. For rough work (like the coop) I use a reciprocating saw with a bi-metal blade to cut the nails, leaves the wood full of metal so use a carbide blade on your skil saw when cutting. For anything going on the plainer or table saw I use a flat bar, cat’s paw and large pair of side cutters. Recently disassembled a part of 4’x12’ pallets, each yielded 5 - 2x4x12’, 8 - 2x4x4’ and a bunch of 1x6 pine.

 

[Shblack]

Local saw mills will often have cull stock that’s really cheap. I filled my truck with what the mill called “shim stock”, 4” to 12” wide, mostly 12’ long for less than $100, all red oak. Stuff gets in this pile due to being too thick or too thin, or having a gross defect. Had to take the whole pile, mill gets testy when folks pick through it or leave a mess. Used it for all sorts of projects, only about 10% was stove grade.

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

FYI - i just went to my local big box store today and loaded another 12ft trailer 8ft tall with lawn mower crates for free! Ive been doing this for the last 6 yrs and have build my coop, goat houses, well houses, and some very nice corner hutches and other furniture from the wood. It takes some work to take them apart but when 2x4s are $9 a piece, free lumber is never a bad idea.

Big box stores pay to have these shipping crates hauled away for recycling, or worse, hauled to a landfill. Buy re-purposing the wood they save money and so do you. The best part is the wood may be cheap pine or nicer woods such as birch, poplar, oak, and maple and all are free!

Just passing the word to help save yall a buck or two.

In my office park a new building was built on some of the new lots. I asked the builder what they were doing with their scrap and pallets. Be said I could have all I wanted and he had four other sites!!!

 

[canne50]

Living in northern Maine, I had access to snowmobile crates thrown away beside the local stores where I could take all I could use.
The 4’ x 8’ side panels were wood frame. I’d rip off the plastic wrap, tack on 6’ chicken netting. These panels had 1’ of netting on the bottom to discourage diggers. The other 1’ was left loose to discourage perching by wild birds and to discourage climbing varmints.
The two end panels were 4’ x 4’ and covered similarly, made good gates.
The coop was made with purchased 4” posts covered with the panels as-is. The plastic was a great wind barrier and straw bales and deep litter kept them warm. Heavy clear plastic was used over chicken netting covered panels set for a southern exposure. My Buff Orpingtons never needed additional heat even at -30F. or so.

 

[biscuit7]

My husband would love this post. He's in the process of purchasing his first sawmill and has been running around picking up nice pallets from countertop businesses in our area. Our neighbor down the road built his whole shop using these heavy duty pallets. He bought a pneumatic punch nailer ($50 at Home Depot) that attaches to an air compressor and removes the nails by shooting them out. Sounds dangerous to me but he swears by it!

 

[MichiganFreedom]

Our local mills are getting in on the action now....unfortunately. Kiln dried 2x4s are still cheaper at $6 but thats still 3x the price they were 18mos ago. Rough sawn is always cheaper and green wood (unseasoned) is cheaper yet but comes with its own set of issues.
I plan to build our future horse shelter (not barn) / goat birthing barn from trees I cut on our own property. The wood will be green but so are many log homes built today. Plan for the shrinkage and it should work.

Portable saw mills can be purchased or rented or chainsaw mills are even cheaper (require larger CC chainsaws than those typically used for cutting firewood) to cut the beams and boards.

Until (IF EVER) prices return to "normal" its time to think outside the box.

Our local Wally World has bacon at almost $10/lb. At that rate I'll be raising hogs next year for slaughter on top of everything else.

I wonder about the cost of raising a hog compared to the meat if you buy the sales. I just don't buy bacon, now, except special occasions. Seems to me there's no reason for the high prices except the commercial programming to get people to "value" bacon. Just bought several pounds of pork shoulder butt for $1/lb. I've already decided raising chickens for meat is no good, as there are regular sales of thighs and legs for $1/lb.

 

[Justicedog]

FYI - i just went to my local big box store today and loaded another 12ft trailer 8ft tall with lawn mower crates for free! Ive been doing this for the last 6 yrs and have build my coop, goat houses, well houses, and some very nice corner hutches and other furniture from the wood. It takes some work to take them apart but when 2x4s are $9 a piece, free lumber is never a bad idea.

Big box stores pay to have these shipping crates hauled away for recycling, or worse, hauled to a landfill. Buy re-purposing the wood they save money and so do you. The best part is the wood may be cheap pine or nicer woods such as birch, poplar, oak, and maple and all are free!

Just passing the word to help save yall a buck or two.

Not to sound stupid, but do you call them and ask when they'll have the shipping crates in or do they just have them somewhere and people can help themselves?

 

[Chicken Farmer 22]

FYI - i just went to my local big box store today and loaded another 12ft trailer 8ft tall with lawn mower crates for free! Ive been doing this for the last 6 yrs and have build my coop, goat houses, well houses, and some very nice corner hutches and other furniture from the wood. It takes some work to take them apart but when 2x4s are $9 a piece, free lumber is never a bad idea.

Big box stores pay to have these shipping crates hauled away for recycling, or worse, hauled to a landfill. Buy re-purposing the wood they save money and so do you. The best part is the wood may be cheap pine or nicer woods such as birch, poplar, oak, and maple and all are free!

Just passing the word to help save yall a buck or two.

Was it a franchise store or a local store and how do you find them do you just ask or can you find them by the dumpster?

 

[3KillerBs]

... stove grade

I love that description!