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While bidding material for a new house, I always try to hammer the big numbers, cedar siding, framing lumber, CMU’s, etc, to keep them honest and sharp or do business with somebody new. My new project has beveled cedar siding on the exterior. Comparing local pricing in the Baltimore area and pricing in Michigan, Minnesota, Washington state seems to be worth the effort, much lower than local. Question, has anyone purchased material in large quantities or large dollar amounts ( cedar siding ) and if so what was your experience like, good, ok, bad????
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I have not bought materials interstate so I can't comment on quality, etc. But I would keep an eye on taxes .....would you have to pay Maryland and the supplier's state sales taxes? Shipping costs, too ...... these two things may negate any savings.
*This may be the compareson you are looking for. I've bought across state lines and do so frequently living in southern new england where within less than two hours I can reach 5 states and international waters. Many companies have no trouble delivering (sometimes for a price) one or two states away. Some of my roof trusses come from 4 hours away and I can get great native pine at steep discounts 3 hours away.REsearch the company of course.Tax issues always come up. Some suppliers charge me my state's sales taxes and pays the state. Others consider it "mail order" and they charge no sales tax. According to state law, I must send a check to the state coffers when I don't pay sales tax in another state for a purchase.
*Henry,Since you mentioned Washington State even though you appear to be near Baltimore, I'll tell you about Barmon Lumber in Sultan, WA. That's just north of Seattle. They sell 6" bevelled clear cedar siding for .26 LF. That's 26 cents!I thought this must be too good to be true or it's total crap, since clear cedar siding is about .88 LF down here in Salem, OR. So I drove up to check it out one weekend. They said it's so cheap because they buy mill overruns. They have lots of other lumber, too. And windows and doors and things from cancelled projects, but it's not a salvage yard. It's a regular hardware/lumber yard. Then I spoke with someone at the Western Red Cedar Lumber Assoc. who was familiar with Barmon and explained about 4 different grades of "clear" cedar. Barmon sells the lowest grade, but it is clear and kiln-dried. He said the only difference between the lower grade and the higher grade is I'd have to do more chop sawing around knots. He said clear doesn't mean knot-free.I bought 13,000+ LF and had it trucked to OR by an independent trucker ($300). I just finished staining ALL of it (Jeez!, was that a pain) on both sides. Will be applying it to the house (felt, not Tyvek) next week. There are some crappy pieces, but I suspect you get that from anyone. By far, the vast majority is quite nice, with a few small, tight knots or completely knot-free. Most boards are reddish, but some are very blond and some are very dark. The said they shipped me extra, but I have no idea how much extra. So far, I think it was a great deal.They have an 800 number which I don't have with me right now. They put me in touch with the trucker. Maybe they know of truckers to the east coast.
*What Mike refers to at the end is a "use tax," a poorly enforced rule in many states that means even sales tax-free mail-order purchases are to be taxed in the buyer's state.Double taxation is usually avoided; the supplier is typically considered a reseller and doesn't pay tax, or states have reciprocity agreements. But not always.The main thing I'd worry about LONG distance interstate is what the heck do you do when the shipment arrives messed up? Wait two weeks for a new one? Have them Fed Ex 900 ft of siding?
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Posted by Henry Monroe
Gentlemen, we are getting there,
Mike Guertin touched on some of the points I would like to know the answers to. I'm going to assume I acan get the correct answers from the state of Maryland on the tax issue. I'm more concerned with damaged shippments and reputable businesses. You could always insure the cargo? Does anyone know how to check out a company and have the confidence to send $5000.00 for material. Rufus, now that's what I'm talking about!!!! Going to the source for the best price, except it is not practical for me to drive to Michigan or Washington State. Rufus, can you post to phone # of the Western Red Cedar Asso. Thanks, H. Monroe
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Rufus, I was impressed by Barmon's prices also. I bought 8" bevel tightknot cedar for a houuse 4 years ago at 35 cents a linear foot. About 20% of that was useless but the remaining 80% was beautiful. This means I paid 44 cents a foot for the amount I used...a pretty good deal!
*"Clear" means clear. I would be leary of buying anything that can varry in quality as much as building materials sight unseen. With the price of airfare bein' so low, if you are serious about shipping large quantities across the country, I think a visit would be a good investment. What the heck are you gonna do if you get a semi load of stuff and it is not what you bargained for? "Buyer beware." - jb
*Andrew - In California, anyway, a resale license number is usually required before a company will write up an order without collecting sales tax. In Oregon, we don't worry about it as it is one of the few (three, I think) states without a sales tax (plenty of other taxes to make up for it, however.) It is interesting how Home Depot and Home Base have their warehouses as close to the Washington state line as possible so the Washintonians can dash over here and avoid sales taxes and then go back home and avoid income taxes...
*Yeah, I always thought clear meant no knots, but that's apparently not the case, at least with cedar in the Northwest. My previous experience has been with redwood in CA. Anyway, Paul Mackie at WRCLA (425-316-8845) is quite helpful and willing to explain these details at great length. Also see http://www.wrcla.org/ As I mentioned, Paul was familiar with Barmon and didn't have anything negative to say, except that I'd have to cut some knots and defects away. Maybe you can get more info from him, but I had already visited Barmon by then and felt pretty good about it. I think I got better than 80% good stuff, but there will be some chop sawing and I don't mind small, tight knots, so I won't cut around those. I've seen every piece of the load, since I stained both sides. I didn't insure my load, but I might with a cross-country trip. I couldn't inspect the actual stuff that was sent to me because they have it all bundled up with metal bands in huge piles of several thousand LF per bundle. I mean 16 foot tall piles of these bundles. A whole yard full. All wrapped up in white stuff that looks like Tyvek. Barmon's number is 800-430-5888 or 360-793-2682The 6" is .26; the 8" is .36 (went up only .01 since Darrell got some). They have 6" Hardiplank for .28, fenceposts, cedar decking, T&G pine, and on and on.Forgot to mention the tax. Since OR has no state tax and since I was having it delivered to OR, there was no sales tax. The whole process was painless and well-executed. I called in my actual order, they contacted the independent carrier, the carrier called me about 3 days later and said the stuff was arriving the next day. The carrier showed up exactly on time and unloaded all 13,000+ LF by hand himself for $50 extra!
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Thanks for the info Rufus, I'll let you know how it works out
Mike Marrie, Henry Monroe Buiders, Clarksville, Md
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While bidding material for a new house, I always try to hammer the big numbers, cedar siding, framing lumber, CMU's, etc, to keep them honest and sharp or do business with somebody new. My new project has beveled cedar siding on the exterior. Comparing local pricing in the Baltimore area and pricing in Michigan, Minnesota, Washington state seems to be worth the effort, much lower than local. Question, has anyone purchased material in large quantities or large dollar amounts ( cedar siding ) and if so what was your experience like, good, ok, bad????
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Jim,
Picking my jaw up off the ground on these prices....we are paying over $4.00AUD/metre for this stuff!!!!