If you’re set on building or improving a wood deck to use in the next few months, don’t lose faith. Contractors and DIYers we interviewed said that pressure-treated lumber isn’t impossible to get, just more time-consuming to locate. “Within the last five days, I’ve been able to pick up 50 percent of what I need,” Tejeda says.
That said, you may have to spend more, make some concessions, and strategize:
Shop in person, ask for help, and be patient. Though you may be skittish about entering a store in person during the pandemic, it may be the best way to secure your supplies. (Home Depot and Lowe's both are requiring masks in-store, among other social-distancing measures.) Pilch says he couldn’t order supplies online but had success when he appeared in person at a store. Toops agrees on that approach. “Get to an individual store early in the morning, talk to the manager, build up a rapport,” she says. “Ask, ‘When do the orders come in? When’s a good time frame to follow up?’” Be prepared, though, to wait another week or a few days if the new load doesn’t fill your order. “It’s coming in, in dribs and drabs,” Tejeda observes.
Source from different suppliers. Tejeda says he visited five lumber suppliers to find enough pressure-treated lumber for a large, 1,200-square foot wood deck he’s currently building. Pilch gathered his wood from several sources, too.
Choose an alternative plank size. When retiree Dave Smukler sourced the lumber for his home’s deck in Hadley, N.Y., he was able to find enough pressure-treated wood by opting for a thicker plank than the 1¼-inch thick, “5 quarter” boards typically used on decks. The 2-inch thick planks Smukler chose are heavier and a bit rougher than the traditional planks, but they also cost less. “I’m going to have to sand down some of the cut edges,” Smukler says. “But unless I brought it to someone’s attention or they were a carpenter, they wouldn’t know the difference.”
Choose a different material. Non-wood composite boards, such as those made by Azek, Fiberon, and Trex, aren’t as flexible underfoot as real wood but typically are more stain-resistant, Consumer Reports’ recent deck testing results show. You may also be able to purchase a steel structure to up your composite deck so that you can avoid the pressure-treated lumber hunt entirely. Tejeda recently put mahogany floor boards on a client’s deck; he says the material was $2 per foot less than Trex but needs annual maintenance that composites don’t require.
Choose a different plank quality. Pressure-treated wood comes in different grades. The most popular product, grade #2, has more knots and less-straight grain than grade #1, but it’s less costly. But #1 may be what you’re able to find right now. Pilch says he was able to get all his deck materials by buying some #1 planks; they added 10 percent to his project’s total cost.
Indeed, Pilch says he plans to be extra careful with the boards he now has, taking extra seriously the carpenter’s credo to measure twice and cut once. “I’m measuring five times,” he says.
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August 07, 2020 at 11:30PM
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Pressure-Treated Lumber Supplies | Wood Deck - ConsumerReports.org
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