Buying Lumber Northern BC

Buying from a mill is not the same as buying from a lumber yard

A lumber yard and a sawmill are different kinds of shop, and it is worth knowing which one your job needs before you drive out. A yard carries dressed, graded, kiln-dried stock in standard sizes, plus the treated posts, fasteners, and hardware that finish a build. If you are working to a plan an inspector will measure, that is where to go.

We sell the wood we cut. Dry balsam cants and two-inch rough-cut boards, ungraded and untreated, in random widths and lengths. A rough two-inch board is a full two inches thick, where a dressed 2x from a yard is an inch and a half, and on a corral rail or a fence line that extra wood is the point. We do not carry hardware or treated posts, so plenty of local customers buy their wood from us and pick up the rest in town.

Not sure which one your job calls for? Our cants vs dimensional lumber post walks through it.

Pickup or delivery

Local customers are welcome to pick up direct from the yard at 7865 BC-16 W, between Witset and Hazelton. For larger orders or customers farther out, we can help arrange a haul. Tell us where you are and we will sort out the best option. Our how to buy guide has the full detail, and if you are weighing up the lumber yards around Smithers, that page explains how buying direct from the mill compares.

Minimum orders and lead times

We sell cants by the lift and boards by the lift or load. Partial lifts and custom lengths are available on request. Lead time depends on what we have milled and banded at the time, so the fastest answer is always a quick call to the office.

Where we deliver

We are set up to serve the Highway 16 corridor and beyond: Smithers, the Hazeltons, Houston, Burns Lake, Terrace, and on toward the coast. See the locations hub for your area, or just call and we will talk logistics.

What to have ready when you call

None of this has to be exact. A rough idea on the phone is usually enough for us to tell you what is already milled and banded and what it would take to cut the rest.

• Sizes. For cants, the cross-section and length: we run 4x4 through 12x12 in 8 to 20 foot lengths. For boards, the thickness and the lengths you can use.
• Quantity, or a rough volume. A lift count, a board count, or just the length of fence you are building.
• Where it is going. Pickup at the yard and a haul out to your place are different answers.
• When you need it. Lead time depends on what is on the ground that week.
• What it is for. If rough-cut is the wrong wood for the job, we would rather tell you than sell it to you.

Fencing is the one job you can size up before you call: the fence material calculator turns a run length into a post and board count.