B & Q

[baldpate]

Several people in this thread has talked about "Unsorted" and "5ths" in connection with buying redwood from Travis Perkins. I don't know these terms - I presume it is some sort of quality grading system? Is it particular to TP, or used everywhere?

Could somebody please explain, or point me to an explanation elsewhere.

Thanks

Chris

 

[RogerP]

There was a short discussion on this forum a while back ... Here

 

[jimi43]

All the "sheds" are the reason why small dealers bit the dust....

I'm sorry but you wouldn't get me near one....except when forced to do so to get garden stuff for the other half.

And there's another story....the small nurseries.... :roll:

Jim

 

[newt]

Their waste wood must be enormous I spend a long time going through their complete stock of 70 x 20 mm and there was not one length that was usable. Also got banned a few years back following an argument with the manager, I bought a staple gun but they did not stock staples, and had no intention of stocking them. Also on the same day they had no medium sanding blocks because they said they were the most popular. I only use my local wood supplier and do not buy from the sheds. I have to say I was in Wicks recently buying some paint, and I had a quick look at their wood and it did not seem that bad.

 

[baldpate]

There was a short discussion on this forum a while back ... Here

Thanks Roger - just what I was after.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

munkypuzel - the reason for the non-trade bit is that the stuff is subsidised by eon, edf or whomever as a part of the carbon footprint and global warming scam.

 

[munkypuzel]

Phil, yep I agree, but I am not and have never been any trade, but apparently I 'looked' like i was.......

 

[fuster]

Even if you are trade you're still entitled to it for your own place so seems a bit ridiculous.
A couple of years ago i went to b&q to buy a sink trap and they tried to charge me £20. So i called the manager over and told him there must be a mistake as it couldn't be that much. He ignored me so i went to screwfix and bought the exact same one (same company anyway) for £3.80. I emailed head office to tell them their pricing had an error and they told me it was the right price!
I always knew they were expensive but.....

 

[No skills]

As an ex-employee of a large diy retailer I have a little insight into what goes on in these places

Having large amounts of waste wood has been mentioned, no not really most of it does sell from a pack! used to be 5-10% unsold from an average pallet of cls - we used to have the finnforrest rep come round once a month and pull off stock that they didnt want on the shelves as well, that used to average a flat bed trolleys worth of skirting/timber/molding etc. Suprising little really.

Price wise the days of the big places being really cheap is long dead, lower profits mean price hike after price hike and running the place with a skeleton crew. The change I saw over 10 years was astounding.

FWIW

 

[marcros]

Widening the discussion a bit, has anyone used Wickes lately?

I've not needed to use them for a long time, (not since they changed hands) but they are owned by Travis Perkins (who also own Toolstation btw) so ought to have a chance of stocking and selling decent timber. Is it worth the journey?

I was in wickes earlier to return a spare pack of laminate flooring, and had a look at the mouldings. Walking to the till through the timber, the thinner sections of pse were dreadful, but I guess it is to be expected stocking 1/2" x 3" and the like.

 

[andycktm]

i'm sure lots of people make very good projects with wood from B&Q.
I've made some garage doors myself out of their wood.
Most trade/public outlets don't make the public feel welcome (macho image?) i've been there myself :evil:
If you can find good pieces of timber at B&Q go for it,i don't think you'll be struck by lightning for doing so

 

[Woodchips2]

Widening the discussion a bit, has anyone used Wickes lately?

I've not needed to use them for a long time, (not since they changed hands) but they are owned by Travis Perkins (who also own Toolstation btw) so ought to have a chance of stocking and selling decent timber. Is it worth the journey?

Hi Andy
Wickes sell Whitewood and Redwood. I've used quite a lot of their Redwood and it has been reasonable quality plus it often comes in packaged shrink-wrapped bundles which is useful if I have to use the roof-rack and it is raining.

I avoid buying timber from B&Q because of the quality and high price. in fact I avoid buying anything in B&Q because of the high price! I've sometimes bought plywood or MDF if I need them to use their wall saw to cut to size. I also find their website awful and have taken part in half a dozen of their surveys to tell them it is awful but nothing seems to improve. Even their customer toilets are awful :roll:

You may have guessed by now I'm not a big fan of B&Q.

Regards Keith

 

[Mark A]

Most trade/public outlets don't make the public feel welcome (macho image?) i've been there myself :evil:

I hate being patronised by builders' merchants who assume that I haven't got a clue, and so try to charge me whatever they like. My local hardwood timber merchant, Swansea Timber and Plywood, tried to charge me £103 per cubic foot for European Oak! I was too furious to even argue so walked out and ordered online.

The quality of the cheap B&Q and Wickes timber is appalling but the "professional grade" redwood isn't too bad, though it's still over double the price from the merchant I buy my wood from. The Travis Perkins branches around here all only stock banana wood too, plus it's even more expensive than the sheds!

 

[marcros]

builders merchants' head offices are training them that all cash is retail, and retail will pay to wack for stuff. I cant speak for the smaller chains, and the specialists but Wolseley, Travis Perkins et al are certainly going that way- they were 10 years ago when I was employed by them.

 

[neilg]

I was dead chuffed when a couple of years ago in b&q I was filling up a trolley with wood for my first ever project - a bed.

A lady collared me and said that as trade I was entitled to a trade point card. Anyway, long story short, I was spending a few hundred pounds. Proudly presented my temporary card and saved a whopping £2.36!

I try not to buy anything from them anymore unless I have to...

 

[jimi43]

AH!!! I remember now!

I did get something of really good quality from B&Q!!

Her indoors was picking up some compost last year...and as we walked past the wood stacks, I espied some MDF type boards which looked really good quality...almost MRMDF (i.e. not with an edge like a scourer :mrgreen: ) but it had no barcode label them and they only had two.

So..thinking that they had finally got some decent board in..I put them on the long trolley and wheeled them to the checkout.

There then followed an embarrassing "bing bong ---- supervisor to checkout eight --- bing bong" session whilst the queue and fellow customer's scowls grew....

Eventually the manager came over and advised me that I couldn't have the MDF as it was the packing material for their delivery of hardboard! :shock:

Now....I was not about to be cheated out of the only item I have ever seen of good quality so after some reluctant negotiation I managed to get both half sheet boards for a princely two quid!!!

They are still doing an admirable job protecting my workbench over a year later!

Jim

 

[Jonesy]

The panel saw makes B&Q handy - some of the sheds charge stupid prices for cut down sheets, Wickes wanted £30 for a quarter sheet of 18mm plywood.

 

[DTR]

The panel saw makes B&Q handy - some of the sheds charge stupid prices for cut down sheets, Wickes wanted £30 for a quarter sheet of 18mm plywood.

If you use the panel saw, get it cut oversized. I asked them to cut up a sheet for me once and it was horrifically out of square.

 

[No skills]

If getting several bits cut the same size dont let the operator stack them ontop of each other when cutting, the rollers on the bottom of the saw are angled up slightly so the two bits will be slightly different sizes despite being cut together.

 

[Mattty]

If getting several bits cut the same size dont let the operator stack them ontop of each other when cutting, the rollers on the bottom of the saw are angled up slightly so the two bits will be slightly different sizes despite being cut together.

This, like some of the other comments on here is completely wrong.

The 'rollers' are at right angles to the bed which is also leaning back slightly so that the sheet material is held in place by gravity.

To the OP.
B&Q timber is not suitable for windows as it is the wrong species. As others have mentioned, most of the timber is spruce which is classed as non durable and better used for structural internal work. What you need is Redwood. Most builders merchanxts sell it. 5ths grade is fine if you select the planks you need to avoid bad knots, twist and other defects. Unsorted grade is rarely available these days and for small jobs isn't a necessary ordering criteria as any decent woodworker can cut out defective timber when working.
HTH
Flame away
Matt xx