I've decided to replace the existing 10'x10' deck that came on my house with a more useful 12'x24' deck. I've drawn it up with SketchUp and am very happy with my design - there will be a lot of built in seating on the railing, stairs to the patio below, an area for a grill that will be permanently piped to the natural gas line feeding my fireplace, and I plan on building this with my dad (who has a lot of experience building decks).
I'd like to avoid getting the wood from a big box store such as Home Depot or Lowes, because I've heard the lumber they sell isn't usually fully cured and will be more likely to warp a lot within a couple of years on a deck than fully cured wood purchased at a lumber yard.
I've noticed that wood seems to be sold a lot "greener" than it used to be... IOW, "soupy"... especially treated lumber, which is what you'll want to use for the deck (unless you plan to use redwood or something that will resist rot and moisture, and even then treated will last longer and be much cheaper.) I don't know if the "soupiness" of the lumber is because of cheaper production (not drying the lumber sufficiently) or because of the elimination of CCA, going to the new "Yella-wood" treatment.
Most of the lumber is coming from similar sources, so I don't know if you're going to get much better "cured" lumber at a lumberyard than at the big box stores... it may be slightly drier simply because it sits around longer at a "regular lumberyard" than at a "home improvement center" and it's stored outside at a lumberyard, allowing it to dry out better because of wind and heat or cold dry air...
I've done several decks (and a thirty foot handicap ramp) for my parents, my sister, and myself... and once the thing is together with deck screws I haven't noticed any real problems with warpage from green lumber... On the first covered porch I built, on our house, I put up the 4x4 poles to which the deck was attached and atop which the roof would go, later that fall when the money situation allowed completion. I found that because of the extreme heat and sun here in SE TX, a couple of the poles closest to the house (which were shaded on one side by the house, obviously) had caused them to warp somewhat; the worst one had TWISTED along it's axis so that the top of the pole was turned roughly 45 degrees from the base... IOW, the top of it looked like a diamond shape and the bottom like a square (<> vs. [ ]). Of course screwing a 2x8 header to the side of it for the rafters to sit on top of when you've got a corner sticking out instead of the flat required some modification-- I took the saber saw and zipped the corner of the post off down about a foot or so from the top, to make a "flat" for the lumber to be screwed into. Worked fine.
My problem is that I've never delt with a lumber yard before and I don't know if this will be a pleasant experience or a huge hassle. There are a couple around the area I live in so I guess I'll just go talk to them and see what happens.
Should be virtually indistinguishable from dealing with the indoor lumberyard type stores... In fact, a lot of "lumberyards" are more "mom-n-pop" type operations or smaller regional chains now, and the best way they can distinguish themselves from the mega-mart style big box indoor lumberyards is to have superior know-how and service, and usually a wider variety of materials, tools, and supplies, especially the more esoteric or harder to find (and not as large a demand, meaning slower sales, which the big box stores avoid stocking because they're slow movers... they'd rather have 2 shelves of stuff that you don't need but that they sell a lot of, rather than stock a variety of things, less of the "fast movers" to make room for the "slow movers" that you will probably end up needing at some point-- like them having 5 rows of yellow wood glue but they won't even carry a few bottles of Titebond Moulding and Trim Glue...) SO, it depends on the store...
I'm hoping:
1) they will deliver all the lumber free, or with little added cost, since I don't have access to a large enough truck for what I need
Most lumberyards will deliver, but the charges vary. If you have a big enough purchase, they MIGHT deliver for free, but you'll have to shop around... they may not, because they have to cover the costs of the truck, driver, forklift, license, fuel, insurance, etc... Those costs are not inconsequential. They usually end up charging delivery simply because it's better to offer a lower price to customers who pick up their lumber and haul it themselves, rather than pass on the costs to everyone to deliver for a few customers by simply increasing the prices of their lumber for everybody so they can deliver free to a few... Again, it depends on the store-- how much volume they move, and how much delivery costs them and how they work it into their business model.
2) they sell 24' long lumber which is only twice the price of 12' lumber, instead of being a lot more expensive.
That's not gonna happen... the longer the single-piece lumber, the more expensive it is, period... that's true of all lumberyards, big box or no. Longer individual boards have to come from longer and bigger trees, and longer pieces mean less turnout per log, since trees taper from bottom to top. Nowdays computers in the sawmill use lasers to measure the logs as they enter the sawmill, and virtually instantly calculate the maximum amount of lumber that can be obtained from a log with the minimum amount of waste material... So, shorter lumber is more prevalent and easier to produce from a given log than long length lumber, and smaller dimension lumber is easier to produce than large dimension (2x4's vs. 8x8 posts) In addition, longer length lumber is harder to handle, transport, and store, and more prone to warpage in curing. For these reasons, long lumber always sells for a premium over shorter lumber, even though they add up to the same length.
3) they sell all the anchors and other hardware I'll need - but if not I have no problem making a trip to Lowes
I love the "Simpson Strongtie" angle pockets and "hurricane ties" that they sell now... they add to the price of the deck, but make MUCH stronger connections that simply toe-nailing floor joists or rafters to header plates... (and in hurricane country that's a nice benefit!) I built my folk's first porch with ten penny nails, but when I did my sisters I used deck screws and the cordless drill-- MUCH stronger and a lot less work!!! No "tennis elbow" from slinging a hammer driving all those nails... Costs a little more, but it's WAY stronger!
4) they can guarantee me that all the lumber I buy has been fully cured and will not warp.
Any thoughts?
NOBODY can guarantee that all the lumber you buy won't warp... it's just the nature of the material... If you want a guarantee that the material won't warp-- build it out of steel or aluminum. Otherwise, SOME amount of warpage is possible....
I've had a couple of deck boards on my parent's handicap ramp "curl up" on me and warp badly enough to pull free of the screws on one end... I had to replace those two boards. It was probably made worse because the handicap ramp is only 4 feet wide... Other than that, I've had no big problems. When I built my parent's full-length covered porch on their house, I put up the treated header plates between the poles as soon as I finished the framing and decking of the porch itself, which prevented the poles from warping as they did on my porch... then in the fall when I came back and put the rafters, purlins, and Galvalume roof on it, everything was straight and true and ready to go...
Later and good luck! OL JR