Question for you contractors in Wisconsin

[Husky546]

So I'm tossing around the idea of building a new house in Wisconsin. I have a mill and a four head planer as well as some property with a ton of mature trees.

Personally I enjoy the interior work when it comes to building and despise every second of framing/getting things water tight.

Does anyone know off hand if I can cut my own lumber for a contractor to use if it's my house I'm going to reside in? 

I would still be buying manufactured trusses and joists but the rest of the lumber would be from my mill. With proper drying time and mature trees i personally think the hand milled stuff turns out better than the twisted piles of junk you get at Home Depot. And if you get a nasty piece it can be tossed rather than fighting it.

Just curious on the subject if anyone has any knowledge 

[rusticretreater]

Wisconsin requires that locally milled lumber be certified for use by a licensed inspector.  There is a course for it.

Wisconsin Local Use Dimension Lumber Grading | | Wisconsin DNR

[Husky546]

Sounds like I'm taking a class. This is way easier than the Minnesota process of getting a grade stamp. 

Do you know offhand if lumber used in Wisconsin needs to be harvested in Wisconsin? Or could I use some of the stuff I have now from Minnesota? 

[barbender]

I don't know about Wisconsin, but in Minnesota you fall under the zoning and building rules of whatever local jurisdiction you're under. I live in rural Itasca County, there is no IBC enforcement. The only inspections we had on our home were the electrical, which is State mandated, and septic which is also State mandated but administered and inspected by the County. I had free reign to build the house however I wanted. However, if I lived in a town or city, most of them enforce the IBC and have building inspectors. 

[Husky546]

Yea that's my issue. Almost anywhere I would be building in Minnesota comes with the "all lumber must bear a grade stamp or certificate of inspection" nonsense. Which as I'm sure you know isn't as straightforward as what you sent me in Wisconsin.

[rusticretreater]

There are laws covering wood crossing state lines in many areas.  If there are quarantines due to infestations or diseases/funguses.  The wood might need to be kilned and certified before its legally allowed out of state.

[Resonator]

I live in Wisconsin, I've always gone by if it's residential construction, it has to be grade stamped and inspected. Remember the bank financing it, the insurance company, the building contractor, and local zoning (taxes) all will want it to be done right and be up to code.

[Don P]

It is a good idea to get all of them on board but there is a legal path in WI. As a contractor, one who is currently using native lumber I produced. I'm not going to use yours, I've seen how you guys make it. Which is to say, check and see if the contractor is interested first.

[Husky546]

True it would hinge on the contractor. But if I can find one who's willing to use mine versus one who wont he's probably the guy who's getting the job.

Or I just grit my teeth and frame it myself as much as I don't enjoy it. But at least now I know it possible.

[Don P]

As I reread I saw you have a 4 head planer, there's the ticket for me, actual dimensioned stock. 
Do think about the misery of following someone else's framing. (That could be just my issue  :D)

Maybe offer to pay the contractor to get his graders ticket, or both go, a win-win. The grading for my current pile included an engineer, another contractor, me and my partner, and 3 grading books open. Every time you go through that door try to take a few with you. In this case if you can get him bona-fide, he is going to do more than one.

[Husky546]

Yea I'd never try to frame with rough sawn ever again. We did it for a hunting shack years ago. It worked for that application but it would cause a ton of headaches to try and bring any sort of finish to it. 

I guess I had never considered getting a graders ticket. Do you know what that entails in Wisconsin? 

[trapper]

It is a one day class and the certificate is good for 5 years and then must be renewed.  Class was just held in Antigo a couple months ago.  Had one fellow from Alaska there as they are looking to start the program there

[chet]

@Trapper, Wish I knew it was there as its only a short distance for me. Being from Michigan the certificate probably would not be transferable, but still would have liked to go for the knowledge.

[Don P]

That's why I drove to Atlanta, paid about a grand, spent a week and took a class. Bona-fide or not, its good stuff to know. Reading the WI link, my bright idea above doesn't work. It doesn't do the contractor any good legal wise, the certificate has to be held by the sawyer producing the lumber.

I've been off the road for some years. WI was a little, different. I don't recall ever having a local county or town inspector on a job. There were several independent third party inspectors, required by jurisdictions that did not employ a full time inspector but required inspection. Several bank or insurance company "inspectors" and a number of places with nothing but DEQ. I remember mailing them the check with my license application. I forgot to sign one of the pages. They cashed the check, it was in the hundreds, sent me the app back to try again, and a reminder that my application had to be accompanied by a check  :

[chet]

That's why I drove to Atlanta, paid about a grand, spent a week and took a class. Bona-fide or not, its good stuff to know. Reading the WI link, my bright idea above doesn't work. It doesn't do the contractor any good legal wise, the certificate has to be held by the sawyer producing the lumber.

Got it covered  ;D  Both da builders license and the sawmill.

[Sedgehammer]

I do remember a story from Wisconsin when I lived there. A couple were trying to build a straw house, but the city were they lived in said they couldn't. If I remember correctly, the couple took it to court. Eventually it made it to the state Supreme Court. Court agreed that the couple could build it anyway they wanted. Their land, their money 

Now i will post this disclaimer. I don't have first hand knowledge. It was told to me by a contractor. 

I also heard that the Amish were having this same issue in Wisconsin in a certain county. Not sure how that ended up

[randy d]

My wife went through the class. But rafters and floor joist must be stamped other wise you would be good to go but it might be a good id to talk to the building inspector and see what he thinks.