Sawyers in Idaho

mart · August 04, 2019, 08:01:43 PM

Our Alaska adventure is coming to a close and our Idaho adventure is about to begin. I sold my LT 30 and will buy another mill once I get settled in Idaho.

We are buying a place on 4.5 acres about 20 miles East of Lewiston. I'm hoping to connect with some sawyers in the area as well as garner some information about building with rough cut, i.e., uninspected lumber in Idaho.

I'd like to do an attached garage on the house we're buying as well as replace an older building to use as a wood shop. It's on a concrete slab and not attached to the house so I imagine I can use rough cut lumber without an inspection for that building but am not sure on an attached garage. Any insight would be much appreciated.

Crossroads · August 05, 2019, 12:51:49 AM

I'm a bit north of you in Plummer living out our "Idaho adventure". There seem to be a lot of mills around. Most of them seem to be for personal use only. As for building with ungraded lumber, you can go 2 routes. 1) call the county inspector and ask if they allow it 2) cut your lumber and build what you want. Our local inspector told me I could build with my own lumber, but if I ever decided to get financing, it could be an issue and suggested I find someone with a stamp to grade it. It's a little frustrating because the lumber I cut is way better than the junk I bought at the lumber yard.

mart · August 05, 2019, 09:05:27 AM

My mill will be primarily for personal use. I may cut some custom stuff on occasion but I have a lot of building projects in mind and like having lumber available and I just like running a mill.

I will continue to commute to Alaska for my job in the oilfield for another 5-6 years. It's rotational with a two week on/two week off schedule. The mill won't be my income source, just my lumber source.

I'll touch base with the inspector(s) in the area and see about building with rough sawn. I would imagine the shop won't be an issue but won't take that for granted. I would think it might require stamped and graded lumber for anything attached to the house. I understand what you mean about the quality of the lumber produced on our mills. I always felt the stuff off my old LT 30 had the big box store stuff beat by a long ways.

I was in Plummer last week when we were looking at properties. Looked at a couple in Harrison and Saint Maries. We opted to stay further South and our place is just South of Juliaetta.

uler3161 · August 05, 2019, 10:43:18 AM

Right next door to me basically. Not too far away from five different counties. I'll start with Nez Perce as I'm guessing that's where you're at. I live in this county. No experience working with them on using rough sawn. We just got a new county building inspector and a fairly new secretary in that office as well. Don't know how nice they are, but I wasn't a big fan of the last people that were in there. As I understand it, the new inspector was a contractor and doesn't yet have the necessary certifications. I believe he is working on getting those now.

My opinion, Idaho county is the best choice. As I understand they don't care. Don't believe you even need a permit except for anything state mandated. With as huge of a county as Idaho is, and the small tax base, I'm not sure they really could enforce much.

Clearwater county supposedly has some kind of form you (the sawyer) can fill out to certify your lumber is good. I've never done that, though Clearwater is where I've done nearly all my cutting and is where my sawmill is located.

Can't comment on Latah county. My guess is they are pretty restrictive.

I doubt you're in Lewis county, but I'll throw it out there. Pretty small county, but I believe they do require following code and I'm guessing permits, but I don't know for sure.

mart · August 05, 2019, 12:38:09 PM

Latah county. In fact the Latah/Nez Perce line goes through the property with 95% in Latah.

Latah is pretty restrictive on putting a double wide on the property. We were looking at that possibility for my Mom down the road but would have to demonstrate medical need and then it would have to be removed when no longer needed. I can build an "accessory" cottage as long as it doesn't exceed more than half the square footage of the main residence. That can stay after Mom no longer needs it should we elect to build one. Crazy how some counties regulate stuff.

Mom's still in great health and will stay in Walla Walla for now. If we need to move her closer I'll build a cottage for her.

They county guy I talked to in Moscow said I was pretty much free to build what I wanted for shop/sawmill shed/lumber shed and there's no issue with having a sawmill as it's zoned agricultural. I didn't broach the garage idea or using uninspected lumber.

When we get moved down we'll have to get together for coffee. I love to meet other sawyers.

uler3161 · August 05, 2019, 01:06:50 PM

Latah is about the most liberal county in Idaho. It's not surprising there's red tape. And it's going through a huge increase in property values. I'm not sure whether that's pushing officials to be more strict or not. Probably more so around Moscow as that's where all the housing shortage is. Kind of funny to have Idaho county not that far away and it's the polar opposite. If it weren't so far from work (I work in Lewiston), I wouldn't mind looking for property in Idaho county. Maybe someday if I can get some extra money saved up.