Experiences with using your own lumber in permitted structures

[Bandmill Bandit]

For the Canadians on the site
www.clsab.ca  Canadian Lumber Standards Accredition Board, has links for services in every province.

Most country wide are geared toward manufacturers not individuals, and the cost for the average person are quite high.  Visually graded lumber is piece by piece, so depends upon how much one individual can grade and stamp in a day.  A thousand dollars a day ++ will pay for alot of structural framing lumber.

Yes Hamish $1000 will buy a lot of lumber until you want special dimension Appearance lumber that is ALSO structural AND can be approved by and engineer. YOU will not find a single retail store in Canada that sells, for any price, much less stocks rough sawn, STAMPED, 3"X8",9",10" etc. etc. The comercial mills don't even saw that stuff any more. I deal with a couple of the big mills and I get orders refered to me by them because they dont cut those dimensions for several reasons. Most of them economic on their end.

You can stand on your soap box and yell about it till the cows come home. But the market is in a state of flux right now and the small guy with the little mill is becoming the go to guy for unique one of a kind "make my house mine" lumber products and in this country Alberta is leading the way. (as always) Get used to it or maybe I should say get over it.

I just talked to the CLSAB and was directed to the AFPA. Getting you own lumber graded by an accredited grader is not real expensive. The course is an intensive week long time commitment and costs about $400 ish with text books. You end up with a wallet card of your certification and/or an 8X10 wall certificate. You then get your stamp (if you want one) through the AFPA and payment is based on volume you grade through a Dues structure. The certificate expires every 3 years.

Even at a $1000 for a 3 year certification it would be cheap. The dues are a cost of business that increases the value of the product you sell. Not a factor at all.