5 Honest Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Timber for Your Project

In our 20 years around wood, I’ve seen it all. We’ve seen beautiful pieces ruined by a simple error and we’ve seen beginners give up because they started with the wrong material. The truth is, buying timber can be a bit of a minefield if you don't know what to look for.

We want to help you avoid the common pitfalls. These aren't tricks of the trade, they're just honest lessons learned over years of trial and error. Get these right, and your project will be off to a flying start.

Mistake #1: Buying Wood That's Too Wet

This is, without a doubt, the most common mistake. You buy a lovely looking plank, take it home, and build your project. A few weeks later, it has warped, a joint has opened up, or a crack has appeared. The culprit? Moisture.

The Honest Truth: Most timber sold online or at big DIY yards is not fully dried. It's been kiln-dried quickly to a low moisture percentage, but the core is still wet. As it equalises with the air in your workshop, it moves.

How to Avoid It: Ask the seller about the moisture content and how it was dried. Most of our timber is air dried for two years. It’s slow, but it’s stable. It means the plank you buy is the same plank you'll have in a year.

Mistake #2: Not Checking for Hidden Defects

You see a clean, clear face on a plank in a stack, buy it, and get it home only to find a huge, unusable knot or a split down the middle.

The Honest Truth: Timber stacks can be deceptive. Sellers will often put the best looking pieces on the outside.

How to Avoid It: If you can, inspect the plank from all sides. Look at the end grain for checks (splits) that might travel into the board. When you buy from us, we milled the wood ourselves. We know what’s inside every plank because we saw it when we cut it.

Mistake #3: Ignoring the Wood's Tendency to Move

Different woods behave differently. Some are incredibly stable (like European Oak), while others are more prone to movement (like some species of Beech if not dried correctly).

The Honest Truth: Using the wrong wood for the wrong job is a recipe for disappointment. That's where my background in tree surgery and arboriculture helps! We know the nature of the tree before it's even a plank.

How to Avoid It: Think about your project. Are you making a large, flat table top? You need a stable wood. Are you turning a bowl on a lathe? You can use something with more character. Don't be afraid to ask your merchant for advice. A good one will give you an honest answer.

Mistake #4: Forgetting About the Waste Factor

You buy a plank that's exactly the length you need for your table, assuming you'll use every inch. You forget to account for cutting off the ends to square it up, or for saw kerf (the width of the saw blade).

The Honest Truth: You should always budget for at least 10-15% waste. It's better to have a bit left over than to be short by a few centimetres.

How to Avoid It: Measure twice, buy once. Add a little extra to your order. We can help you calculate what you need for a project to make sure you're not caught short.

Mistake #5: Not Appreciating the Story

This is less of a technical mistake and more of a missed opportunity.

The Honest Truth: You can buy a generic, anonymous piece of wood from anywhere. But when you hold a piece of timber and know it came from a storm felled Oak from a village just 10 miles away, it connects you to your project in a different way.

How to Avoid It: Choose a merchant who can tell you the wood's story. Ask where it came from. We can provide a provenance record for our timber, because we believe every piece deserves to have its history remembered

Buying timber should be a pleasure, not a gamble. We're here to provide stable, locally sourced wood with a story, and honest advice to go with it.