Bunnings "Premium" Pine Quality

More of a rant, but just went into Bunnings to try and pick up a few small pieces of pine for a small project. I could not believe the quality of the stuff. The so called DAR "Premium" pine was twisted, bowed, rotting, had knots all over it.
How can they possibly sell this for these prices when its pretty much unusable. Even their "Standard" pine seemed to be in better condition although not much of it.
Is this just what is expected when buying a DAR piece of pine? or should it really be ready to go?

Is there anywhere else in Brisbane South West that would sell small pieces (1.2m or so) of DAR pine at a reasonable price (not going to be a fine woodworking project) that you can recommend?

Thanks everyone

Surely crap like this has been placed in the wrong area at Bunnings. I have very little faith in their stuff.

There may be a retail supplier of Stora Enso Baltic pine in Brissy ... maybe call their head office and ask. I have found their product excellent.

yeah i'm definitely losing faith in their stock. Sometimes I can pick up a decent piece, but now its taking like 30 mins to find 1 decent piece of stock.

I shall check that out :-) thanks for the tip

Whilst pulling out a lot of Bunnings mounding a, looking for straight stock; one of their said to me "I hope you're gunna put all that back."
He kept walking when I responded "you should never have put it on the shelf in the first place."
Not his fault; but he started it! ;)

Same experience here, absolute garbage here in Perth too. I'll pretty much only buy framing timber and ply from Bunnings now, just not worth the trip only to return empty handed.

Even ply I'm getting annoyed with, the stickers are a pain to remove and are more often than not stuck to the best looking side [emoji30]

Even their CD grade 17mm ply is buckled to buggery now.
Looks like a wave display on the shelf.
Garbage.

I find turps gets the sticker glue off without too much drama.

Gents, While the forum is good for encouragement, assistance and letting off steam, IMHO the only way to have any supplier get there act together to give negative and constructive feedback on the websites and or social media.....
Hit the Bunnings website with your grievances because if effort people do they will do something about the sad sorry state....https://www.bunnings.com.au/contact-us

Cheers, crowie

Facebook gets their attention

Just a bit of 'letting off steam' [emoji3]

Interestingly, the Bunnings contact/feedback page doesn't have a category for 'product quality' per se

Just sayin' [emoji57]

But, I did leave feedback on their site, otherwise I shouldn't complain [emoji33]?

Fergy, the OP, is in Brisbane. Although I haven't been up there for a while I'd suggest Finlayson's is the place to go for quality pine. East Brisbane is definitely retail friendly, not sure about Sumner Park.

if you know anyone who has graded pine in a mill you will find most of the crap sold at the bunnies store is a long way from premium or standard for that matter

It's not only Bunnies that sell timber like that, but most of the hardware stores are supplied with this sort of rubbish. I've seen timber come in to my local store, that would be more suitable as a propeller, it was that twisted. 290 mm wide timber that badly cupped it had to be cut down the centre, jointed and glued to be somewhere near useful.
Biggest problem that I see is that demand outstrips supply, so timber isn't being dried properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by graham.murfett

Just a bit of 'letting off steam' [emoji3]

Interestingly, the Bunnings contact/feedback page doesn't have a category for 'product quality' per se

Just sayin' [emoji57]

But, I did leave feedback on their site, otherwise I shouldn't complain [emoji33]?

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I got a response from Bunnings

"I firstly want to thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback on our timber mouldings, I would
like to invite you to catch up with me when you are next in the store just so that we can look at the product
you are referring too so that we can see what we can do about the quality with our suppliers."

Whilst I genuinely appreciate the response, they don't need me to point out what is poor quality.

They should already be able to do that on their own i.e.
would they be happy paying full retail for obviously twisted, cupped, split, damaged stock?

Rhetorical question...

Agree that their stock quality is rubbish.

The tas oak has bloodlines and marks all over it. A piece of select grade timber dropped from the top of a thirty storey building would have less features.

The species grading within the tas oak stock is iffy as well. One piece looked and felt a hell of a lot like meranti to me. I could have easily marked it just with my fingernail.

Ask some floor staff in the timber section what hardwood they have, they answer only merbau. Dunno what they think a lot of the flooring species are then.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by graham.murfett

I got a response from Bunnings

Whilst I genuinely appreciate the response, they don't need me to point out what is poor quality.

They should already be able to do that on their own i.e.
would they be happy paying full retail for obviously twisted, cupped, split, damaged stock?

Rhetorical question...

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If they have never done any woodwork and have only seen that rubbish they may genuinely not know. :C

Hi Bohdan

I agree, but if they don't know how to grade timber, or ID obvious poor quality, they shouldn't be put in charge of the wood area.

I wonder if it is a template-type answer.
Probably not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by graham.murfett

Hi Bohdan

I agree, but if they don't know how to grade timber, or ID obvious poor quality, they shouldn't be put in charge of the wood area.

I wonder if it is a template-type answer.
Probably not.

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True! But remember their job isn't to use the timber-it's to sell it.

The stickers on timber annoy me too.


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Apparently Shellite, helps remove the sticker and glue.
Was looking for 19 mm diameter doweling, you could see and feel the router lines, being used for handles they had to be sanded, ended up at 18 mm diameter. This was from Porta Moldings?????
So it's not only Bunnings that get supplied with rubbish.
Kryn

So I have to fork out extra materials and do extra work to remove their stickers. Thus the value of the timber is less.
Grumble moan grumble.
Not much I can do about it until I can afford a jointer and thicknesser but enjoyed a grumble anyway.

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I think that you will find that Porta Mouldings and the like are the people where part of the problem starts. The other part of the issue is the people who don't re-stack the timber neatly after pulling out what they want.

To be fair to the big B shed, they rang me today following up re my feedback.
As best as I can tell from the convo, maybe the timber is too green when it is shaped, and twists in the shelf.
They again asked me to discuss with them next time I visit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wood Collector

I think that you will find that Porta Mouldings and the like are the people where part of the problem starts. The other part of the issue is the people who don't re-stack the timber neatly after pulling out what they want.

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I suspect that this is spot on.
Many times I have seen timber that has obviously suffered from not being restacked correctly. However is that the fault of shoppers or of the store?
If someone goes into a clothes shop and ruffle up the clothes the staff refold it all afterwards.

On a positive note we are lucky in Australia to be able to buy DAR hardwood in a big box store. Plenty of countries don't have that option.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaveVman

I suspect that this is spot on.
Many times I have seen timber that has obviously suffered from not being restacked correctly. However is that the fault of shoppers or of the store?
If someone goes into a clothes shop and ruffle up the clothes the staff refold it all afterwards.

On a positive note we are lucky in Australia to be able to buy DAR hardwood in a big box store. Plenty of countries don't have that option.

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But you sort through clothes to find the right size/style, you don't generally have to do you own inspection and you shouldn't have to with timber either if it is labelled as premium quality. Is low quality MDF or ply with big wads of filler?
I luckily have a timber yard almost next door to Numpties and they have knowledgeable staff and good timber so I go there, they also stock some semi decent stuff like Blackwood but sadly nothing quarter sawn.

Bunnings suppliers may change items but I wish Bunnies would keep their website up-to-date and why would Bunnies, being the size they are, allow their suppliers to dictate if indeed they do?
My example is their "Premium Ply" which is a joke. It's a matter of finding the one with the least warp.

I wanted a piece 1100 x 600mm x 9mm to finish a job , looked on the website and they had 1200 x 600 x 9mm

Attachment 411790

so off I went.

Surprise, surprise :((

Attachment 411789



Looking back at previous purchase I had bought 1200 x 600 x 9mm before so obviously it has been a recent change.

Why oh why?

Yes I'm going to have to get to know my local timber yard. I'm a bit daunted because I 'd be asking for just a few linear meters DAR cut to fit in my car.

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I find that if you don't buy marine ply the veneer is that thin on the premium grade that if you need to sand a area you are lucky not to break through into the second layer

I found a place near me in SW Brisbane. It has better quality timber than the Green Shed for only a slightly higher price. Great service as well. It is my go to place for timber now.

It's called A Wood Shed in Queensland Road, Darra and they have another in Brassall. Place is usually chocker with Tradies....link below

https://www.awoodshed.com.au/

I used an ROS to take the stickers off with no effects on the poly finish we used.

This may sound stupid but would a plane take the sticker off? I know it would probably make a bit of a mess on the blade but most people seem to have a sub par one laying around.

Have had most success removing stickers with this method.

Cover the sticker with 2 layers of thickish paper towel, drench with Shellite, leave it to penetrate the sticker which can then usually be removed whole. Should the sticker be plastic covered it may take 2 tries. Any glue residue can be removed with a clean rag and Shellite, use a rag not the paper towel as the towel breaks apart rubbing over the ply. This method doesn't raise the grain or appear to cause any issues with finishing.