Living in a big city can sometimes make it difficult for woodworkers to find wood for their projects. If you do get lucky and have a place nearby, all too frequently it’s overpriced or the selection is subpar.
New York City has several options to pick up some good hardwood, softwoods and exotics. Don’t limit your selection to big box stores as they are usually the most expensive and have the poorest quality of material.
Below are our top choices for buying wood in New York City:
Rosenzweig Lumber
Rosenzweig is one of, if not the, oldest lumber stores in NYC. They started operations in 1910 and are located in the Bronx. The have a good supply of hardwoods and softwoods.
One thing to keep in mind, is that they do not offer S4S lumber. S4S basically means that all four sides of a board have been planed and cut straight. This is what you’ll find in big box stores. If your project requires the boards to be planed and straight, you’ll need to make sure you have the proper tools to process the boards. You’ll need a planer and jointer to accomplish this.
A great thing about Rosenzweig is that they will allow you to pick through piles of lumber and allow you to choose boards you want. Not all lumber companies allow this. Their prices are a bit higher than other places you may find if you really shop around, but no one else in the NYC area has the selection that they do.
Phone: (800) 228-7674
Address: 801 East 135 Street, Bronx, NY 10454
Hours: 7:00am – 4:00pm; Monday thru Friday
Website: https://www.rosenzweiglumber.com/
Boards and Beams
Boards and Beams has been around for more than 20 years. They have become a one stop shop for all your lumber needs.
They have a wide assortment of wood species available for purchase which isn’t easy to find in this area. You can find dimensional lumber in Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Coffeenut, Curly Maple and many more. The other thing I like about Boards and Beams is that they post their pricing on their website. I like having an idea of the total cost of my purchase before getting to the store, so this is always a plus for me.
They also offer milling services for any rough cut lumber that you want to purchase. This is a great service for anyone that doesn’t have access to a planer or joiner in their shop. The number of sides you need milled on your lumber will determine the cost but it ranges anywhere from 50 cents to 1.50 per board foot.
In addition to the dimensional lumber, they have a wide variety of options for pine, plywood, reclaimed wood, beams and moulding.
Phone: (973)299-6100
Address: 1275 Bloomfield Ave, Fairfield, NJ
Hours: 7:30am – 4:00pm; Monday thru Friday
Website: https://www.woodboardsandbeams.com/
Sawkill Lumber Company
Sawkill Lumber is different than the other lumber yards we’ve covered. They specialize in reclaimed wood. They have a massive 5 acre lot filled with boards and beams. They are truly experts on the subject of reclaimed wood. In fact, they’ve even written a highly praised book on the subject of reclaimed wood, which you can find here (Amazon link).
Sawkill’s selection of rare and unique woods is what sets them apart from others. If you want to build a table top out of the flooring from a railroad boxcar or a bowling alley lane, they will have it! One product that they offer that I’ve never seen before are Shou Sughi Ban boards. This is a finishing technique that is popular in Japan where the boards are burned and blackened. It helps protect and seal the wood.
If you are a beginner and live in the area, I highly suggest you check out the workshops they host. You can learn how to create anything from cutting boards and small tables to floating shelves!
Phone: (917) 862-7910
Showroom Address: 71 Troy Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213
Website: https://www.sawkill.nyc/
New York City Slab
As you probably gathered from the name, New York City Slab specializes in slabs of wood. However, their offering doesn’t end there. In addition they offer reclaimed wood and tree stumps.
Using slabs as tabletops and conference room tables have become very popular in recent years. NYC Slab offers slabs in the following: Maple, Walnut, Oak, Cherry, Elm and Sycamore. They typically have about 150,000 board feet of wood slabs on hand. Therefore you should easily be able to find the perfect piece for your project.
One thing I do want to call out is NYC Slab’s special offering of water tank reclaimed wood. These are boards taken from old water towers that have been removed from NYC skyscrapers. It’s truly a unique piece of NYC history that you can use to make a project from.
Phone: (914)-239-3556
Address: Showroom -180B Buena Vista Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10701
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Saturdays 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM – By Appointment Only
Website: http://www.nycityslab.com/
M. Fine Lumber
M. Fine Lumber started in 1933 and is another company that specializes in reclaimed lumber. They find their inventory from demolition projects around the NYC area.
They have an extensive offering of both lumber and reclaimed beams. Their most popular offerings include pine, oak, and douglas fir.
When you visit M. Fine, you have multiple options available once you find the boards you like. You can purchase them “as-is” with nails still embedded. Or you can pay for additional denailing services that will remove any nails, screws or bolts. You can also take it a step further and have the boards milled so they are planed and joined.
Phone: (718) 381-5200
Address: 200 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Hours: 7:00am – 5:00pm; Monday thru Friday
Website: https://www.mfinelumber.com/
Prince Lumber
Prince Lumber is located about 5 blocks west of Times Square on 11th Ave. They are more than just a lumber yard. They will carry just about any type of building material that you may need.
Prince’s hardwood selection isn’t quite as extensive as other companies that we have covered, but they have a great selection of the popular species. Oak and Poplar can be found in a wide range of sizes. They also carry Maple, Mahogany and Cherry.
The great thing about buying from Prince’s is that all the wood is planed and cut square. Therefore you don’t to worry about paying for additional milling services or squaring up the boards yourself.
Phone: (212) 777-1150
Address: 618 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036
Website: https://www.princelumber.com
Adriatic Wood Products
Adriatic Wood is located in Brooklyn. They have been in business since the early 1980’s. Adriatic is another one stop shop with many different building materials. However, they have a vast selection of hardwood lumbers available.
On average, they keep more than 1 million board feet of hardwood lumber on hand at any given time. They have board anywhere from 4/4 all the way up to 16/4 which is not common. In addition, their wood is all NHLA certified to ensure it’s the highest quality.
They obviously have all the common species of wood in stock. However, they also have species such as Zebrawood, Avodire, Afromosia, and Purple Heart.
In addition to their vast lumber supply, they have a large milling operation as well. They have a moulding mill that is more than 90,000 square feet. They are happy to work with you to cut a rough cut board down into specific sizes.
Phone: (718) 922-4621
Address: 1994 Pitkin Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11207
Website: https://www.adriaticwood.com
