Where to Buy Cheap Lumber in 2026

Updated 2026-10-14.

First, the dead advice

• Letgo is gone. It merged into OfferUp in August 2020 (TechCrunch). Use OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace instead.
• Lumber Liquidators / LL Flooring filed Chapter 11 in August 2024 and announced it would close all its stores (AP). A buyer, F9 Investments, then kept a few hundred stores open under the brand (AP). Either way, it sells flooring, not framing lumber.

Know what lumber "should" cost this week

Framing lumber was about $500 per thousand board feet wholesale for the week ending Oct 9, 2026, down 1% on the week (Madison's). Retail prices trail wholesale by weeks, so when the index falls for a month, it's a good time to stock up. Track it on our lumber price index.

The cheapest sources, ranked by how much you can save

1. Local sawmills and portable sawyers. Rough-sawn, often green stock, priced well below retail. Bring a moisture meter, and plan to sticker and dry the wood or plane it yourself. Search "sawmill near me" and check the Wood-Mizer sawyer directory.
2. Habitat for Humanity ReStores. Donated new and salvaged lumber, doors, cabinets and trim. Stock turns over fast, so visit often. Find one at habitat.org/restores.
3. Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. Leftovers from contractors and homeowners, sold by the bundle. Search "lumber", "2x4", "treated" and "leftover decking".
4. Big-box cull carts. Home Depot and Lowe's often mark down warped or split boards. Short pieces are fine for blocking, cleats and jigs.
5. Lumberyards (not big box) for quantity. For a full material list (a shed, a deck), ask an independent yard for a quote. They usually price contractor packages and deliver.
6. Reclaimed and deconstruction outlets. Old-growth barn wood isn't cheap, but deconstruction warehouses often price common framing low.

We don't list typical discount percentages because we couldn't find a reliable source for them. Price varies too much by region.

Buy smarter, not just cheaper

• Buy only the lengths your cut list needs. Work out the deck board count with the deck calculator.
• Pressure-treated is only needed for ground contact and exterior framing.
• Check for crown, twist and wane before you load the boards.