No construction work today. Instead we drove around picking up timber for the actual decking.

We visited two places, the first in Dandenong, the second in Hastings. Neither are really places you would go to for the scenery, although the drive through to Hastings is very picturesque.

At Dandenong Demolitions, they had heaps of seconds and cheaper grade wood. This was fine for us, as long as the beams were straight we could sand down the tops and polish it up nicely. At $4.50 per lineal metre, this was pretty darned cheap. I soon realised why. Many of the planks were rubbish.

We did all the sorting ourselves and managed to find 16 pieces of pretty decent timber. We needed 34 pieces. The entire time we spent collecting, a little fat man stood and watched. His overalls didn’t quite fit as he had to keep all the buttons open. Thank god he wore a t-shirt underneath. Thank god again that he managed to get them at least above his groinal region.

“I’d better hang around and guard these guys before they try to run off with mi wood.” I was sure that was what he was thinking. Perhaps because he probably stole this wood from someone else. He was very slack, didn’t lend a hand at all, no receipt and not even a thanks. Perhaps this is the way timber yards are run. Perhaps it’s just Dandenong.

After dropping that load off home, we travelled through to Hastings to Everest Timber. At $6.90 per lineal metre, this place was certainly a little pricier. I suddenly realised why. They were awesome!

We drove up to the office and asked for what we were after. They directed us to the exact location on the property and told us the best way to park to make things easier. We when got there, I started looking through the timber on the scaffold to begin sorting out the good pieces.

Suddenly, this little guy, who wasn’t wearing overalls, scurried towards us in a forklift. He made the forklift dance as he picked up the timber, backed up, raised it high above the scaffold, peformed a beautiful pirouette then curved around to the side of our trailor. This was done in one perfect motion. He would’ve taken 1st place in the “Forklift Liturgical Dance-Off”. It’s true, see the Forklift Ballet and YouTube.
I’d happilly pay $2.40 per metre extra for that kind of service. The timber was pretty spot on too.