: I am building a Guillemot Kayak for the first time. What are competitive
: prices for cedars: At Home Depot, I can get a red cedar for 1*4*12 for 7.45. : What are good prices for wood[?]
Assuming your 1"X4"X12' is actually a 4S .75"X3.5"X12' your paying about 2 cents a cubic inch or $2.85 a bdft. That's pretty competitive for 4S red cedar, at least on the right coast. You might do better with 6 or 8 inch widths because there is less waste, but the 1X4 might be of better quality because the sawyer can work around knots when sawing narrower stock.

The whole lumber situation is pretty sad. The U.S. now has the world's largest reserves of hardwood, but quality softwood reserves are in serious decline and the prices reflect it. Demand for hardwoods is up and I see a lot of veneer quality bolts being trucked around the Northeast. What I don't understand is why loaded trucks are passing each other in opposite directions on the interstate.

Down the road the loggers have gone into a farm woods for the third year in a row and the red oak logs they're skidding out now are down to a foot at the butt. That's pretty small for milling, probably end up as firewood. Oil and gas prices are also effecting the demand for timber.