Very poor quality…
I called before ordering concerned with quality and moisture content of cedar I wanted to buy. I was told it would be delivered wrapped and dry. It arrived in a white van saturated, the driver who informed me it was soaking when he collected it. He unloaded and left. I checked what had been delivered and it was woeful. I have had better finished cls timber from Selco than this so called planed Cedar I paid over a £1000 for. When it dried, it warped. I complained by email with no response. I would never use this company again.
I am amazed at the response. It is known that pictures paint a thousand words. I will be happy to forward these to whoever requests. Trustpilot do not allow links.
I will show what was delivered, the finish is terrible, the damages plentiful, the water was dripping off and the 88mm cover was in fact only 83.3mm. The term woeful is concise and a true representation of my expensive goods which were no where near good enough. The only response I have had is through this review on Trustpilot. Indicating what this company is like. They say they were going to email in the rebuking of my review or offer replacements. The fact is they have not. I would never use this company again.
Reply from First Class Timber Ltd
Hello Andrew.
Every length we dispatch is quality checked, so 'woeful' deserves a straight answer. What you received was green "wet" cedar. Clear Canadian Western Red Cedar is one of the very few species that can be fitted wet: it shrinks only a couple of percent as it dries, fully interlocked green boards form their own expansion gap in situ providing ease of installation.
Cedar is among the most dimensionally stable timbers there is, low movement is precisely why it's chosen for cladding and sauna work, and boards stored to the guidance published on every one of our product pages (raised off the ground, stickered, air circulating, out of the elements) dry straight. Warping during drying is always due to improper storage.
For a sauna the one hard rule, exactly as our published guidance states, is that it must not be fired up until the timber has acclimatised below 10% moisture content, checked with a moisture meter.
We discussed moisture on the phone before you ordered, and I was clear the boards would arrive feeling moist, around the 20% mark and that acclimatizing before installing to your sauna is necessary. This additional drying requirement does not apply to external or internal applications, only saunas.
On delivery, our published terms note we may occasionally use a different haulier than specified whilst holding your promised delivery date, which is what happened here and cannot see how this caused any problem.
One thing on our side I will own plainly: your email deserved a reply — one was written the same afternoon and, through an error here, was never sent. Had it gone out, the board you described as unusable on arrival would have been replaced immediately, and that offer stands today.
Contact me directly on 020 3965 6500 and I'll sort it with you.
Billy Niven,
Managing Director
