: You'd think it'd be relatively easy finding some lumber in a town
: the size of Chicago, but I am having no such luck. Can anyone
: recommend a place for me?

Northside or southside or 'burbs?

Menards usualy has better prices on cedar than Home Depot-- and a better selection of sizes. They seem to price the boards by popularity rather than by boardfeet and mostly they have #2, #3, or worse. That means it is not clear. Fortunately a lot of knots disappear during ripping and the price is reasonable so just buy one more board.

Their cedar construction lumber comes in 1x 4 to 1 x 12 in lengths to 16 feet. Usually one side is rough and the other is smooth. The thicker boards: 4 x 4s and 2x6s through 2 x12 are better grades. They also have 5/4 x 6 boards for decks--usually stocked with the deck materials.

PGJ