Durawood vs real wood


 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
You have two grill that you have redone. Both are Genesis 1000's and virtually identical except one is Durawood and one has real wood which you replaced with some nice cedar.

Without the opportunity to see actual pictures, which one do you think would sell for more and by how much?
 
I'd think that the wood one would sell for quite a bit more. The Durawood one is basically just a very old grill that's been cleaned up. The one with the wood is a Retro grill that's been fully restored in all it's glory, hence, a higher price.
 
I think that the grills with nice, not old and worn out, wood slats (like what you have been doing vs. old grills we see listed that haven’t been actually restored) would command $50 or more above durawood to the kind of buyer who would pay top dollar. I will say, though, that on the “brunette” (black hood) grills the durawood can look really nice. I just don’t think it looks as good as real wood, in particular on redheads.
 
That is kind of my thoughts as well. I have several durawood 1000's and was thinking that unless the durawood was in excellent shape, I would swap in wood instead. If I can get an extra $25 to $50, it might be worth it.
 
Looks like we all agree that the real wood looks better and would bring a premium price.
I would definitely go real for a keeper, but $25 would surely not justify the expense and
labor involved. $50 would have to be the minimum I would think.
 
Good point Dave. The cost of the wood and time probably is probably much higher than $25.
 
Honestly if me looking for a grill.................I'm not caring either way. If I am actually looking for one that's rehabbed as long as it's solid and looks good. I care more about the functionality and really the diff between durawood and cedar does not effect that.
 
Larry, even though you didn't pick one or the other, I will put you in the Durawood column. From how you describe your views, that says "Durawood" all the way. Durawood is clearly more functional. It won't rot and is more easily cleaned. I guess the biggest plus for wood is aesthetics.
 
Well my thoughts are the wood among other things is going to help sell it faster. If you lined up two grills side by side for sale one with real wood and the other durawood I would bet you the one with real wood is going to sell first if its more money so be it, this would be especially true if I brought my wife or daughter with me as when I first showed them Chris's 2000 and told them I wanted to do something like that they were in love with the way it looked.

I also think that if you line up a black one and line up a Redhead, IMO except for the Skyline which I love myself the Redhead is going to sell faster and its going to get you more money because its different like one with real wood over the durawood. I get constant comments on my Redhead when I have people over for grilling cause most of them do not even know Weber made these grills in colors with wood, heck till I stumbled here I did not know.

I kind of look at this as a hobby unlike Bruce doing them to make any money so my labor I did not count. It cost me less than 9 bucks for the cedar boards at Lowes, took me 15 minutes to cut them with my chop saw, a little work with my orbital sander and then a few hours total to stain and seal. I did take the easy way out as I used a semi deck stain/sealer with a cedar color. I bought a qt for 15 bucks but really only needed the sample can which was 8 but I had other projects the stain could be used on down the road.

If I had to do it over again probably would have kept them clear and used a marine spar which the cost of the spar which could be used for other projects would be spread out as well.
 
Brian,
I assure you that I do this as a hobby. If I paid myself to redo a grill, I don't know that I would even earn minimum wage. But, maximizing profit does make the hobby easier to continue. I have given away grills to friends and family as well.

I also am constantly trying different things with my grill rehabs. I am definitely going to try some of that Spar on my next wood Genny 1000 project. I already grabbed several of the Lowes Cedar boards.
 
Bruce, when I retire I want to do 3 or 4 a year if I can find them and I don't expect to be make much money at it either but if it can throw a few bucks at a Platinum I want to find all the better.

I am on the search for a 1000 in ATL for a buddy of mine they have been scarce as of late if he had told me earlier there was a nice green one for sale about a month ago in really good shape went for 60 bucks once they dropped it from 80 maybe he did not get 60 but I would have paid that since the one for my buddy will be on his dime. Going to be working for beer on this one and he lives next door so we can work on it together. On that one going to use the spar clear finish.
 
I definitely want a patio queen, but for daily usage give me the durawood.
On a flip I really don't think the durawood is going to equal the nice wood slats. But as stated the profit margin may be less than the durawood due to the costs involved for the wood and finish.
Some of you guys have really gone over the top with the early gens and I would love to have them, but not to cook on and get all grudged up. Just maintaining eight mostly factory stock grills and smokers is starting to become almost a part time job in itself.
 
Brian: Too bad ATL is so far away. I have three or four 1000's under a tarp in my driveway right now.
 
Bruce said:
Brian: Too bad ATL is so far away. I have three or four 1000's under a tarp in my driveway right now.
Click to expand...

Not many down here Bruce maybe September when the box stores start dumping everything, really should have grabbed the green one anyway and had I known my buddy wanted one for his new lake house would have been perfect for him.

As my wife pointed out how about finish the few inside projects instead of working on grills then have at it. She loves the Redhead and Performer though so that has been fine, was not crazy about me spending a week or so doing the Redhead side caps over but she liked the results and the Performer filled in so it was not like we had nothing to cook on.

I was retiring end of June but like the Godfather they dragged me back in till end of year got to get those damn inside projects done, in the summer never inside but the truth is procrastinating. :)
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
As my wife pointed out how about finish the few inside projects instead of working on grills then have at it. :)
Click to expand...

The story of my life!!!! I am trying hard, but deals and freebies keep coming my way. I AM doing honeydo list items as well, so that makes my grill over the top habit a little less annoying to my trying to be patient wife. It also means that projects languish without being finished:(!
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Well my thoughts are the wood among other things is going to help sell it faster. If you lined up two grills side by side for sale one with real wood and the other durawood I would bet you the one with real wood is going to sell first if its more money so be it, this would be especially true if I brought my wife or daughter with me as when I first showed them Chris's 2000 and told them I wanted to do something like that they were in love with the way it looked.

I also think that if you line up a black one and line up a Redhead, IMO except for the Skyline which I love myself the Redhead is going to sell faster and its going to get you more money because its different like one with real wood over the durawood. I get constant comments on my Redhead when I have people over for grilling cause most of them do not even know Weber made these grills in colors with wood, heck till I stumbled here I did not know.

I kind of look at this as a hobby unlike Bruce doing them to make any money so my labor I did not count. It cost me less than 9 bucks for the cedar boards at Lowes, took me 15 minutes to cut them with my chop saw, a little work with my orbital sander and then a few hours total to stain and seal. I did take the easy way out as I used a semi deck stain/sealer with a cedar color. I bought a qt for 15 bucks but really only needed the sample can which was 8 but I had other projects the stain could be used on down the road.

If I had to do it over again probably would have kept them clear and used a marine spar which the cost of the spar which could be used for other projects would be spread out as well.
Click to expand...

I will say this about wood: If you factor in time for cutting, planing/sanding, then staining - waiting to dry -, coating with spar - waiting to dry - light sand, coating with spar - waiting to dry, REPEAT, REPEAT...it IS a very serious commitment. My Broilmaster handle is becoming a week long + project:eek:!

Brian I am not so sure you went a bad route with the deck stain!

Jon
 
I agree. I have pretty much sworn off buying grills for the last couple months, but I have still acquired a few. The last three cost me a total of $30 and all were restorable. They all popped in the last couple weeks. The only reason I paid $30 for the one is that it was an E320 and after the other two E3xx grills I did earlier this year, I had several people wanting to know when I will have another one. So, when it popped for $30 with a 50 mile one way trip, I jumped on it. It wound up with the cabinet cancer, but not quite bad enough that the bottom panel wasn't salvageable. The other two recent finds were curbside pickups. One (Silver B) is going to be a parts grill with some great parts (black knobs) and the other is going to be a soild Silver B with double drop down Thermoset swing tables and a Blue hood.

I have seen several 1000's but have shied away from them since my stable on them is full now. But, I agree, things will probably be pretty calm until the stores start trying to clear out summer stock. Keep an eye on the Labor Day sales and people dumping grills after that.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I will say this about wood: If you factor in time for cutting, planing/sanding, then staining - waiting to dry -, coating with spar - waiting to dry - light sand, coating with spar - waiting to dry, REPEAT, REPEAT...it IS a very serious commitment. My Broilmaster handle is becoming a week long + project:eek:!

Brian I am not so sure you went a bad route with the deck stain!

Jon
Click to expand...

Jon, I am not getting the planing at least for the 1000. I just used my orbital sander on the unfinished side had no issues with them being to thick. Maybe other parts of the country they are thicker and do not lay flat which to be honest who cares. Yes I took the easy way out no sanding between coats brushed it on with a foam brush let it dry for a day gave it another coat and I was done. I do keep my grill covered though I doubt they would need anything for 5 or 6 years that Behr product is really nice if its good enough for a deck with sun exposure, rain, winter and whatever it will last forever on the 1000 wood. But I do think the clear looks better and yes done a bunch of wood projects and its painful very painful and a ton of work but you will be happy in the end.

The handle I had actually used a thicker piece of cedar because I wanted it wider than the slats and Lowes was clearing out a 4" which was really 3 1/2 by closer to 7/8's for 5 dollars and change for a 10 footer. I used that and all I did was use the orbital where it went into the handle brackets and sanded them on the back just near the handle holders till the slid in.

Of course I am not getting any of the wife's projects inside done this weekend flying out tomorrow and she is at a wedding in Kentucky with her sister, to busy posting here did get some outside stuff done though. :cool:
 
I think the durawood vs real wood would just depend on your buyer. Some buyers are going to know the durawood is going to be more durable and maintenance free. Others will be attracted to the looks of real wood.
 
Greg M said:
I think the durawood vs real wood would just depend on your buyer. Some buyers are going to know the durawood is going to be more durable and maintenance free. Others will be attracted to the looks of real wood.
Click to expand...

↑ This.... my last buyer gravitated towards to the Durawood right away because of the same reason.

I personally prefer the look of real wood, and I am not opposed to cutting and finishing new wooden slats when the time comes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top