There is a certain kind of store that survives by being the only place that still does something. Northwest Lumber Company on Lafayette Road is one of them.
It opened in 1956 as a hardware store that sold construction grade plywood and lumber, which was a perfectly good business until the big box stores arrived and started selling the same thing cheaper. A lot of shops in that position simply closed. Northwest Lumber did something harder. It changed what it sold.
Today it stocks furniture grade hardwoods, cabinet grade plywoods, exotic tonewoods for instrument builders, and live edge slabs it saws and dries on site. For a homeowner planning an outdoor space, it is not the place you buy your framing. It is the place you go for the wood that makes the space feel custom.
About Northwest Lumber Company
Northwest Lumber Company was established in 1956 by Harry Greeley and his wife, Eva. It has stayed a family owned business ever since, operating from the same Lafayette Road address on the northwest side of Indianapolis. Its current catalog and pricing live at northwestlumberco.com.
The shop’s own account of its history is refreshingly direct about the pivot. It began as a supplier of construction materials. As big box competition moved in over the decades, it evolved into a specialist shop serving woodworkers, cabinet builders, instrument makers and artists. That decision is the reason it is still here.
The company is a member of the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association, a nonprofit trade group of Indiana sawmills, brokers, loggers and manufacturers working on shared issues across the hardwood industry.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Address | 5035 Lafayette Rd, Suite A, Indianapolis, IN 46254 |
| Phone | (317) 293-1100 |
| Established | 1956, by Harry Greeley and his wife, Eva |
| Ownership | Family owned |
| Specialty | Furniture grade domestic and exotic hardwoods, cabinet grade plywoods, live edge slabs |
| Weekday hours | Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Saturday hours | 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. |
| Sunday | Closed |
What They Actually Stock
The inventory runs well past what a general building supplier carries. Some of the categories worth knowing about:
- More than fifty types of domestic and exotic hardwoods.
- Specialty plywoods including mahogany, cherry, maple, hickory, ash and walnut.
- Marine grade fir and MDO, both of which are made for conditions where ordinary plywood would fail.
- Live edge slabs, cut in house on a Wood-Mizer and dried in the shop’s own small solar kiln.
- S4S and dimensional lumber, turning squares, veneers and butcher block countertops.
- Glues, stains, finishes, tools and woodworking books.
That last group matters more than it sounds. A shop that sells you the board and the finish for the board, and can tell you which finish belongs to which species, is doing something a warehouse aisle cannot.
The Milling Services Are the Real Advantage
Rough sawn lumber is cheaper than surfaced lumber, but it arrives uneven, and most homeowners do not own a jointer and a wide planer. Northwest Lumber closes that gap by running the machines for you.
If you are having a custom piece made for an outdoor space, these capacities decide what is possible. An eighteen inch planer sets the widest single board that can be surfaced flat. A thirty six inch sander sets how wide a glued up panel can be finished. And straight line ripping is what turns an unusable wavy edge into a true reference edge a builder can work from.
Where a Hardwood Shop Fits an Outdoor Project
Be clear about what this shop is not. It does not sell pressure treated framing lumber or composite decking, and it has not been in the construction materials business for decades. If you need joists and deck boards, you need a different supplier.
Where it fits is everything else made of wood:
- A live edge slab bar top for an outdoor kitchen or a covered patio counter.
- Custom timbers and brackets for a pergola where the standard parts look wrong.
- Bench and table tops built to match the deck rather than bought off a shelf.
- Trim, casing and millwork that matches existing woodwork on an older house.
- Marine grade fir or MDO for a protected exterior detail that needs to survive weather.
These are the pieces that make an outdoor space look like it belongs to the house instead of like a kit. They are also the pieces most homeowners never think about until the deck is finished and the space feels generic.
A word of caution about wood outdoors
Not every beautiful hardwood belongs outside. Species vary enormously in how they handle moisture, sun and insects, and a board that is perfect for a dining table can fail badly on an exposed deck. This is exactly the knowledge the staff at a specialty shop have and a warehouse aisle does not. It is also why choosing deck boards that hold up is a different question from choosing wood for indoor furniture, and worth reading up on before you commit to a species for an exterior surface.
Location, Directions and Access
Northwest Lumber Company, 5035 Lafayette Rd, Suite A, Indianapolis, IN 46254. Phone: (317) 293-1100.
The shop sits on the Lafayette Road corridor on the northwest side, in the band of west side neighborhoods between Lafayette Square and Eagle Creek.
From Interstate 65
Take the Lafayette Road exit and head northwest on Lafayette Road. The shop is on the northwest side of that interchange, past the Lafayette Square area.
From Lafayette Square at 38th Street
From the intersection of West 38th Street and Lafayette Road, head northwest on Lafayette Road. The address sits further out along the same road, so the street numbers climb as you go.
Hours and access notes
- Weekday hours are shorter than most suppliers, running 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- Saturday is a half day, 8:30 a.m. to noon. Closed Sunday.
- Those hours are worth checking before you drive out, especially on a Saturday.
- The current species list and pricing are published on the shop’s website, so you can see what is in stock before you go.
- Milling work takes time. If you need boards surfaced or ripped, ask about turnaround rather than assuming it happens while you wait.
Planning the Wood Parts of an Outdoor Space
Most outdoor projects involve two separate material decisions that often get treated as one. The first is the deck surface itself, where the real question is durability over decades and how much maintenance you are willing to do. The second is the custom wood, where the question is appearance and fit.
The first decision is worth getting right before anything else. Composite, PVC and traditional wood behave very differently over an Indiana winter, and what goes into a decking material decision comes down to weighing upfront cost against how the surface will look and perform in year fifteen. That is a different calculation from picking a species for a bar top.
Platinum Deck and Patio builds decks and paver patios throughout the Indianapolis metro. On the west side specifically, projects in the Speedway and Eagledale neighborhoods sit in their own permitting jurisdiction, and it is worth understanding deck permits on the Speedway side before scheduling anything, since approval timelines shape the build calendar more than most homeowners expect.
The practical sequence is simple. Settle the structure and the decking surface first. Then, once you know the footprint and the finished height, go find the wood for the pieces that will make it yours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Northwest Lumber sell deck boards or framing lumber?
No. The shop moved away from construction grade materials decades ago and now specializes in furniture grade hardwoods, cabinet plywoods and live edge slabs. For decking and framing you will need a construction supplier.
Can I buy just one board?
Yes. The shop serves hobbyists, artists and homeowners alongside professional cabinet builders, and its stock is sold retail as well as wholesale.
Do they cut wood to size?
They offer milling services including planing, sanding, straight line ripping, plywood cuts, resawing and band saw work. Ask about turnaround when you place the order.
What are live edge slabs?
A live edge slab is a board that keeps the natural contour of the outside of the tree along one or both edges rather than being squared off. Northwest Lumber cuts its slabs on a Wood-Mizer sawmill and dries them in a small solar kiln on site.
What are their hours?
Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and closed Sunday. Confirm before making the drive.
Is marine grade plywood worth it for outdoor use?
Marine grade fir and MDO are built to hold up in wet conditions where standard plywood delaminates. Whether it is the right choice depends on how exposed the detail is. Ask the staff about your specific application.
The Bottom Line
Northwest Lumber Company has been on Lafayette Road since 1956, and it is still there because it was willing to stop competing on the thing it could not win and start doing something nobody else nearby does. That is a rarer story than it should be.
If your outdoor project includes a bar top, a pergola detail, a bench, or trim that needs to match an older house, this is a reasonable place to start. Look at the species list on the website first, then go in with your dimensions and a willingness to be talked out of your first choice.
Bring the measurements. That is the one thing that makes the visit productive instead of just pleasant, though it will probably be pleasant either way.