Where to Buy Wood Lath: Stores, Prices & Salvage Tips (2026)

The cheapest place to buy wood lath is a lumberyard or building-supply store that sells it by the 50-piece bundle, which works out to roughly 12 to 16 cents per linear foot. Home centers and online hardware stores carry the same bundles, and salvage yards are the best source for real old-growth lath.

This guide is about lath, the thin wood strips used as a base for plaster and for crafts and trellis work, not lathe turning tools (that is a different topic entirely). Traditional plaster lath runs about 1/4 inch thick, 1-1/2 inches wide and 48 inches long, and it is sold in bundles rather than singly. Below you will find where each type of seller fits, what real bundles cost, and how to avoid the two hazards that come with salvaged lath.

One correction up front: an older version of this page said lath costs $1 to $3 per linear foot. That is wrong for bundled lath. It is only true for small craft packs, as the price table below shows.

Quick Answer: Where to Buy Wood Lath

For a real plaster or trellis job you want full 48 in. bundles from a lumberyard, a building-supply house or an online hardware seller. The pine strips above are the right pick only if you need a few short pieces for a craft or a small panel and do not want to buy 50 strips you will never use.

What Wood Lath Actually Is (and What to Ask For)

Lath is sold by nominal size, and thickness varies by seller. Traditional plaster lath was roughly 1/4 inch thick and 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide, often rough-sawn from pine or spruce, and nailed across studs or joists with a gap of about 3/8 inch between strips. That gap is not sloppy work. The first coat of plaster squeezes through it and hardens behind the strips into ridges called keys, which lock the plaster to the wall.

When you call a supplier, ask for wood lath by these details so you do not get furring strips, batten or lattice by mistake:

• Thickness: 1/4 in. is the traditional size, but current bundles are also sold at 5/16 in. and 3/8 in.
• Width and length: 1-1/2 in. wide by 48 in. long is the common bundle size.
• Count: 50 pieces per bundle is typical, although at least one big-box retailer sells 30-piece bundles.
• Species: current bundles are usually aspen, spruce or pine. Ask if the wood is untreated, because plaster work needs plain untreated wood.

Where to Buy Wood Lath: Sellers Compared

Here is how the main sources compare. Prices below come from product pages we read on September 30, 2026, and they change, so treat them as a snapshot rather than a quote.

Source	Product	Price (read 9/30/2026)	Cost per strip	Cost per linear foot
Dunn Lumber (Washington state stores and delivery)	1/4 in. x 4 ft lath, 50-piece bundle	$32.88	about $0.66	about $0.16
Hemlock Hardware (online)	Sourcewood 3/8 in. x 1-1/2 in. x 48 in., 50-pack	$23.49	about $0.47	about $0.12
Amazon (craft strips)	Pine 1/4 in. x 1.5 in. x 15 in., 10 pieces	$12.99	$1.30	about $1.04

The per-foot math is simple: a 50-piece bundle of 48 in. strips is 200 linear feet, so $32.88 is about 16 cents a foot and $23.49 is about 12 cents a foot. The craft pack is 10 strips of 15 inches, or 12.5 feet, so it costs roughly seven to nine times more per foot. That is the real reason you should buy a bundle for anything bigger than a tabletop project.

Dunn Lumber’s page listed the 1/4 in. bundle in stock at each of its Washington locations on the day we checked, and Hemlock Hardware listed its bundle with same-day pickup and 1 to 2 day delivery, weighing about 34.6 pounds per 50-pack. Neither listing tells you what your own local store has on the shelf.

Home Depot, Lowe’s and Menards

Search results on September 30, 2026 showed wood lath bundles listed on Home Depot (50-packs in 5/16 in. and 3/8 in. thickness), Lowe’s (a whitewood 1/4 in. x 1-1/2 in. x 4 ft, 50-count bundle) and Menards (a 30-piece bundle). Their product pages blocked our automated check, so we are not quoting prices or stock. Check the store’s website for your zip code or call the lumber desk before you drive.

Local Lumberyards and Building-Supply Houses

A yard that serves plasterers and remodelers is usually the best bet. Ask at the counter rather than browsing, because lath is often stored in a separate rack from dimensional lumber, and ask whether they will sell a partial bundle or special-order it.

Online Hardware and Lumber Sellers

Online sellers make sense when your area has no yard that stocks it. Check the shipping cost before you compare prices, because a 35 pound bundle can cost more to ship than to buy. Confirm the exact thickness in the listing, since the same 1-1/2 in. by 48 in. size is sold in more than one thickness.

Salvage Yards and Reclaimed Lath

Old lath pulled from a demolished plaster wall is free or cheap and has a rustic look that works well for accent walls and picture frames. Architectural salvage yards, demolition contractors and online classifieds are the usual sources. The trade-off is that it comes with plaster residue, rusty nails and old paint.

Treat salvaged lath from a house built before 1978 as a possible lead-paint hazard, because lead-based paint was not banned for residential use until 1978. Some plaster made from the early 1920s to the late 1970s also contained asbestos fibers, so if you are tearing out walls yourself, send a sample of the plaster for lab testing before demolition and hire a licensed professional if asbestos is found. Do not sand or scrape old painted lath indoors. If you are just buying salvaged lath, ask the seller whether it came from a pre-1978 building and whether it has been tested.

• Wear a HEPA-rated respirator (not a paper dust mask) when handling dusty demolition lath.
• Wet plaster debris lightly with a spray bottle to keep dust down.
• Pull or cut off every nail before the lath goes near a saw blade or planer.
• For decorative reuse, brush it clean and seal it with a coat of clear finish.

Which Source Fits Which Project

Project	Best source	Why
Plaster repair or new plaster wall	Lumberyard or building-supply house	Consistent lath sold by the bundle at the lowest per-foot price
Garden trellis or fence panels	Bundle from a home center or online hardware seller	Cheap per foot; for a longer-lasting outdoor build, choose a rot-resistant wood such as cedar (see our cedar trellis ideas)
Rustic accent wall or frames	Salvage yard	Weathered character and low cost, once you have handled the lead and asbestos questions above
Small crafts and models	Craft pack (10 to 30 strips)	No leftover bundle, smooth surfaces, more expensive per foot

How to Check Lath Quality Before You Buy

Sight down each strip and reject any that are warped, twisted or bowed, because bad lath makes wavy plaster. Avoid strips with large loose knots that will snap under a nail, and skip damp or moldy bundles. Small edge chips are fine. Buy about 10 percent more than your math says, because a few strips will split when nailed near the ends.

To estimate quantity, divide your wall or ceiling height by the strip width plus the roughly 3/8 in. gap, which is about 1-7/8 in. per course for 1-1/2 in. lath. For general price-per-board math on other lumber, see our guide to calculating wood price. If you are only patching an existing plaster wall, you probably do not need lath at all, and our guide to fixing oversized wall anchor holes covers that repair.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find wood lath for sale?

Look at lumberyards and building-supply houses first, then home center lumber departments, online hardware sellers and architectural salvage yards. Ask for it by size: 1/4 in. x 1-1/2 in. x 48 in. is the traditional plaster lath size, usually sold in 50-piece bundles.

How much does wood lath cost?

On September 30, 2026, we read 50-piece bundles at $32.88 (1/4 in. x 4 ft, Dunn Lumber) and $23.49 (3/8 in. x 1-1/2 in. x 48 in., Hemlock Hardware). That is about 12 to 16 cents per linear foot. Small craft packs cost far more per foot.

Is it safe to reuse old lath from a plaster wall?

It can be, with precautions. Lead-based paint was legal on homes until 1978, and some plaster from the 1920s to the 1970s contained asbestos. Test suspect material, wear a HEPA respirator around the dust, and do not sand old painted lath indoors.

Can I buy wood lath online?

Yes. Online hardware and lumber sellers list 50-piece bundles, and craft-strip packs are available on Amazon. Check the exact thickness in the listing and the shipping cost, since a 50-piece bundle can weigh about 35 pounds.

Conclusion

For plaster or trellis work, buy lath by the 50-piece bundle from a lumberyard, building-supply house or online hardware seller and expect to pay roughly 12 to 16 cents a foot. Use salvage yards for character and low cost, but take the lead and asbestos warnings seriously. Save the small craft packs for small craft jobs.