Timberham Sawmill popularity stuck at 1.90 or 2.96? Finish the level conditions

The problem: you leased Timberham Sawmill through the Renewed Vitality quest, the shop is open and goods are selling, but the popularity score creeps up to just below the next level and stops. Players on Steam have reported it freezing at 1.90, 2.96 and 3.99, no matter how much they sell. The quest wants popularity level 3, so it looks like it’s stuck for good.

The fix: it isn’t a bug. Every sawmill level has a short list of conditions on top of the sales score, and the score won’t tick over until you meet them. They’re listed on the right side of the sawmill’s management menu. The player who started the main Steam thread about this came back to say they simply hadn’t noticed the extra requirements, and once they did those, the sawmill went all the way to the top level. A second player stuck at 1.90 got the same answer.

What each level needs

These are the conditions for Timberham Sawmill, as listed in the gaming.tools game database and in the management menu. Always check the menu in your own game too, since the in-game wording can be slightly different.

To reach	Conditions
Level 2	Activate wood synergy level 1, place a waiting table (the database calls it a “standing table”), satisfy customers 3 times
Level 3	Read the book The Nature of Planks, place a plank workbench, place a plank box, sell plank goods 10 times
Level 4	Reach the Premium facility tier, satisfy customers 30 times, sell furniture 50 times
Level 5	Place 3 workstations, activate furniture synergy level 3, satisfy customers 50 times, welcome a special guest once

Can’t find the table, workbench or box?

The sawmill hands you books as it levels up. Reaching level 1 gives you The Courtesy of Waiting, which teaches the table customers wait at, and reaching level 2 gives you Building with Planks. Players on the Russian-language thread explain how it works:

1. Open your inventory and read the book from the Books section. You get it automatically when the sawmill levels up. For level 3, also make sure you’ve read The Nature of Planks, the book named in the conditions list.
2. Go into placement mode at the sawmill and open the rightmost tab. Once you’ve read the book, the new table, workbench or box shows up there to buy and place.
3. Mind the names. The translation isn’t always consistent. A side task asking you to set up a “workbench” can mean either the cabinet that makes goods or the table that makes planks.

Don’t sell those books. One player sold the plank book to a merchant, bought it back, and still couldn’t find the blueprints. Keep quest books in your storage chest instead.

Stuck at 3.99: the Premium tier

Level 4 is the one that catches people out, because it needs the sawmill to reach the Premium facility tier as well as more sales. One player stuck at 3.99 worked it out: you have to build more at the sawmill. There’s a tier gauge in placement mode that fills as you add installables. The gaming.tools database also ties facility tiers to your workers’ skill, so if building more doesn’t fill the gauge, check that your Carpenter and Sawyer slots are filled with skilled comrades.

The furniture seller left the sawmill

After you take over the sawmill, the NPC who sold furniture there leaves, and so can a quest giver who stands nearby. Players say he comes back when you end the lease. One player warned that the sawmill’s level seemed to reset if you lease it again afterwards, so only do this if you really need that NPC.

New to the expansion? See what Charting the Unknown adds and how to unlock it.