A Good Plywood At Home Depot

[Paul Wunder]

HD plywood is often "trashed" here and for good reason. Not this time

I am building a 60" floating vanity and needed some carcase plywood.

Home Depot had a lumber core 3/4" plywood. It was three ply with a surface veneer of about 1/16" covering the lumber core on each side. I bought two sheets and I was very pleased. Solid hardwood lumber core to hold screws without splitting veneers and NO voids. This is a good product for shop cabinets, utility projects, etc. I found it in the Trumbull, CT HD and it is sold as "Sandeply" from Equador. However, this is not the usual 5 ply Sandeply with tissue thin veneer.

This is the one and only time I saw this product and I don't know how widely it is being distributed. It was $44.95/sheet

[Matt Day]

I've never had good luck with Sandeply, but have found the stuff from Columbia Forest Products is better, though not cabinet grade exactly.

[Steve Kohn]

HD plywood is often "trashed" here and for good reason. Not this time

I am building a 60" floating vanity and needed some carcase plywood.

Home Depot had a lumber core 3/4" plywood. It was three ply with a surface veneer of about 1/16" covering the lumber core on each side. I bought two sheets and I was very pleased. Solid hardwood lumber core to hold screws without splitting veneers and NO voids. This is a good product for shop cabinets, utility projects, etc. I found it in the Trumbull, CT HD and it is sold as "Sandeply" from Equador. However, this is not the usual 5 ply Sandeply with tissue thin veneer.

This is the one and only time I saw this product and I don't know how widely it is being distributed. It was $44.95/sheet

I've found and used the same plywood in two different stores in Northern Illinois. It stays flat.

[Kevin Bourque]

Incredibly, my local HD had a skid of 3/4walnut veneer plywood for sale just last week. I'm assuming the supplier made a mistake delivery.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I have been using a poplar ply they have had around here. The veneer is clear (better than aruaco), and 7 layers. Down side is the center layers seem a bit soft but maybe that is just a lower grade poplar. And I had one sheet that was delaminated in the middle, but HD replaced it, no hassle.

[Tom M King]

I just wish that my local Lowes and Home Depot carried the same stuff for at least six months in a row. I wouldn't mind buying a test piece if I knew it would be available again next week. Our Lowes had some really nice 3/4 Birch a couple of years ago.

[Peter Quinn]

I just wish that my local Lowes and Home Depot carried the same stuff for at least six months in a row. I wouldn't mind buying a test piece if I knew it would be available again next week. Our Lowes had some really nice 3/4 Birch a couple of years ago.

Exactly. Every visit is a crap shoot, never the same stuff twice. Its not a produce stand, its a lumber yard, consistency is everything.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I just wish that my local Lowes and Home Depot carried the same stuff for at least six months in a row. I wouldn't mind buying a test piece if I knew it would be available again next week. Our Lowes had some really nice 3/4 Birch a couple of years ago.

Can't argue with that.

[Larry Frank]

My complaint with HomeDepot is the plywood storage racks with the arms. Every sheet seems to have bows in the plywood associated with them. I end up buying from a place that stores it flat. In my area Menards stores sheet goods flat so I buy them there.

[Steve Baumgartner]

My complaint with HomeDepot is the plywood storage racks with the arms. Every sheet seems to have bows in the plywood associated with them. I end up buying from a place that stores it flat.
Amen to that. In many cases the product is almost identical at other places, but HD's handling and storage are atrocious! In addition, their partial sheets seem like they are cut from the worst warped full sheets - I almost never see a flat one in the entire rack!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I agree to the comment on the way they stack plywood. It is all warped, and also the banding they use (or maybe their supplier) ruins at least four sheets in the stack because they band it so tight it digs in. Their lumber is also just horrible. I picked up a 2x4 and it literally broke from its own weight because of a knot spanning the entire width of the board. I fill out their comment surveys every time but we still get the same worthless stuff. I live in St. Thomas, so we are a captive market. What we get we cannot send back like the states. I think they send us the leftovers. That said, I have a love-hate relationship with them, because without HD we would be stuck with ACE which charges double and has little to choose from. I do love my orange table saw and spindle sander.

I did once luck up and they had gotten in a shipment of mahogany veneered plywood. It looked like Honduran Mahogany. Someone made a mistake I guess. I bought a few sheets. At the time I did not have a place to store it or I would have bought more.

If you want a good laugh at Home Depot, check out my review of their photo of St. Thomas. Go to reviews and look at Islander's review.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Trademark-Fine-Art-22-in-x-32-in-Virgin-Islands-7-Canvas-Art-MZ0273-C2232GG/204368528

[Bryan Vaughan]

I've been buying the 2'x4' sheets of sanded and birch of both 1/2 and 3/4 lately. I been thinking they all come pre-bowed.
Do you mean they make them flat?

[Val Kosmider]

Paul,

I am glad that you had good luck with materials purchased at HD.

As for me, I just learned a valuable lesson, of which I should have known better to begin with.

Long story short, I just built a series of cabinets for my new work shop. Plywood carcasses with face frame, etc. Drawers (many) and doors to shelved cabinets.

I got 'cheap' and bought various birch and sanded 3/4" plywood from both HD and Lowes. It was 'slightly warped/bent/bowed from the way they ship/store it, and "cheap" 3 to5 plys. I thought I could work around it, and was VERY careful to work to exacting dimensions.

It was all good (sort of) until I put the drawer glides in. They have 1/32" of "give" and many of my drawer spaces were off by more than that, thanks to the "curves" in the plywood. I made it work, but it added hours of unnecessary time.

Never again. I have a great lumber yard that handles and delivers absolutely pristine and flat plywood--the "real" stuff, for a price which is maybe $5/sheet more than the big box crap on a $40 sheet. I learned my lesson that the savings of big box is more than gobbled up by the inherent lack of quality in their product, and hence, my workmanship.

Glad it worked for you. Doubtful I will ever try it again for anything other than "rough" work where it will be tossed when I am done.

[Peter Kelly]

Banana-ed plywood isn't particular to HD and Lowes. Sheet goods from “real” lumber yards and other distributors that do primarily B2B sales can be up and down with quality. I’ve bought skids of 18mm, 12mm and 6mm B/BB multi ply that all came from the same mill in Russia. The 18mm sheets were perfect, the 6mm ones were somewhat bowed but useable and the 12mm ones were all like Pringles.

You start to realize why particle board is such a popular product with large furniture and cabinetry manufacturers.

[Judson Green]

Banana-ed plywood isn't particular to HD and Lowes. Sheet goods from “real” lumber yards and other distributors that do primarily B2B sales can be up and down with quality. I’ve bought skids of 18mm, 12mm and 6mm B/BB multi ply that all came from the same mill in Russia. The 18mm sheets were perfect, the 6mm ones were somewhat bowed but useable and the 12mm ones were all like Pringles.

You start to realize why particle board is such a popular product with large furniture and cabinetry manufacturers.

+1 to all that!

Also I sure hope that the readers here understand lumber core WILL expand and contract seasonally, its not stable like plywood is. You need to account for this in your build.

[johnny means]

I buy my construction stuff from the Borgs, but anything else is sourced from better suppliers. I have several local suppliers to choose from. My question is, do other areas not have local commercial suppliers? I could see the absolutely clueless buying HD birch ply or red oak ply, but even the most novice Creeker knows that Borg material are bordering on useless.

[Tom M King]

1-1/2 to 2 hours to the good stuff for me, so most of the time we just make out. We don't use that much plywood anyway, fortunately.

[Walter Plummer]

Flat plywood is a rare find, and price is not a guarantee. We recently purchased two sheets of marine grad Sapele plywood to the tune of $250.00 a sheet. As soon as we started cutting it started moving. Got the project done on time but it was disappointing how much trouble it was. If you start with crooked lumber and start roughing it down it seems flatter the smaller the pieces get. The smaller you cut down plywood the more the twist shows. Kinda like why glue is slippery and grease is sticky.

[Tom Giacomo]

I also purchased sandeply from HD and found it comes from China and Equador, the stuff from China is junk but the Equador ply is pretty good.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Incredibly, my local HD had a skid of 3/4walnut veneer plywood for sale just last week. I'm assuming the supplier made a mistake delivery.


Not necessarily a mistake in delivery. Could be they had an inventory situation where the walnut was not moving, and they had a few units they need to move - even it it meant taking a bit of a bath. So - they substituted it. The lumber bidness [not the high-end hardwood stuff, but softwood and most plys, etc] is, at its roots, a commodity-driven marketplace.

Commodity prices go up and down and up and down and then even downer...you gotta stay close to "on market" with your inventory, because if you are going to wait for the market to come back, you might be leaving a problem for the guy that replaces you. THe classic line is "Your first loss is your best loss."

BOG is generally fine with 'exceeds agreed specs" substitutions. Plus- unlikely anyone was gonna gripe, eh?

[fred woltersdorf]

Hi Paul, here is my experience at the Trumbull HD today, I'm building some rolling carts for my shop and went to the Trumbull store as I was in the neighborhood, I found the Sandeply and it looked good as you described, I put a sheet on a cart and went to the pro desk and asked if someone could cut the sheet down as I don't have the room in the shop, the employee was very nice and said sure I'll get a worker over at the panel saw.

The worker was also very polite and marked the two cuts I wanted, then things went downhill when he started cutting, I could tell the blade was dull when I smelled the aroma of burning wood, he finished the cut and the cut wasn't deep enough and wouldn't separate, so another worker stops by and said the blade was supposed to changed yesterday and the two of them made the cut again but I looked at the cut and the sheet of ply was all messed up, crooked, burnt, at that point I said no thanks I'm not taking that home and left, too bad ruined a sheet of ply, I'll see if the Fairfield store has it.

[Paul Wunder]

Fred,

Wow, that surely was bad timing for you. I just got mine a week ago. I didn't think they cut that much lumber each week. I hope things work our for you.

[Alex Stace]

the HD here in Maine always has a stack of the Poplar plywood for 40 bucks a sheet or so.
I have been very happy with it, though the outer veneers are a little thin.
And they store it on the floor by the contractor entrance so it doesn't get bent by the racking. (which from looking at them their racking is not all level, many of the racks appear to bend sheet goods because there is a diffence in height between fingers...)

[Dave Lehnert]

A local Hardwood Dealer told me the problem with import plywood is the core wood is stored outdoors and gets wet. They then use it wet and apply the good, dry plywood to each side. When the core starts to dry, it warps.