Hope For Lowe's Yet...............Maybe???

[John Hollaway]

Like most others, I swore off (and at) Lowe's veneer core plywood years ago. If I wanted potato chips I'd go to the grocery store. HOWEVER, I took a glance at their VC plywood this morning in passing and found, much to my surprise, that they were stocking some USA-made cabinet ply from Roseburg (never have I had any problems with Roseburg) with face and back veneers in Oak, Birch and Maple. Forth-Nine and change per sheet. If any of you have used the Roseburg product from Lowe's, what is your opinion? Thanks?

John

[Cary Falk]

I bought a piece of 1/4" maple plywood from Lowe's I am not sure if it was Roseburg or not. If you held it up to the light you cod see quite a few spots where the core was missing.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Just returned three sheets that delaminated on me. Prefinished them and when I went break them down, they simply fell apart. Seems that there was a whole production run, as several stores had same issues. After using Columbia Forest Products poplar core, the stuff from Roseburg SUCKS. Lots of voids in core, and interior plys vary greatly in thickness, plus strips of bark. Not good for shelf pins or standards.

[Greg R Bradley]

Just returned three sheets that delaminated on me. Prefinished them and when I went break them down, they simply fell apart. Seems that there was a whole production run, as several stores had same issues. After using Columbia Forest Products poplar core, the stuff from Roseburg SUCKS. Lots of voids in core, and interior plys vary greatly in thickness, plus strips of bark. Not good for shelf pins or standards.
They may get the occasional thing "right", but not for long as consistency is a foreign concept to Blowes in their constant search for the bottom. They ARE just giving the customer what they want, which is the illusion of getting a good deal. That does include the occasional item worth buying.

[Brian Henderson]

You have to remember what Lowes and Home Depot exist for, to service the contractor trade and the home DIYer. They don't even pretend to cater to the serious woodworker, so asking them to provide something that they don't even pretend to provide is a bit silly. If I was building a wall, I'd go to Lowes. If I'm building fine furniture, I'm going to a store that caters to that kind of thing.

[John Hollaway]

Thanks everyone.

John

[Edward Oleen]

You have to remember what Lowes and Home Depot exist for, to service the contractor trade and the home DIYer. They don't even pretend to cater to the serious woodworker, so asking them to provide something that they don't even pretend to provide is a bit silly. If I was building a wall, I'd go to Lowes. If I'm building fine furniture, I'm going to a store that caters to that kind of thing.

I pity the "home DIYer" who tries to use HD's plywood: it is full of voids, and falls apart as soon as you try to cut it. I know a few "home DIYers", and none of them have ever used a full sheet of 3/4 ply for anything - uncut, that is.

What Lowes and Home Depot exist to provide the most bucks for the investors: to hell with the customer, and especially the employees. In my experience the only time that the quality of either climbs out of the sub-basement is when the other is within shouting range, so that the customer has a choice of where to go.

I don't buy even a light switch at HD, if I can help it. I have an electric supply house not far away which has better prices, knows what they are selling, has a far better stock, can help me get the right item, and is an all-around better place to shop. The only reason I would ever go to HD for electrical stuff is if I were desperate on Saturday night or Sunday.

The same holds for plumbing, etc. You name it and the specialty stores run rings around HD.

I've got three building supply places within 20 miles of my home. They've gotten used to my walking in and asking for a sheet of 1/2" Baltic Birch - they'll "special order" it for me and I'll get it within a week, which is okay with me, because if I went to HD or Lowes and asked for it all I'd get would be dumb looks.

[Ken Combs]

Just returned three sheets that delaminated on me. Prefinished them and when I went break them down, they simply fell apart. Seems that there was a whole production run, as several stores had same issues. After using Columbia Forest Products poplar core, the stuff from Roseburg SUCKS. Lots of voids in core, and interior plys vary greatly in thickness, plus strips of bark. Not good for shelf pins or standards.

And, I'll bet that problem was well known to the maker. They probably called the Lowe's buyer and offered them a real deal on the entire production run!


All discount retailers, Lowes, HD, Walmart, etc constantly push vendors to reduce pricing and don't really care about quality. So the buyer didn't ask any questions, just snapped up a bargain.


1

[Chris Hachet]

They may get the occasional thing "right", but not for long as consistency is a foreign concept to Blowes in their constant search for the bottom. They ARE just giving the customer what they want, which is the illusion of getting a good deal. That does include the occasional item worth buying.

I could not agree more, although their paint seems to work fairly well.

Everything else there....not so much.

[Chris Hachet]

And, I'll bet that problem was well known to the maker. They probably called the Lowe's buyer and offered them a real deal on the entire production run!


All discount retailers, Lowes, HD, Walmart, etc constantly push vendors to reduce pricing and don't really care about quality. So the buyer didn't ask any questions, just snapped up a bargain.


1


Yep, the race to the bottom.

[Mike Monroe]

I used some Menards MDF once on a 4-H project, anything else I get from hardwood supplier that has decent sheet goods. The big boxes have the best deals on bags of charcoal at the end summer though. Hard to mess up a bag of charcoal; plan ahead and save.

[Brian Henderson]

I pity the "home DIYer" who tries to use HD's plywood: it is full of voids, and falls apart as soon as you try to cut it. I know a few "home DIYers", and none of them have ever used a full sheet of 3/4 ply for anything - uncut, that is.

What Lowes and Home Depot exist to provide the most bucks for the investors: to hell with the customer, and especially the employees. In my experience the only time that the quality of either climbs out of the sub-basement is when the other is within shouting range, so that the customer has a choice of where to go.

I don't buy even a light switch at HD, if I can help it. I have an electric supply house not far away which has better prices, knows what they are selling, has a far better stock, can help me get the right item, and is an all-around better place to shop. The only reason I would ever go to HD for electrical stuff is if I were desperate on Saturday night or Sunday.

The same holds for plumbing, etc. You name it and the specialty stores run rings around HD.

I've got three building supply places within 20 miles of my home. They've gotten used to my walking in and asking for a sheet of 1/2" Baltic Birch - they'll "special order" it for me and I'll get it within a week, which is okay with me, because if I went to HD or Lowes and asked for it all I'd get would be dumb looks.

They're not made for making furniture out of. Most of their plywood is made for use as subfloor and the like. Lowes and Home Depot cater to the home builder and home modifier. That's where they make their money. I don't know why you're so upset about it, you don't fit into their demographic. So be it. They cater, at least in the lumber area, to contractors. Most of these lumber suppliers do. I had a friend who managed an 84 Lumber and he told me that the only reason they were open to the public is because lots of people came in and bought decks and sheds, which have a tremendous mark-up on the wood. If not for them, they'd just be there for contractors and big housing companies that come in and order $50,000 worth of wood a month. Even big hardwood sellers are set up for the big companies that come in and buy a ton of wood. Little guys like us who might show up once in a while and buy a couple of boards here and there, they really don't like us, we're not the core of their business. The home woodworker, the non-professional, really has nowhere to go where we are the guts of the business when buying wood.

[Brian Henderson]

Yep, the race to the bottom.

Like it or not, they're making money hand over fist and they're the ones opening tons of new stores and everyone goes there. That shows that the majority of people are interested more in saving money than in having high quality products. You and I might not like it, particularly when it comes to woodworking. That's why Harbor Freight has more than 500 stores and Woodcraft has 70.

[Larry Edgerton]

You have to remember what Lowes and Home Depot exist for, to service the contractor trade and the home DIYer. They don't even pretend to cater to the serious woodworker, so asking them to provide something that they don't even pretend to provide is a bit silly. If I was building a wall, I'd go to Lowes. If I'm building fine furniture, I'm going to a store that caters to that kind of thing.

I would like to qualify this statement. Lowes/HD cater to the Lower End contractor. They are no better at framing lumber than they are at anything else.

[Chris Corwin]

One place that does cater to the "small" guy is Southern Tier Hardwoods located just outside of Binghamton NY. They have nice stock already planed and with a day's notice they can get you just about anything. They are a smaller business and I really appreciate the customer service. I travel over 2 hours to them instead of the 1.5 hrs it would take me to get to a different bigger company even though they have more selection.

[John TenEyck]

I've had good luck with HD's poplar plywood by Columbia, as well as some other Columbia plywood they sell. Also, I've used the Sandeply with good results. You just have to look at what you are buying. Maybe I'm lucky and the store that's near cares about what they buy, but I rather doubt it. I used to buy from my local full service lumber yard until they changed suppliers and stopped selling Canadian made plywood of good quality for Chiwanese crap that has veneer so thin I can see through it and curls up the minute I get it home. I spoke with the local manager (it's a 3 store outfit) and he told me they buy the same stuff as sold by HD and Lowes. When I pointed out that the HD 2 miles away sold Columbia plywood of much better quality at lower prices, he just shrugged. So much for buying local or getting better quality. The only way I can get really top end materials is to special order it through that same lumber yard. I can get nearly anything I want - at unbelievable prices because they aren't large enough to be a stocking distributor, so I reserve those purchases for something really special. Even then there's no guarantee what I get will be perfect. I bought 6 sheets of Columbia's second from the best (because they couldn't get the best one) VC cherry plywood. It's supposed to be flat and smooth within very tight specs. but I didn't find that to be the case. It was nice and met my needs but it was far from perfect and at $165/sheet it was not what I expected. So I find myself more and more buying HD's poplar core plywood or Baltic birch plywood or MDF and making my own veneered panels from shop sawn veneer. Not fast, but I can control the quality and get exactly what I want. The panels I make are better than any plywood I can buy. You have to adapt to what's available and sometimes take a different path.

John

[Brian Holcombe]

I've whittled my use of them down to drywall patch panels and plumbing supplies, but if I plan far enough in advance I can avoid them for that as well.

The BB ply available to me at my local yard is of fantastic quality, so I buy there regardless of the price difference. Saving a few bucks on a piece I plan to live with for years is not worth it. Same with construction timber, molding, ect my local supply yard carries really nice stuff.

I have a local paint supplier (interior paint) whose fantastic, even remembers the projects your working on. He carries Benjamin Moore and has a good knowledge base for odd questions.

I maintain a network of local suppliers and have minimized material related aggravations to an absolute minimum.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Could have been a fluke but I needed three sheets of 3/4 maple. To make it easier I had a cut made on the panel saw. The guy messed it up leaving me one sheet short. It didn't matter for what I was making so we went with that exact same $49 sheet of USA oak veneer ply (the maple was a different brand but I forget).

First sheet of of oak was getting ripped in half on the panel saw. The sheet looked perfect. It literally blew apart half way through the cut making a loud bang. It didn't delaminate but broke apart under some stress even across the plys. Grabbed a second sheet that also looked perfect. Exact same thing and it was violent. Manager came out and they brought down a brand new stack from above and took the second sheet off that also looked perfect. Did the same thing. Manager finally red taped the remaining stock saying it was too dangerous to cut.

Im glad I had them panel cut it. I hate to see what would have happened on the table saw. All 3 sheets looked perfect. I wish I had taken pictures. Once the pressure was released it tore, split, twisted splintered over about a 2' area in the midle of the sheet.

This is could have been a fluke because it sure looked good. After that experience I always wait for at least one panel cut at the box stores just to be safe when buying their ply for shop projects. That's the only time it happened but that would have been a bad situation putting it through a table saw for sure.

[Chris Corwin]

Could have been a fluke but I needed three sheets of 3/4 maple. To make it easier I had a cut made on the panel saw. The guy messed it up leaving me one sheet short. It didn't matter for what I was making so we went with that exact same $49 sheet of USA oak veneer ply (the maple was a different brand but I forget). First sheet of of oak was getting ripped in half on the panel saw. The sheet looked perfect. It literally blew apart half way through the cut making a loud bang. It didn't delaminate but broke apart under some stress even across the plys. Grabbed a second sheet that also looked perfect. Exact same thing and it was violent. Manager came out and they brought down a brand new stack from above and took the second sheet off that also looked perfect. Did the same thing. Manager finally red taped the remaining stock saying it was too dangerous to cut. Im glad I had them panel cut it. I hate to see what would have happened on the table saw. All 3 sheets looked perfect. I wish I had taken pictures. Once the pressure was released it tore, split, twisted splintered over about a 2' area in the midle of the sheet. This is could have been a fluke because it sure looked good. After that experience I always wait for at least one panel cut at the box stores just to be safe when buying their ply for shop projects. That's the only time it happened but that would have been a bad situation putting it through a table saw for sure.


I've had a lot of de lamination issues lately. I wonder if it's just coincidence or if something is different at the factory's?

[John Leake]

I recently needed a sheet of 3/4" plywood for a workbench project. Looked at the stuff in Lowes and Home Repo. Bought a A/D sheet from the local lumberyard that was actually less than Lowes and they cut it in half for me without even a squeak. Nice prompt knowledgeable people also.

[Bill Clifton]

Us DIYers work regular 8 to 5 jobs and the contractors supply houses aren't open when I need something. I recognize the drawbacks. When I need furniture grade hardwood I go to my favorite local cabinet shop. When I need a scrap of something, say 8/4s x ? to make bed risers out of I go to the cabinet shop and beg for scraps. Always cheap, the money goes in his pocket and I normally get a good story.

[Brian Holcombe]

John,
I think that is an unexpected externality of having the BORG. The local yards who do want to work direct to consumer are more amicable, willing to add service at a discount or as a compliment to purchasing with them. I think many have also realized that they can't compete in the race to the bottom, so they have chosen to supply quality and work from that standpoint.