Home Depot vs Local Lumber Store

[John Timberlake]

:) Home Depot sometimes gets a bad rap for the lumber they carry. I bought some 4x8 sheets of oak ply at HD for some bookcases I am building (almost done) and was very happy with it. When I went back to get two more sheets for movable shelves, they were out. Check two other HDs with not luck.

:mad: Went to my local lumber store. Took 25 minutes to get two sheets after they were paid for. They were covered with grey cement dust. Only one side was good, and that not very. There were scratches on both faces.

In short, the HD ply was ten time better than the local store. Both faces were better than the best from the local. Only problem is the HD ply is made in China.

[John Gregory]

The biggest problem with HD ply is they are often out of stock, but on the flip side, the fast turnover on stock make for nice clean sheets. No time to get cement dust on them. Sheet goods at lumber stores like MacBeath and such is expensive and requires more sorting thru the pile. However the lumber stores have more variety. I do have one lumber wholesaler that has good clean stock. But they are only open Mon - Fri, 8 am - 5 pm and I am at work then. But if I need 3/4" Oak ply I head to HD or Lowes.

[Ken Belisle]

My personal opinion is that Home Depot, Lowes and most franchise stores are as good or bad as the local management. You seem to have a very good local HD. I don't!!! My closest Home Depot is a dump, with blocked isles, unstocked shelves and poor lumber selection. But I can drive 15 miles in two directions and find clean, well stocked HD's with knowledgeable help and decent wood. Two of the Lowes in this area are great stores, except they never have enough cashiers working and the checkout lines are long. They seem to carry a better grade of most items and help is always easy to find. The 3rd one reminds me of my local HD.

The problem with a lot of franchise stores is that when you go back to match something, whether it's lumber, hardware, replacement parts, etc. is that they no longer carry that particular brand and you are out of luck.

If you don't like your local lumber yard, see if you can find out where the professionals in your area buy their sheet goods and hardwoods. You'll usually find top quality at those stores.

Just my opinion..............

[Mike Gratton]

Good Grief Ken! You have at least 3 Home Depots and 2 Lowes less than an hour from your house!?!?! We have a HD about 20 minutes from my house but to go to Lowes, I need to take the ferry to NY!:mad: Pickings are mightly slim around here for stores. We do have a Sears, also about 20 minutes away, for what it's worth. Other than those, there are a few small local dealers who sometimes have decent prices, but often not.

I tend to get my plywood from HD as well for the same reason.

mikeg

[tod evans]

you guys who are buying onesies might try contacting your local cabinet shop and see if they`d order for you when they do? the wholesalers i deal with offer a large selection and fair prices and i`ve ordered for a few local hobbiests in the past. if i can make 15-20 bucks to bring a couple more sheets off the truck and make a phone call it`s worth my time. something to think about if you`re sick of the borgs....02 tod

[Dave Anderson NH]

Having been in both good and bad stores I would echo the comment about management. Whether management sets a bad example, supervises well or poorly, or does nothing, they are leading by example. I'm fortunate in having 2 good hardwood lumberyards within 15 minutes drive of my house and I also have a HD and a Lowes in reasonable driving distance. Where I buy depends on what I'm buying.

There is an old saying in business: Quality, Price, and Service----Pick Two. You can't have a high volume low overhead operation like HD or Lowes and expect the service you get at a good independent lumberyard home center. Choose what's important to you and then choose where you go.

[Helen Gee]

It is hit or miss for me. There is a HD down the street from me and a Lowe's about 10 miles away. The HD down the street is a complete dump with people picking through stuff or trashing the merchandise. A lot of the items are returns. Parking is frankly scary since there's not enough and people are just plain cranky by the time they get out of their cars :eek: . I will drive the extra miles to Lowe's anyday just for a more comfortable shopping experience.

However, I find that their lumber/plywood is often times warped with a lot of voids. But again with that I think it's hit or miss. I got some bad ply from the local lumber place as well (they have mostly imports too), but I've gotten good stuff from both :D so I guess it really depends on if you are lucky on your shopping day :D or not.

[Bill Lewis]

I can count at least 3 HD's that are "close" +/- 10 miles. Now if you include the "within an hour's drive" that number would probably push up to at least 7 or 8 which probably includes some of the ones that Ken frequents. Lowes on the other hand are way fewer, only a couple of them to choose from, but that doesn't take into account crossing the river in to VA.

As for construction lumber for big projects I will buy from the local lumber yard that's about 5 miles from my house (T.W. Perry's) Their stock is much higher quality than what I find at HD, and their pricing is about the same, if not less. I can also get delivery, which I used to get for free (big orders) though I doubt it now with fuel prices what they are these days. However, I can place my order, get my ticket, and they'll load it in the yard, no carts to deal with, or lines to wait in, or idiots parking in the loading area.

Yes I do have to work around their hours, that's do-able, but big boxes aren't exactly the place to be on a weekend either, it's a zoo! with idiots blocking aisles, or not watching their kids. If I have to go on a weekend, I go early in the morning.

My local lumberyard also keeps everything well organized, I know I'd never have cement dust and expensive sheet of ply, but if I did, they'd take it back.

As for a sheet of oak ply, yea, I'd prolly still go with HD because on some stuff the local lumberyard will be higher, but still better quality. OTOH, I haven't checked the prices lately.

[Matt Meiser]

Good Grief Ken! You have at least 3 Home Depots and 2 Lowes less than an hour from your house!?!?!

I can think of at least 7-8 of each within 45 minutes of my house. Plus one Menards.

[Travis Johnson]

My biggest complaint with HD is not the quality, but the time factor. Granted the store is huge and of the 3 HD's that are "near me" are all over an hour away.

Driving there though is only half the problem. It seems the lumber is in one section, the screws I need are on the other side of the store, and everyone knows the electrical section is always a half mile walk no matter what store or country it is located in. Then there are the lines at the checkout...

All that takes up time and since I work 5 days a week anyway, I really don't have time for that. I got sawdust to make :)

Luckily I do have a local lumber dealer that is much more accomidating. One time I ordered a bunch of lumber, then decided to change the order a half hour later. When I told the owener this he said he couldn't. The truck was all loaded and on its way. It was at my house and being unloaded before I could have even driven to HD. As for the quality, I would say it is about the same.

[Alan DuBoff]

I buy at Home Depot, and feel forced there in some cases.

The local lumber shop I used to prefer had to shut down because HD moved down the street and put them out of business. This was a family owned store that offered better service, and while some of their items were not as "fresh" as HD stock (plumbing supplies, or other hardware for instance), the service was head and shoulders above HD.

Now I can't buy from that store, it's closed down.

They still have 1 store in Mountain View, about 15-20 minutes away, and because of that I don't go there much. If I need service, that's where I go through. The store is Mintons, and our neighborhood feels their loss, at least in my house.

[Alex Shanku]

I am lucky to have "All America Plywood" here in Detroit, about 10 minutes from me.

They have 60,000 sq ft of warehouse space; all they stock is plywood.

[Doug McLauchlan]

Good Grief Ken! You have at least 3 Home Depots and 2 Lowes less than an hour from your house!?!?! We have a HD about 20 minutes from my house but to go to Lowes, I need to take the ferry to NY!:mad:


I must live in big box heaven :) (or hell depending on your point of view)

We have 6 Lowes and 9 HD's in the Metro area (no more than 30 mins to any of them !)

Also have a local chain - Parr Lumber with 11 outlets in the area and many independent and speciality yards.

So why is it i can still never find what I want ! :confused:

[Allen Bookout]

I have been to some pretty horrific Home Depots but where I live there are two new stores within twenty minutes and they are clean and well stocked and not crowded due to the fact that there is just not the population here yet. Not much of a selection of hardwood but at least it is expensive. They are building a new Lowes right in between.

Why are they here? I think that they are just licking their chops waiting for the next hurricane. In any case it is good for me right now.

The one local lumber yard is nothing to brag about so no help there.

Allen

[Jeffrey Makiel]

The only oak plywood that I've seen at Lowes or HomeDepot was rotary cut. The better stuff at local yards and hardwood suppliers is usually plain slice. The plain slice looks much better and has the appearance of glued up boards. The rotary cut stuff looks a little like construction grade plywood.

About two weeks ago, I purchased 24 linear feet of 1x12 solid oak boards at Home Depot. This equates to 4/4 x 11-1/2, or 24 board feet. I paid a whopping $165 for it! The stuff was absolutely beautiful and perfectly dimensioned. However, I have machines at home to do this, but I was in a pinch and paid the premium. Almost three times more per board foot.

-Jeff

[Steven Wilson]

So you bought apples at HD and oranges at your local lumber yard; you prefer apples. So what? What grade plywood were you looking at, at both stores (A1, A3, B2, etc)? My local borg usually has some fairly decent Birch plywood in A3 grade (or is it B3); works great for shop cabinets and can be decent for other cabinets if I need one good face. When I need very nice plywood (I usually go for Cherry or Walnut) with one or two great faces then it's off to my lumber supplier - yes it's double the price (even if I get wholesale) but it's worth it if you need it.

[glenn bradley]

Its threads like this that make the overcrowding and polluted air tolerable in SoCal! Borgs-a-plenty, Woodcraft, Rockler, Reel Lumber and more so close by . . . .

[Parker Nicholson]

I have 7 (or is that 8?) HD's in my city. After a few years, I've gotten some feel for what stores have reliable stocks. Like someone else said, I think it's the management but I also hear the story that stock replenishment is automatic and can't be controlled by individual store managers.

[John Timberlake]

The only oak plywood that I've seen at Lowes or HomeDepot was rotary cut. The better stuff at local yards and hardwood suppliers is usually plain slice. The plain slice looks much better and has the appearance of glued up boards. The rotary cut stuff looks a little like construction grade plywood.

-Jeff

Jeff,

I didn't mention it, but the HD stuff was sliced while the local lumber store was rotary cut. HD stuff much nicer looking. And HD was $10 a sheet cheaper.

John

[Dave Mapes]

I must live in big box heaven :) (or hell depending on your point of view)

We have 6 Lowes and 9 HD's in the Metro area (no more than 30 mins to any of them !)

Also have a local chain - Parr Lumber with 11 outlets in the area and many independent and speciality yards.

So why is it i can still never find what I want ! :confused:

Even with so many choices when we want the quality plywoods we still need to go to a couple speciatily yards that carry the exotic woods. I believe this is true any place accross the country. Try and locate the places that are supplying your local cabinet shops and see if they will sell to you. You may not get the shop's price but you would get good quality wood.

[Byron Trantham]

We currently have two Lowes and one HD with another HD in the works. The newest store, Lowes, has turned out to be a God's send. They carry quite a bit and I just bought some Oak plywood this morning and the stuff was great. We also have a hardwood store that specializes in making custom moldings. They will speical order just about anything. So, bewteen the big box stores and the specialty store, all within 6 miles from my house, I'm a happy camper.

[Lopaka Garcia]

Wow I can't believe I have one up on some of you guys on the mainland! I have 3 HD's within 30min and a Lowes within 10min. We don't have all the woodworking stores you guys have but we do have a lot of hardware/lumber stores here, but they mostly carry construction type materials and not the hardwoods woodworkers would use. I guess I can gloat a little bit now. But it's not much of a gloat saying you have borgs close by. :D

[Corey Hallagan]

At my local Home Depot and suspect others, they would have some decent plywood if they new how to store it. My store puts it on racks with 4 x 4 timbers on it so the plywood is ruined in a matter of days after they put it on the rack. Tried to tell them that... no dice!

Corey

[Dave Mapes]

At my local Home Depot and suspect others, they would have some decent plywood if they new how to store it. My store puts it on racks with 4 x 4 timbers on it so the plywood is ruined in a matter of days after they put it on the rack. Tried to tell them that... no dice!

Corey

Hey Corey

My local Lowes and your home depot need to get together. they store theirs plywood with wooden spaces between stacks and topped with cement blocks so the plywood will sag real good.

Dave