"Big Box" store Lumber vs. Lumber Yard

[white01ss]

As I am ready to move on my 32 x 50 detached garage, I am hearing a lot of mixed message on the quality of their lumber.

Locally we have Menards, and their contracting reps have been amazing and helpful. One of the contractors I met with about the quote proactively mentioned that I should work with a specific local lumber yard and told me to stay away from the big box stores.

Those who have been down this path or are GC, do you have any advice?

I have received quotes from Menards as well a recommended lumber yard and there is $2400 savings go with Menards with Materials running approx 17k

Any advise or perspective is appreciated

 

[doublearon98]

Imho I would go local. Stay away from lowes and HD, their lumber is garbage in my experience. From what I've heard menards is pretty good.

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[BK777]

My experience with big box stores has been similar. Whatever you think of as the point of diminishing returns with picking out lumber by hand, once you've exceeded that it's better to go with a lumber yard. I've found the cost to be a little higher but not much.

I will say that, last January I ordered about 100 2x4 studs from a local yard and many of them were wet, maybe 10% were moldy. I should have pushed back and asked them to swap some out (it was a home delivery) but I ended up letting them dry for a few weeks and then using some spray on the worst ones. The point being, I'd suggest avoiding this kind of order during the wet months of the year or avoiding a lumber yard that stores material outdoors (if there are any).

I recently did another order. One of the 2x8x12 ledger boards was bowed -- I had them come back and swap it out with a new one. So it hasn't been without headaches, but still better than Lowes or HD IMO.

 

[matt_i]

I'd go visit both and go out in the yard and look at what they have. From what I've found, there are two price points in framing lumber, the "#2 and better" and the "premium" grades. Either will get the job done but the premium is straighter, less wane, if I'm building my own and saving the labor, I want the premium because its easier to work with, easier to **** sheets inside and out on the 1-1/2" edge, and I have to "sort" and "pick" far fewer boards. But, if there's an end price with profit coming out of the extra then it would be low bid all the way.

If you really want to go wild, Menards will also special order Southern Yellow Pine which is beautiful, hard-surfaced timber to work with.

 

[white01ss]

The Menards here just expanded and all there lumber is in a warehouse. All the quotes I have gathered have all listed #2 lumber for wall studs.

I will ask Menards what their policy is on lumber that is delivered and does not meet the QA of the contractor and see what they say.

I will always pay more for a better product, within reason. My concern is I pony up for the lumber from the local lumber yard but there is no real benefit.

I appreciate the replies and advice!

 

[Capt. Spaulding]

I work at a local lumber yard that has been in business since the 1880’s. We have customers I see 3-4 times a week. I can not compare price vs a large store as I do not know large store pricing. We do store our lumber outside and do have twisted, bent, and warped lumber on occasion but we let customers pick what sticks they want and make sure they are getting exactly what they want before they leave. We will always do what we have to do to make sure the customer is taken care of. If I am running a delivery I only load lumber I would personally use.

 

[Falcon67]

Depends LOL. I ran up a material list for my building - everything from studs, decking, joists, rafters, shingles, etc. I took it for bids to Lowes, HD, McCoys and a couple of local yards. By and large, there was not any huge discount off retail or anybody so much better than the others. I went with McCoys because the agreed to honor the OSB quote for 90 days since I was having to go it alone and over all they were a bit less than the others. Plus, they were closest to the house and an easy out back to the interstate. One local didn't bother to respond at all.

 

[brownsmustang]

A coworker purchased a two car garage kit from Menards and had it put up this past summer. I know he had some minor issues but the local store made them right.

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[bad_idea]

I used a local company - Builder's Discount Center - for my framing lumber. Their lumber was of fair grade and considerably cheaper than Lowe's. No other chain stores here. They were also cheaper than the other lumber yards around town. Was grade 2 lumber but some of it was ehh quality. Not as dry as the stuff from Lowe's (bought some small quantities from Lowe's as needed), the stuff from Lowe's was more prone to splitting than the stuff I got from BDC.

Long story short, I prefer the lumber from the lumber yard and it was cheaper too.

 

[cdestuck]

I buy a lot of lumber, mostly at Lowe’s over HD. Quality of lumber has risen tons over past years. Usually have no problem picking out good stuff. You’d only have a protif you were to need 30 sticks and just 20 sticks in the bin. At that point, ask and they’ll get more down

 

[Notgrownup]

I got 3 quotes, 2 locals and Lowe’s, Lowe’s beat everybody buy 15%... plus I got another 5% using * my Lowe’s card.. the lumber was fine... the product ad far as I know was better than one local “Biulders Discount “ and about the same as the other...
I say check for yourself before you buy...

 

[chaosracing]

Its all the same material (same grade vs same grade) Its all how its stored and handled. At HD, the only time a stack gets restacked is when its dangerous or at the end of the day. The Lowes around me have people that are restacking after people go thru them. They do take out the worst ones and sell at discount. 84 Lumber and a few other local yards (No Menards in PA) all store their lumber outdoors under shed roofs, but they still get wet. HD and Lowes the material is stored indoors.

 

[bwringer]

It all varies wildly depending on location.

At the chains, it's probably mostly up to the standards of the person who happens to be managing the lumberyard.

I drive past the bLowes five minutes from my house to go to Home Despot or Meanards. In my corner of the city, HD has noticeably better lumber and generally does a decent job keeping the culls out of your way.

I think the bLowes near me has a guy who secretly keeps track of whatever I'm going to buy and then makes sure there's a big empty hole on the shelf when I get there. Seriously, it looks like a Moscow famine in that joint.

Menards is 20 minutes away, but usually has the best prices if you catch a sale or use the 11% rebate thing. (Normal prices are mostly identical.)

The last few lumberyards I visited around here were not interested in even acknowledging the existence of a mere mortal homeowner, let alone in answering questions about how damn much the frickin' lumber might cost (I mean, would it kill them to hang up a price tag?). So I dunno.

In other cities, the hierarchy is completely different.

YMMV. Ask around locally, or reveal your approximate location and perhaps a bored local will wander through this thread.

 

[PCustoms]

A few sticks or a poorly planned trip I hit home Depot as the hours are more convenient.

Any large orders or if I can plan it I go to the local yard. On the large orders the price blows HD out of the water, and it's delivered. On rhe smaller stuff, drive up off the rack, it's are bit more bht the service and quality Mkes it worth it.

 

[Jlbc212]

It all depends upon your location. The quality of the lumber at the Home Depot I frequent has greatly improved in the past year. Same thing with the nearby Lowe's. The best thing is nobody bothers me or complains when I pick through the pile. The quality of the lumber at the local yard has gone way down and they have a underpaid laborer following me around making it difficult to pick through the pile. There is an excellent "local" yard that I would like to do more business with, but it's far from local.

 

[WhiskeyRanger]

The worst lumber I've ever received was from a local yard. I would go take a look and see how their stock is stored and how it looks before I decided.

 

[Donzi camino]

my experience is that Home Depot's wood is always soaking wet!

 

[Jazz1]

I bought my garage package from a larger lumber supplier. Price and quality compared to smaller yards. It all depends on location. If you don't like the lumber send it back. Never seen inferior lumber in a package but it could happen. We ship all our inferior lumber to the US mobile home and modular home factories.
Lumber you just can't pedal to the masses

 

[PugetDude]

my experience is that Home Depot's wood is always soaking wet!

Isn't everything in 'Nawlins soaking wet?

 

[belvedere]

A friend and his family built our garage in 2009. We bought our materials from Menards. My friend had to buy a few extra 2x4s, so grabbed them from the local lumber yard (Menards is 50 miles away). He said the lumber from Menards was better quality than from the local yard.

 

[Gear Box]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=825181&d=1541214936

Squirrel—B-train

 

[Blazinzuk]

My cousin, whom is a contractor and does much if his own framing, says buy it in bunks and get it framed up. The longer the straps are gone the more warpage.

Our local lumber yard is like one mentioned above, going in for small stuff isn't worth the time. They are not interested in selling 2 or 3 of whatever.

I end up going to Ace hardware, my only other local option, for low volume purchases

 

[redneckcharlie]

First off, who ismdoing the framing? You or a hired crew.. If it’s a hired framing crew use who they buy from regularly, that relationship will benefit your project in the end. Most regions have one or two suppliers regardless of vendors. Rule number one is drop what you can use daily and leave it stacked till needed. Depending on where your located makes a major difference in how the lumber reacts on site. Here it’s dry, less then 20% humidity. It’ll curl and twist big time in as little as a couple hours if pulled out of the stack. No matter where you purchase the lumber, more important is who is framing and their skill to manipulate it to do what’s required. I’m not sure how many that responded are actually pro’s, but I am. Any decent supplier, including the box stores will take back what is unuseable. Don’t leave unused material sitting around and you’ll be fine.

 

[aabirdman]

I'm building the same size. 32 x 50 on the bottom and 19 x 50 on top. Be planning this for a while. The lumber market is still just as volatile as the stock market. Being a GC I've found that lumber yards, GOOD lumber yards will beat out the orange and blue box stores over all. And they normally have better stuff. Quality wise order #1 or better. Heck around here our local boxes get their stuff from where I been shopping for the last 30 years.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

The other day on TV I seen an add for a small private lumber yard. Burron has been around our area for ever and I used to buy product from them on a regular business. When I built my garage I asked for 4 quotes and never thought about them. 3 out of the 4 got back to me. Went to RONA for a couple of reasons the Commercial manager seemed like a stand up guy, he quit them and moved on. The other 2 reasons as they do air miles and my contractor liked their product.
The other day I was looking for 7 sheets of 3/4” plywood. Started at Lowe’s as they had a 10-15% off sale depending on what you Grand total was. Looked at their plywood and not totally impressed. I’m going to paint this stuff and using it for mounting equipment for my garage. So thought I would go the HD, RONA for a peek. Then I remembered Burron, I stopped in and they had 3/4” Birch plywood on for $45 a sheet. So basically furniture grade and not full of a bunch ok knots like the Spruce that Lowe’s had in stock. Never even bothered to check out the competition. Mentioned I seen the add on TV, the owner was sitting pikn his office and overheard me. Came out of his office, shook my hand And basically said welcome back we missed you. Up to this point I had never ran across Birch plywood before.
I guess what I am saying is I bought a good product for the same money I would have paid for a lesser product at 2 other locations and yes I could have saved 10% at Lowe’s but spent my time filling voids and knot holes.
First pic raw plywood. Second pic is I just finished priming it up about an hour ago.

 

[ncboat]

Ordered all the materials for my 34x36 shop including trusses from Lowe's with 10% veterans discount. Quantity of 2x4x104 meant they opened a new bunk all neat and restrapped to facilitate delivery. Ordered and paid everything at once and had it delivered in stages which protected price.

 

[bob15]

Lumber quality at Lowes & HD....

 

[gasgas17]

Worst case is you order 10% extra and return the left over thus allowing you to discard any defective lumber. We do this often building decks if we are getting the order delivered.

 

[FTG-05]

I've had both the same and opposite experience with lumber yards vs. BBS here in north AL/SC TN.

Fayetteville Lumber = total ****. The guy helping me cull the bad ones was embarrassed and I still got **** even after the culling.

HD Pulaski, is my go-to place for lumber. Nice even straight, none of that garbage FL has.

My house in Madison was built with Wilson Lumber in Huntsville, excellent lumber. All the local trades commented and complemented us on how straight and knot-free our house framing was.

My BIL built his house with lumber from Flanigan Lumber, Athens, AL. Another success story. A lot of people around here build with Wilson or Flanigan lumber, even though Fayetteville Lumber is closer.

We have a local Marvin's also in Fayetteville, got lumber there one time. Don't like the way it's bought there (pay for it, then pick it up afterwards).

 

[6768rogues]

I have received good and bad from lumber yards and box stores. A local lumber yard did not allow picking, they loaded my 100 boards from the pile. I got a small percentage of bad ones, so I used them for blocking. At the box store, I can pick them out but it depends on how picked over the pile is. If they just opened a new cube of lumber, it is a mixture just like the lumber yard. If it is a huge pile of twisted and warped boards, it takes a lot of looking.

 

[myredracer]

I would say you have a better chance of negotiating a better deal at a lumber yard as well as getting better quality. You can buy a sling of studs at a lumber yard and if you have a few pieces that end up warped and twisted, just use them for blocking and back-framing. Should always have little scrap left over if used efficiently.

I absolutely can't stand the way HD stacks their lumber end to end and you can't get in there to sight down the pieces to check for straightness, wane & defects. And then you have to load the pieces onto a cart, push it down to the cashier girl, wait in line along with a bunch of DIY-ers, and then re-load it into your truck out in their lot where other vehicles and the ordinary folk & DIY-ers want to get past you and your cart, pfffft. At a lumber yard you pre-pay inside and then load directly into your truck and get it checked at the gate on the way out. Much faster. And at a lumber yard, you get to talk to a sales person that knows their products instead of some useless "sales associate".

I was at a HD once and wanted to know the allowable code span for some lumber I was looking at. The sales associate directed to the customer service counter and the guy there pulled out a copy of the Building Code several editions out of date. They could care less if what you buys suits the purpose or is even safe to use for the particular application. The only thing I like about HD is how long they are open 'til in the evenings. You can work all day and when it gets dark out you can pick up something you need without impacting your work during the day.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Believe it or not, the local HD has the best lumber out of HD, Lowes and 84. If I need "good" wood, I spend the extra $ and go to one of the more specialized places.

Tommy

 

[75gmck25]

Another consideration for a local supplier is whether they offer delivery options that work better for you. For example HD or Lowes can deliver, but its usually just a drop in the driveway. Local suppliers may have the ability to drop sheetrock or framing lumber on the 2nd floor, or put a load of lumber in an out of the way part of the yard where its more convenient for you. That can save a lot of time if you don't have to move the load right after its delivered.

Bruce

 

[finn]

Lowe’s will deliver Sheetrock to the second floor, but there is an upcharge.

Menards lets you drive into the yard and load directly from the rack, in an enclosed shed.

Local limber yard is expensive, even with their 10% discount for having an account. Quality is about the same as Menards, unless you are buying a small quantity from an open bundle that the Menards homeowners have picked over. A fresh bundle from Menards is usually good stuff.

That may be what some of you see, though. The box stores sell a lot of onesies and twozies, and the local yards cater to small contractors who buy a rack of a hundred or more for a project. That means that there are more culls left in the box store pile when you go to get your three sticks.

There are a finite number of mills and wholesalers serving a given region, and all lumber is graded to the same standard. An economy stud from a box store will always be worse than a premium stud, but all premium studs are graded to the same standards, no matter who the retailer is.

 

[Whitworth]

Regardless of where you buy, make sure to have a flat, clean area set up to store the wood. Keep it banded and cover it with tarps until use.

Wood is wood. Pick the straightest pieces for top and bottom plates. Cut up the twisty pieces for cripple studs, etc. Pieces with wane I like, they tend to be the straightest most stable pieces there are. Trade off is less nailing surface, but used as jack studs and/or king studs helps compensate.

 

[Pruittx2]

I'm 13 miles south of Menards, but my local village has an Ace hardware. They have VERY limited hours, they close at 5 on weekdays, and only 8-12 Sat. They have to price high, because of low volume. So I hardly every go there, unless I just need a few of something. Just today, I went to Menards. Had to but 32 7/17 OSB boards. They are having a home improvement sale until Nov 10th, all OSB on sale 10% off. Not the 11% rebate **** either. $10.30 for the boards. $329 for what I needed. They have it all in an open ended covered warehouse. Had 2 guys on 2 forklifts load it for me. (That don't happen very often either) slide a few off the top of a pile,, and they picked up my 32 from the side, layed a foot or so on the back of trailer, then other guy, lifted the ends and pushed whole pile on my trailer for me. Loaded and gone in less than 10 mins, and I didn't have to lift 1 board. Now the trailer is backed in the garage, and the dry wall lift will be getting a work out over the next few days. As I have to move **** around from side to side to get it all up there. Save for a few boards where the new Big Maxx will be mounted, as soon as I figure out what i'm gonna do for gas supply and location of unit.
Just 1 guy, and several things to do. 1 day at a time.

 

[OneOfEm]

I guess I'm an outlier. I purchased almost all of the lumber for my build from a local lumber yard. They came in 12% less across the board vs Lowes or Home Depot. They also had all of the board sizes I needed and even deliver for free over a certain dollar amount, which I hit on all but one delivery.

Some outside boards were warped, but I was able to work with almost everything.

 

[Royalwapiti]

I just built a 24x30 garage with 2x6 walls, 10 feet. I used Menards and was impressed with the 2x lumber they picked and loaded. I had it delivered for $79. I used their Design It center to spec out my garage, that part was a joke. They sent 8 foot osb instead of 10 foot. I was not going to mess with cutting and filling the 2 foot.. when I could just slap on one sheet. I had to have them pickup the osb and deliver me the bigger sheets. They gouged me for the extra delivery because I "ordered" it. The osb in 8 foot slipped by me when i was at the building materials desk placing my order.

The downside is they do not pick up the excess. I built my house a number of years ago and used a local yard, they would deliver whatever I wanted at any time, even 2 sheets of plywood. They would come pick up the excess for free and credit me.

 

[gtae07]

I wish I'd bought everything I could from Lowes. Much of the stuff from the local yard was **** and because I had to get it all at once, some ended up sitting longer than planned. The lumber from Lowes, OTOH, was nice and straight and clean as long as I did my part picking it out. The only thing I really needed from the local yard was the 25ft ceiling joists; nobody else carried them.

Home Depot turned out to be the only place I could get 5/8 OSB, though.

 

[Jeff95TA]

When I built my fairly large deck, I bought kiln dried pressure treated from a local lumber yard. It was so nice to work with.