Why do I ever look for lumber in HD?

[6PTsocket]

I needed about 20 ft of pressure treated 1x4. HD had 8 footers. They were well over my head and the salesman told me to find and drag the portable stairs over to the 1x4s and he dissapeared. When I got to them, all neatly stacked so the best edge faced out, I discovered they were pure garbage. They were loaded with loose knots, cracks, warpped or missing edge. After going through quite a few, I left in disgust. It took a few calls to find a local yard that stocked that size but I found 12 footers. The yard man stayed to help me. He had to pull all of three boards to find two clean ones They were all straight as an arrow and virtually knot free. Then I went inside to l pay and for the same 24 linear feet, it was slightly cheaper than HD. There is no excuse for HD to sell such junk. With their buying power, they should be able to turn a profit on better wood if the local yard with about three branches can. It may also be just indifferent managemant that can't be bothered demanding better. The HD stuff looks fine until you take the bands off. This is nothing new. Even Lowes tries a little harder to carry a bit cleaner wood. Add in the better, friendly service and I will do all my business with Woodhaven Lumber in central NJ.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[MushCreek]

Must be up to the individual franchise. Here, I'm having better luck at HD than Lowe's. I just recently bought some really clean, straight 2X12's for a big staircase in my barn. When I was buying in quantity for building my house and barn, I went with local independent lumber yards and got better materials at about 15% less than the big boxes. They're a long ways from my place, though, so I make do at the big box for smaller purchases.

 

[Backwodsurvivor]

I also noticed a severe decrease in quality in HD lumber when I moved to Oregon from Wisconsin. With as much logging as they do out here you'd think it would be cheaper but price is probably double for half the quality. And it's wet! I was shocked how heavy the 2x4s are here you'd think they store them at the bottom of a lake.

 

[6PTsocket]

Must be up to the individual franchise. Here, I'm having better luck at HD than Lowe's. I just recently bought some really clean, straight 2X12's for a big staircase in my barn. When I was buying in quantity for building my house and barn, I went with local independent lumber yards and got better materials at about 15% less than the big boxes. They're a long ways from my place, though, so I make do at the big box for smaller purchases.

I guess if you are a lumber yard, that is your focus and you would not accept garbage from a mill. I would guess that a manager at HD/Lowes just takes what he gets. I wonder what happens to all the really rough stuff that people keep passing up. It has to be a lower grade, not just random luck. It looks like all the defectives went into the HD pile and the clean ones went elsewhere. I had a pretty god drive to the lumber yard. Their nearer branch did not stock that size.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

The "quality" of pressure treated is always hit-or-miss. Most homeowners/weekend warriors shopping at the big box stores want every piece to be perfect. That leaves a lot of culls for anyone else.
Sure I have an occasional project where I want some very nice pieces (in highly visible locations). Honestly who cares that the bottom/back wall of a planting box has a couple knots?

 

[Slowgsr]

HD & lowes near me have decent wood.

 

[steveo1o9]

I needed two "premium" pine 8' 1x3s for a quick large picture frame project. I went to Lowes and they only had 2 boards that were so warped I was disgusted they were even on the floor, let alone at the price for "premium". I went over to HD and was happy to see that they had a whole stack of their "premium". Then I spent the next half hour going through the entire stack to find 2 halfway straight boards, and I wasn't even looking for perfect just something usable. I spent more time looking for 2 damn boards then it took me to build the frame.

 

[Davefr]

HD lumber is almost always cull grade. I get way better quality and service at a real lumber yard and prices are comparable.

I usually have to discard 5-10 boards to find one good one. I also hate the way I have to crawl in the rack to pick them out.

 

[BonzoHansen]

salesman told me to find and drag the portable stairs

thats's crazy.

 

[Kaizen]

I guess if you are a lumber yard, that is your focus and you would not accept garbage from a mill. I would guess that a manager at HD/Lowes just takes what he gets. I wonder what happens to all the really rough stuff that people keep passing up. It has to be a lower grade, not just random luck. It looks like all the defectives went into the HD pile and the clean ones went elsewhere. I had a pretty god drive to the lumber yard. Their nearer branch did not stock that size.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I’ve seen just as much **** lumber at my lumber yard. First layer of 2x is good then it gets ugly. One reason why ordering and having them pull it for pickup is a great time saver


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Angelfire]

Yes, HD and Lowes don't always have the best wood but I've seen a lot of **** come from the lumber yards as well. When I did the addition and my detached shop, I used a local lumber company. Half the lumber they brought out was garbage. The difference was I simply had to call them up to come get there junk and bring me new. After about the 2nd trip to pick up unacceptable pieces, I think they copped on and were pulling good stuff for me.

And with pressure treated, all bets are off regardless of where you get it from.
Cheers

 

[dr_clyde]

You mean to tell me you got poor service and bad product from a massive chain that is only concerned with large profits?? I'M SHOCKED. SHOCKED I TELL YOU!. Well, not that shocked.

Buy lumber from a lumber yard. As you have discovered, they're better.

 

[swamplife]

I have to buy lumber from Lowes and HD for my house. It's so warped and out of square that any straight lumber doesn't fit without trimming and bending.

On a serious note - their wood is pretty bad around here. I don't know if they store it outside too long or what, but all of the wood at lowes and HD is really warped.

 

[Bretny]

I bought 7 lumber carts full of lumber at HD once. We left the place looking like a tornado hit. If it was **** we threw it on the floor. I prob should have just had it delivered from a lumber yard. It took 3hrs just to load the carts.

 

[lakeroadster]

It's nice that we all have options.

I have to drive an hour to get to Home Depot (but it's a beautiful drive). The local yard is 10 minutes away.

In the past 4 years when we need lumber, 9 out of 10 trips are to Home Depot.

Better pricing and I can pick through the lumber to find the best of what they have.

At the local place if you are buying more than about 3 boards they expect you take whatever comes off the stack and don't want you to pick through the stack.

And the local place is almost always higher priced.

But if I just need a board or two, I go local.

 

[bullnerd]

I don't get the hassle of home depot or lowes for lumber.

I go to the lumber yard, pull up to the pile and move the material one time....into my truck, and the yard guy always helps.

If I need a lot, they deliver for free.

 

[nadogail]

Avoid climbing on any retailers ladders, ask for a manager and express your concerns for your personal safety.
Contractor oriented lumber yards, in my opinion give better service.
When buying from a big box store you want to be there when the bands on the bundle are cut, not after the pile gets picked over.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I've done okay at HD. Never bought much lumber at Lowe's or Menards.

Though for a medium project at home, I went to the local lumberyard and was really pleased with the quality. The price was higher, but HD didn't have the sizes I was looking for.

My HD stopped carrying green PT wood a few years ago for this stained brown treated wood. Looked really nice, but everything else outside my house was green treated. Haven't checked since summer of 2017 to see if this is still the case.

 

[MushCreek]

The PT 6X6's from a local yard that I used around here warped and twisted like crazy. One of the ones in my barn twisted about 30 degrees. There's a main support post in my basement that's bowed a good inch. I need to get rid of it and replace it with a steel column. Too much (literally) riding on that one.

 

[dr_clyde]

Interesting experiences. Mine contrast a little, with some understanding of how HD and the lumberyard both work.

HD here gets the same to better lumber than the yards do. What they do is put down the bunks and allow people to pick through them. Periodically, a worker comes through and re-racks all the culls that have accumulated, so it looks like they have a bunk full of garbage. If you can get into a bunk when they first open it, or there's enough to dig into it a ways, you can usually get decent wood there. What they have isn't bad wood, they have a system where they keep trying to re-sell the culls.

The local lumberyard operates slightly differently. If you have them deliver to you, what gets delivered depends on who you are (how much you buy, and how picky you are) and what you are building. If you're a one time buyer building a shed or garage, you'll get a load of culls. If you sort out the culls and ask them to pick up for a return and re-send good lumber, they'll complain a bit, but do it. If you're building a house or something needing better wood and explain that to them, you'll generally not get culls, but will get more bunk run. You'll have to reject some, but most builders will throw them to the side and cut blocking and bracing and misc. stuff from the culls to use them up. If you pick up in person and deal with them regularly so the yard guys know you, they will generally let you pick the quality you need, within reason. If you get too picky and take too much time, they'll load up the amount of wood you bought off the pile and tell you to take it or leave it.

Other places I've built, the lumberyards have had a system where they delivered bunk run to the larger jobs, but allowed returns of culls. They would bundle those culls and sell them at a cut rate to people who needed lower grade lumber. One yard provided a separate pile for people who were picking through to put culls, which they then bundled and sold off as that.

Every lumber yard has the same problem, they get bunks of lumber with mixed good stuff and culls, and everybody wants the straight, clean, solid lumber. Nobody wants the culls, even if they can use them.

I don't mind culls for some projects. Not everything needs to be perfect. I do have a problem with paying good lumber money for crooked, knotty boards. I will pay good lumber prices for good lumber only. Culls are great for a lot of stuff, but I won't pay a premium for them.

I PREFER culls for some things. Cribbing, simple stands, shipping crates, temporary braces, stuff like that. No sense in paying good money for something sacrificial or temporary.

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

Our local lumber yard has about the same quality of lumber in the bunks as HD. They sit outside in the rain. When we get a sunny spring day, they warp.

HD stores them inside and I have had a lot less issues with culls. It has to be a local thing.

The lumber yard is 50% more. They will deliver but you get what you get.

 

[el monte slim]

In my experience, the letters "H" and "D" in Home-Depot stand for HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT, especially when it comes to matters of lumber quality, customer service, website accessibility, and pricing. As such, they are my home-center supplier of last resort.

 

[DFB]

Simple fact is good lumber is getting more difficult to procure every day. I often have a very difficult time finding decent lumber at HD in general, though it can be hit or miss. BUT the hassle for me make its even less worthwhile. I either phone the local lumber yard, order everything I need for a job and have them deliver it or go in person for smaller orders to the desk and out to yard where the help will load it.

 

[PoorOwner]

My HD is one of the smallest HD but also the busiest.

I see contractors walking out with loads of lumber and ply. The contractors know how to make these warped and twisted lumber work, right?

 

[Turbo]

My HD is one of the smallest HD but also the busiest.

I see contractors walking out with loads of lumber and ply. The contractors know how to make these warped and twisted lumber work, right?

Sorry, No, we are contractors, not magicians. Terry

 

[DFB]

Sorry, No, we are contractors, not magicians. Terry

Absolutely right

Really there is only so much you can do with twisted warped lumber even by cutting it up into smaller pieces.

And unless your figure lots of waste into your estimate or overbuying you are just making things much more difficult to achieve good results with **** lumber.

A good carpenter makes the least amount of cuts possible and plans the most efficient layout from the different lumber lengths,

I like to factor for only 10% waste when estimating lumber purchases but it's often harder and harder to achieve those results these days.

And I always pride myself on having a pile of leftover framing end cuts smaller than fire block or narrow ply strips less than a stud bay width or window header or cripple height

Then again some people are just hacks

 

[bwringer]

Pressure Treated seems to dry out and get weird quickly no matter where you buy it.

 

[Spook001]

I think that lumber is a commodity, and the big box stores buy the same stuff as the lumberyard. But at the big box stores, lots of folks are sorting thru the piles, and the big stores never thro anything away, they know somebody will buy the junky stuff that remains. Lumberyards have less sorting by customers, and probably have fewer customers, but higher individual volume. IMHO.

 

[Dave Nelson]

I used to purchase my lumber from 84 Lumber but they are no longer in business here, this left me with HD or Lowes to choose from. I find the lumber at Lowes to be of much better quality than HD (at least in this area).

 

[6PTsocket]

It's nice that we all have options. [emoji106]

I have to drive an hour to get to Home Depot (but it's a beautiful drive). The local yard is 10 minutes away.

In the past 4 years when we need lumber, 9 out of 10 trips are to Home Depot.

Better pricing and I can pick through the lumber to find the best of what they have.

At the local place if you are buying more than about 3 boards they expect you take whatever comes off the stack and don't want you to pick through the stack.

And the local place is almost always higher priced.

But if I just need a board or two, I go local.

Just the opposite for me. The yard guy pulled a super clean one. Flipped the second one out of the way because he didn't like it and the third one was clean as the first. It came out slightly cheaper than HD. The biggest difference was the attitude. The lunber yard guy waited on me and the HD guy told me to drag the stairs from the next aisle and walked away. More people should throw the rejects on the floor. Maybe they would take a hint.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[6PTsocket]

I used to purchase my lumber from 84 Lumber but they are no longer in business here, this left me with HD or Lowes to choose from. I find the lumber at Lowes to be of much better quality than HD (at least in this area).

I have one 84 lumber. They closed a second one. I called them first and they did not have the size I wanted.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[6PTsocket]

My HD is one of the smallest HD but also the busiest.

I see contractors walking out with loads of lumber and ply. The contractors know how to make these warped and twisted lumber work, right?

As a consumer, it thrills me to think that my studs might have huge voids and splits because the contractor knew how to use garbage wood. What I see in the attic looks pretty decent.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[joey1320]

I would had "fallen" off the stairs and collected a nice check

 

[DFB]

More people should throw the rejects on the floor. Maybe they would take a hint.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[NeubCont]

Buy junk Get junk
In the long run
Penny-pincher at HD a couple extra bucks at reputable lumberyard.
I go for the extra $

 

[Stuart in MN]

A guy on the Breaktime3 web board (where everyone who used to post on the Fine Homebuilding forum went, after that board imploded a few years back) posted this picture of two 2x4s. The one on top was pulled out of the wall of his house that was built in 1960, the one on the bottom he bought a few weeks ago at Home Depot.

 

[CTyankee]

A guy on the Breaktime3 web board (where everyone who used to post on the Fine Homebuilding forum went, after that board imploded a few years back) posted this picture of two 2x4s. The one on top was pulled out of the wall of his house that was built in 1960, the one on the bottom he bought a few weeks ago at Home Depot.

A picture is worth a 1000 words. While I'm sure different places buy different grades, the POP isn't necessarily going to be answer to whether you find good material or bad. Fast growth trees are the cause of most issues with lumber products today, regardless of where you buy it. Picking through the pile isn't big box exclusive. One great solution is an expensive one, but if you ever get a chance to work with it...you'll be spoiled for life.

https://www.weyerhaeuser.com/woodproducts/engineered-lumber/timberstrand-lsl/

 

[Shadowdog500]

I do like the oak trim wood at HD, and the small pieces of oak, walnut, etc in the back of Lowe’s, but when it comes to lumber and decking I started buying from the local lumber yard. I used to pick through half a rack at HD and Lowe’s to find the clean straight wood for a project then I’d have to haul it home.

Then I started going to the local lumber yard. When I started getting wood from the local lumber yard I used to pull it myself out of habit, but after a couple of times I realized that the majority of the wood was darn near perfect. Now I just go to the lumberyard, tell them what I want, and wait a day or two for them to deliver it for free. If it’s a small project I show up with my 4x8 utility trailer, and load the wood myself.

Check the local lumber yard you may be surprised with the quality and the price.

Same thing with the local electrical supply. They have everything you could possibly need, good prices, are extremely knowledgeable, and they fall over themselves to help you.

Chris

 

[PoorOwner]

A guy on the Breaktime3 web board (where everyone who used to post on the Fine Homebuilding forum went, after that board imploded a few years back) posted this picture of two 2x4s. The one on top was pulled out of the wall of his house that was built in 1960, the one on the bottom he bought a few weeks ago at Home Depot.

Over harvesting issue aside,
I think that looked like "white stud" from home depot,
it's spongy and light.
The douglas fir 2x4 stud is a few cents more and much heavier.

Don't know what you would use the white stud for.

 

[acer66]

thats's crazy.

Yeah, never heard that one before.
Around here those are strictly for employees.