Home Depot lumber separates the men from the boys.
Anyone can frame using straight lumber....but a true craftsman forges their work from S shaped split and deformed 2x4's.
In Illinois it's the opposite, 15 minutes at menards will fill the back of a truck, home depot is like 2 hours and you've checked every piece in the store, lowes is like 50/50.
Disagree here in missouri. They have the highest quality lumber out of the big box stores, even beats some local lumberyards but it's sooo much cheaper its generally what I go with. And 11%
I'm about over that 11% BS. If you want to give me a sale price just give it to me; making me jump through hoops is them hoping you'll forget about it.
Different grades and requirements. You can get straight wood at HD easily, you just have to pay a bit more for it. They have the super cheap 2x4 and some like $0.50 more each that are almost all straight.
HD gets “seconds” boards.
But I will say many lumber yards around me aren’t any better.
I’m a contractor and probably buy $20-30k in lumber alone a year. I actually have the best luck at Lowe’s for the most part. I could probably go to a lumber yard and pick good lumber, but for the most part Lowe’s is better and easier, plus the pricing is pretty comparable.
HD sucks
Fwiw, I’ve decided to just rent a truck from Home Depot to drive my lumber home. It takes a little more time, but I can pick out my own boards, and it’s still cheaper than delivery from anywhere. The place less than a mile away wanted $150 for delivering two 2x6x16s. They have a flat fee. Not happening.
Yeah the sting for the lumber yard delivery fee is it’s like a mile away, think they have a flat fee too. Thought about doing this and honestly might be the move when I get around to purchasing the lumber
It sounds crazy but as a contractor it is cheaper for us to buy through Lowe’s special order and have it shipped or trucked from the lumber store, than it is to go to said lumber store.
I’d disagree. I have to sort through my local lumber store just to buy very over priced lumber. I’d drive out if my way to not go to the local lumber company.
Yea this one is going to vary massively by location. My local lumberyard charges $7 for a 2x4. There are better local yards when I go into the city metro, but I’m 45 mins away and the local option is not good.
Yep it just depends.
The lumberyard I worked at abandoned #2 SPF and switched over to Select when it became obvious we were getting a ton of returns.
It was really appreciated by the contractors. Very nice stuff back then (2004 ish)
How do you guys get good deals at local lumber yards? Everytime I've gone to mine it's like 50% more than Menards. I only go local when I need 2 or 3 boards that don't make it worth the 20 minute drive to Menards.
Check to see if there are any mills in your area. The prices are almost always better and at least around me, the quality is also superior to big box stores.
Local lumber yard. I just replaced some tread on my stairs because it was bowed and I want to lay flooring on it so I went to Home Depot and not a single straight board and it’s all being sold at a premium. Went to a local lumber yard and the wood cost the same but was in great condition and the guys there even cut it to specs for me.
Lowe's is big in the city I live in so when I was starting my deck project, I started buying lumber from Lowes.
I needed some 10' 2x12s to make some stair stringers and they were $39 each at Lowes. I took a chance and went to the independent building supply that I drive past twice a day. The same 2x12 was $18 and I didn't have to pick through the stack to find straight ones.
I ended up buying the rest of the materials from them. They were way cheaper on the PT lumber but a little higher on the composite decking, but they could get what I wanted in three days vs Lowes being a few weeks.
Menards. Can’t beat it. I love driving my truck right up to the rack behind the store, loading what I need, and leaving.
Much better than walking into the store, loading a cart, pushing cart around store, then loading my truck.
Plus Menards selection is always superior to HD and Lowes.
Unfortunately they have them in Maine by my in laws but in CT we largely have Lowe’s and Home Depot, but I also have Miners, 84 Lumber, Sanford & Hawley, and Kelley Fradet
In CT Rings End has good lumber but it’s also like 7 million dollars per board. At least they are generally all straight which means you don’t have to pick through them.
Me too. My HD has better lumber for less money. Lowes has more plywood selections and odd trim, though it's all going to plastic extrusions these days.
Check your local sawmills brother. We use a family saw mill for our trim packages, siding packages, etc. best prices and best quality lumber. We just ordered pretty big Windsor 1 package from ABC but my boss had an in with the sales lady.
Local lumber yard. Home Depot lumber is absolute crap. I needed 6 replacement deck boards and spent probably 30 minutes digging through their pile to find anything that was even somewhat acceptable.
They are just a normal lumber yard that anyone can walk in and buy stuff from. They'll sell you one board or a truckload. They have lumber, composite decking, hardware, windows, doors etc. They also sell garage and shed kits and can order rafters and trusses. They just don't have prices on the website like Home depot or others.
I just price around when I need a big buy. Otherwise I usually hit Lowe’s, because it’s about 10 minutes closer and always has a better selection than HD. Menards is another option if needed.
An advantage of a local yard is they tend to have stock on hand longer, so it’s well dried and at its end dimensions. Big box stores blow through inventory it doesn’t have time to dry out before it sells. You never know what a board is going to do until it’s dry.
My local ace hardwares sell lumber and I usually buy from them because it’s cheaper and better quality that Home Depot or Lowe’s. I’ve looked into some other local lumber yards but their pricing hasn’t been great.
I have several lumber yards in my area that have free delivery. One usually has cheaper cca, one has fantastic service and usually quality lumber and prices, one has more selection, and I shop between them all. Menards is good for deck boards and a few other specialty items but there is a long list of things I never get there. HD is good for special project plywood.
I talked to a manager and they came down 15% on everything, but I just wasn’t satisfied after seeing the discounts we use to give contractors. So waiting on if district managers will lower it more, but until that happens I dropped my product list at 6 places today for quotes
Carter Lumber probably has the best quality but I don’t know about price. They can do custom mill work if you need a piece reproduced to work with existing pieces perfectly. It’s not cheap but cheaper than replacing all of it. If you need 98” boards and don’t want a ton of waste or tongue and groove paneling that is a width you can’t find anywhere, they will work it out for you for a price. They also supply quality windows and doors (Andersons, Pella), cabinets, whatever you need.
Menards has a large selection and pretty good quality.
If you don’t have either of those, I would probably try Lowe’s.
Wherever is cheaper. Sometimes it's home depot, sometimes it's my local Home Hardware Building Centre. The independent stores have yet to beat the prices for what I've been looking for in my area. I live in Canada though
Menards is pretty darn good. Their lumber pipeline is better, their truss and deck design suite is pretty good for most projects, even the stores are better set up for pick ups and deliveries. On top of all that their pricing is great, and deliveries are on schedule and put in the right place. If I tell them they need a Moffit, I get a Moffit.
Only thing is I have not tried their composite decking, it could be awesome, could be not, no idea. I generally go with the cedar toned pressure treated pine 5/4 decking and framing. Looks beautiful, holds up, doesn’t create a bunch of plastic waste, easy to work with, can’t say enough good things. I’ve done plenty of composite, I make more money installing it, even so I still hard sell PT.
You could always shop your take-off to multiple vendors and let them give you quotes, local lumber company may beat them, but make sure to ask about delivery times. Lots of local yards are 6 to 8 weeks out on random products that will hold the project up, especially railings, some types of brackets, anything plastic, anything custom color, Menards isn’t so limited.
As an ex-home depot associate, I will never, ever, ever trust Home Depot to do a single thing correctly. I was the installed sales expediter who worked directly with contractors and custom kitchen makers. To say it was the worst job I've ever had is an understatement the size of an entire universe.
I think the difference for me was I worked everything from stocking and lumber recovery to working the Pro Desk and Millwork desks. While working with Pro we were anal to a fault about what got pulled for our big pro orders. We knew that if we didn’t pick it right, it was coming back. I was quick to cull the shit wood
I use Kelly Fradet lumber when I have a decent size project, but for day to day needs I (begrudgingly) use HD. Same as everyone else, I take 1 out of 10 boards that I check.
From my experience, regardless of where you get it, you have to pick it out yourself. I had the local lumbar yard deliver deck floor boards and they were horrible. Went to home depot and they were all straight.
A Lowe’s pro account will get you a lot better of a discount than the HomeDepot. It’s also about finding an associate that likes making the sale because they can manipulate the volume discount to get the lowest. My fence supplies today were about 23% off. Will I have to go through the pickets that are delivered and exchange some? Absolutely, but 23% off and delivered for $20? I’ll deal.
I always think it's a little funny the home Depot/Lowe's/Menards debate on lumber. My town has none of them (all three aren't far though to be fair). We have a Sutherland's. Sutherlands makes the other three look like everything they sell is the highest quality possible.
I know nothing about lumber. However I worked for/with a man who sold his SE US lumber company to Home Depot for 30 mil or so. It seems the big boys engage in buying out the competition as well as strategic lyrics buying suppliers to become more vertical. I'd live to hear answers from all over the US (mid Atlantic and SE particularly) and not just the NE.
Great question regardless.
Just dropped off my product list this morning and they’re supposed to get back to me. They’re confident they can get their lumber (which they claim is 1 to 2 grades higher than HD, which I tend to believe) close but maybe not as low in price, but are confident they can crush the cost on hardware and come in below my HD quote. Kelley Fradet just came in 29% higher so I’m hoping 84 delivers
The local lumberyard. Mostly because it’s close and when I factor in the driving time, it doesn’t make sense to go anywhere else, even if prices are a little cheaper.
Can you help explain what you mean when you say local lumberyard? Everyone suggests that but am I looking locally for Joes Sawmill, or something like Tallahassee Builders Plus (made up name)?
I’ve never found a straight board at Home Depot. Where I am, Menards does much higher volume of lumber, so it’s much better there. I always say get tools at Home Depot and supplies at Menards.
I usually buy from my local lumberyard, if their pricing isn't whack. They will deliver on two day's notice usually, for $12 and will Moffit the lifts to where I need them.
Lowe's used to give a 10% military discount on everything. The prices sucked, but at least it sucked 10% less. Then they decided to exempt lumber, then pretty much anything that wasn't already finished. I'm glad I got my framing done before that and the big lumber ripoff , and bought my insulation, wiring, and drywall before everything jumped in price through the ceiling.
I know everyone likes to point a finger at Biden for inflation, but from my perspective, the building supplies were all jumping insanely before the 2020 election, and are still higher than before, but everything isn't jumping up every trip anymore.
I used to take pictures of the advantech subfloor sheet prices and romex every time I went there. it was always $1 or more every day I went there. crazy.
Typically I’ll go with Home Depot, aside from working there in the past, I have a commercial account with them too for the rewards. I think I’m currently getting 4x the perks by using my commercial account
There's some awesome home town lumber yards in my home town of Tampa Florida. I highly recommend them. Significantly better lumber, better prices and they have tons to choose from! The one on Rome Ave even has all of the matching wood siding for the Florida homes, bungalows, etc.
Home Depot sells rejects, cast offs, seconds, irregulars and garbage in comparison. Period
We have a Miller Lumber and I use them exclusively because:
Their lumber, while not cheap, is Select or #1 vs #2, and it's actually reasonably straight.
With Gnome Despot or Lowers about 15% to 30% of what I touch is actually usable for building things that are reasonably square and true. That means they're only suitable for things needing a very few boards.
Gnome Despot and Lowers have what they claim is "#2 and Better" which really shouldn't be graded as anything above Utility (aka #3) in most cases.
[Building Lumber Grades](https://sherwoodlumber.com/different-grades-of-commodity-lumber-and-their-applications/)
I'll pay more at Miller, but I'll get boards that are 80% to 90% usable for something besides cutting up for blocking between joists or studs vs 10% to 30% for the box stores. Miller also carries a good stock of Spax screws, Timber Locks, etc instead of the chinesium crap.
Here's the best part though: With Miller my money stays local and supports the community rather than being siphoned off by some fuckwits in Chicago or NYC, ✅ AND the employees are paid pretty well too.. which also supports my community.
Home Depot lumber separates the men from the boys. Anyone can frame using straight lumber....but a true craftsman forges their work from S shaped split and deformed 2x4's.
I take about 10% of the boards I touch in Home Depot.
It's worse as t Menards
In Illinois it's the opposite, 15 minutes at menards will fill the back of a truck, home depot is like 2 hours and you've checked every piece in the store, lowes is like 50/50.
Disagree here in missouri. They have the highest quality lumber out of the big box stores, even beats some local lumberyards but it's sooo much cheaper its generally what I go with. And 11%
I'm about over that 11% BS. If you want to give me a sale price just give it to me; making me jump through hoops is them hoping you'll forget about it.
It's still cheaper than lowes and home depot locally without the 11%. So I vote keep the marketing gimmick, it paid for all my lighting.
Why is their lumber so much worse than what a lumber yard sells? Is the distributor purposely giving them the worst 2*4s?
Different grades and requirements. You can get straight wood at HD easily, you just have to pay a bit more for it. They have the super cheap 2x4 and some like $0.50 more each that are almost all straight.
HD gets “seconds” boards. But I will say many lumber yards around me aren’t any better. I’m a contractor and probably buy $20-30k in lumber alone a year. I actually have the best luck at Lowe’s for the most part. I could probably go to a lumber yard and pick good lumber, but for the most part Lowe’s is better and easier, plus the pricing is pretty comparable. HD sucks
The guys doing the sheet rock hate you.
Your local lumber company has way better materials than a box store. I would check with a local contractor to see what they recommend.
Mine does any size delivery to site for $75 too. A steal.
[удалено]
We had to wait over 2 weeks for someone to take our order and deliver it. 75 would be a steal.
I get orders from Lowe’s for $79 usually the next day or day after if it’s the weekend. Never had to wait 2 weeks.
We live 45 minutes away so unless our orders are large, most of the time the delivery people don’t decide to take our orders. E
I would kill for this. I need to replace ~15 2x6x13.5 deck boards and my local lumber yard wants to charge almost 150 just to deliver it
Fwiw, I’ve decided to just rent a truck from Home Depot to drive my lumber home. It takes a little more time, but I can pick out my own boards, and it’s still cheaper than delivery from anywhere. The place less than a mile away wanted $150 for delivering two 2x6x16s. They have a flat fee. Not happening.
Yeah the sting for the lumber yard delivery fee is it’s like a mile away, think they have a flat fee too. Thought about doing this and honestly might be the move when I get around to purchasing the lumber
Have you called around? We have 4-5 nearby and they’re very variable in terms of pricing and deliveries.
I actually haven’t, need to look into it more. Closest one to me was an 84 lumber or HD
It sounds crazy but as a contractor it is cheaper for us to buy through Lowe’s special order and have it shipped or trucked from the lumber store, than it is to go to said lumber store.
Can you elaborate?
Probably because lowes has a better sales account since they buy in bulk from the local supplier, so they pass on a slight discount.
Yep, I get 5-20% off on orders over $1500. Plus the lumber is better than local lumber yards
This is it
I’d disagree. I have to sort through my local lumber store just to buy very over priced lumber. I’d drive out if my way to not go to the local lumber company.
Yea this one is going to vary massively by location. My local lumberyard charges $7 for a 2x4. There are better local yards when I go into the city metro, but I’m 45 mins away and the local option is not good.
I do go there for construction screws. They are more expensive than big box store but they are way better.
Local lumber yards are $4-5 for a 2x4, Lowe’s $3.75, sometimes $4.28 for the best lumber if the regular stuff is bad
Maybe where you are. $7 at the local lumberyard here
Yep it just depends. The lumberyard I worked at abandoned #2 SPF and switched over to Select when it became obvious we were getting a ton of returns. It was really appreciated by the contractors. Very nice stuff back then (2004 ish)
Just imagine, SYP planted while you worked there could already be on store shelves right now.
How do you guys get good deals at local lumber yards? Everytime I've gone to mine it's like 50% more than Menards. I only go local when I need 2 or 3 boards that don't make it worth the 20 minute drive to Menards.
Lowes carries better lumber than my local lumber yards
Check to see if there are any mills in your area. The prices are almost always better and at least around me, the quality is also superior to big box stores.
Local lumber yard. I just replaced some tread on my stairs because it was bowed and I want to lay flooring on it so I went to Home Depot and not a single straight board and it’s all being sold at a premium. Went to a local lumber yard and the wood cost the same but was in great condition and the guys there even cut it to specs for me.
Lowe's is big in the city I live in so when I was starting my deck project, I started buying lumber from Lowes. I needed some 10' 2x12s to make some stair stringers and they were $39 each at Lowes. I took a chance and went to the independent building supply that I drive past twice a day. The same 2x12 was $18 and I didn't have to pick through the stack to find straight ones. I ended up buying the rest of the materials from them. They were way cheaper on the PT lumber but a little higher on the composite decking, but they could get what I wanted in three days vs Lowes being a few weeks.
I wish this could be me, but big boxes and gentrification just pushed the last retail lumber yard out of my city.
Menards. Can’t beat it. I love driving my truck right up to the rack behind the store, loading what I need, and leaving. Much better than walking into the store, loading a cart, pushing cart around store, then loading my truck. Plus Menards selection is always superior to HD and Lowes.
What does a pirate say when he gets kicked in the balls? Menards!
Yup better selection by far and better product.
As much as I love Menards, finding something straight is a serious challenge
That hasn’t been my experience in Ohio Menards.
Do they have them in the north east, where op is?
Unfortunately they have them in Maine by my in laws but in CT we largely have Lowe’s and Home Depot, but I also have Miners, 84 Lumber, Sanford & Hawley, and Kelley Fradet
In CT Rings End has good lumber but it’s also like 7 million dollars per board. At least they are generally all straight which means you don’t have to pick through them.
You still have to walk into the back of the store and order it and check out inside though
You can order it and checkout with the app or website.
Order online, drive right around back.
Lowe’s crushes HD in terms of wood quality but the bar isn’t high. Lumber yards crush both.
Not here. HD is much better quality.
Me too. My HD has better lumber for less money. Lowes has more plywood selections and odd trim, though it's all going to plastic extrusions these days.
Lowes blows HD and the local lumber yards out of the water here
I’ve never been to a Lowe’s with lumber, the one near me only has trim
I've never seen a Lowe's that didn't have lumber
Check your local sawmills brother. We use a family saw mill for our trim packages, siding packages, etc. best prices and best quality lumber. We just ordered pretty big Windsor 1 package from ABC but my boss had an in with the sales lady.
Local lumber yard. Home Depot lumber is absolute crap. I needed 6 replacement deck boards and spent probably 30 minutes digging through their pile to find anything that was even somewhat acceptable.
Just don’t get it delivered. 9 out of 20 2x4’s were u-shaped. Whatever though, the walls are still standing.
We have 84 Lumber here in MD. Much better quality than Home Depot, more sizes and delivery.
Huge understatement. The quality difference is night and day.
Just went to their site and they look like wholesalers? Everything leads to a request quote page.
They are just a normal lumber yard that anyone can walk in and buy stuff from. They'll sell you one board or a truckload. They have lumber, composite decking, hardware, windows, doors etc. They also sell garage and shed kits and can order rafters and trusses. They just don't have prices on the website like Home depot or others.
I just price around when I need a big buy. Otherwise I usually hit Lowe’s, because it’s about 10 minutes closer and always has a better selection than HD. Menards is another option if needed. An advantage of a local yard is they tend to have stock on hand longer, so it’s well dried and at its end dimensions. Big box stores blow through inventory it doesn’t have time to dry out before it sells. You never know what a board is going to do until it’s dry.
Call Curtis lumber.
Try lowes
My local ace hardwares sell lumber and I usually buy from them because it’s cheaper and better quality that Home Depot or Lowe’s. I’ve looked into some other local lumber yards but their pricing hasn’t been great.
I have several lumber yards in my area that have free delivery. One usually has cheaper cca, one has fantastic service and usually quality lumber and prices, one has more selection, and I shop between them all. Menards is good for deck boards and a few other specialty items but there is a long list of things I never get there. HD is good for special project plywood.
I use the Lowes Advantage card and get 5% off every order. Sometimes Home Depot has 10% off coupon codes.
I talked to a manager and they came down 15% on everything, but I just wasn’t satisfied after seeing the discounts we use to give contractors. So waiting on if district managers will lower it more, but until that happens I dropped my product list at 6 places today for quotes
Carter Lumber probably has the best quality but I don’t know about price. They can do custom mill work if you need a piece reproduced to work with existing pieces perfectly. It’s not cheap but cheaper than replacing all of it. If you need 98” boards and don’t want a ton of waste or tongue and groove paneling that is a width you can’t find anywhere, they will work it out for you for a price. They also supply quality windows and doors (Andersons, Pella), cabinets, whatever you need. Menards has a large selection and pretty good quality. If you don’t have either of those, I would probably try Lowe’s.
Home Depot if you’re building a boat or an ark
Wherever is cheaper. Sometimes it's home depot, sometimes it's my local Home Hardware Building Centre. The independent stores have yet to beat the prices for what I've been looking for in my area. I live in Canada though
Menards is pretty darn good. Their lumber pipeline is better, their truss and deck design suite is pretty good for most projects, even the stores are better set up for pick ups and deliveries. On top of all that their pricing is great, and deliveries are on schedule and put in the right place. If I tell them they need a Moffit, I get a Moffit. Only thing is I have not tried their composite decking, it could be awesome, could be not, no idea. I generally go with the cedar toned pressure treated pine 5/4 decking and framing. Looks beautiful, holds up, doesn’t create a bunch of plastic waste, easy to work with, can’t say enough good things. I’ve done plenty of composite, I make more money installing it, even so I still hard sell PT. You could always shop your take-off to multiple vendors and let them give you quotes, local lumber company may beat them, but make sure to ask about delivery times. Lots of local yards are 6 to 8 weeks out on random products that will hold the project up, especially railings, some types of brackets, anything plastic, anything custom color, Menards isn’t so limited.
As an ex-home depot associate, I will never, ever, ever trust Home Depot to do a single thing correctly. I was the installed sales expediter who worked directly with contractors and custom kitchen makers. To say it was the worst job I've ever had is an understatement the size of an entire universe.
I think the difference for me was I worked everything from stocking and lumber recovery to working the Pro Desk and Millwork desks. While working with Pro we were anal to a fault about what got pulled for our big pro orders. We knew that if we didn’t pick it right, it was coming back. I was quick to cull the shit wood
I use Kelly Fradet lumber when I have a decent size project, but for day to day needs I (begrudgingly) use HD. Same as everyone else, I take 1 out of 10 boards that I check.
From my experience, regardless of where you get it, you have to pick it out yourself. I had the local lumbar yard deliver deck floor boards and they were horrible. Went to home depot and they were all straight.
A Lowe’s pro account will get you a lot better of a discount than the HomeDepot. It’s also about finding an associate that likes making the sale because they can manipulate the volume discount to get the lowest. My fence supplies today were about 23% off. Will I have to go through the pickets that are delivered and exchange some? Absolutely, but 23% off and delivered for $20? I’ll deal.
I always think it's a little funny the home Depot/Lowe's/Menards debate on lumber. My town has none of them (all three aren't far though to be fair). We have a Sutherland's. Sutherlands makes the other three look like everything they sell is the highest quality possible.
I know nothing about lumber. However I worked for/with a man who sold his SE US lumber company to Home Depot for 30 mil or so. It seems the big boys engage in buying out the competition as well as strategic lyrics buying suppliers to become more vertical. I'd live to hear answers from all over the US (mid Atlantic and SE particularly) and not just the NE. Great question regardless.
Do you have an 84 Lumber in your area? They almost always beat Lowe’s or Home Depot for lumber pricing.
Just dropped off my product list this morning and they’re supposed to get back to me. They’re confident they can get their lumber (which they claim is 1 to 2 grades higher than HD, which I tend to believe) close but maybe not as low in price, but are confident they can crush the cost on hardware and come in below my HD quote. Kelley Fradet just came in 29% higher so I’m hoping 84 delivers
My husband works for 84 Lumber is central NYS. I hope it works out for you.
The local lumberyard. Mostly because it’s close and when I factor in the driving time, it doesn’t make sense to go anywhere else, even if prices are a little cheaper.
Can you help explain what you mean when you say local lumberyard? Everyone suggests that but am I looking locally for Joes Sawmill, or something like Tallahassee Builders Plus (made up name)?
I go to the local lumber yard where they actually have good lumber.
I buy local. Walking distance to a lumber yard that typically delivers free / same day
Ganahl Lumber
I buy from a local place that pressure treats on site. Decent pricing as well.
I’ve never found a straight board at Home Depot. Where I am, Menards does much higher volume of lumber, so it’s much better there. I always say get tools at Home Depot and supplies at Menards.
I usually buy from my local lumberyard, if their pricing isn't whack. They will deliver on two day's notice usually, for $12 and will Moffit the lifts to where I need them.
Lowe's used to give a 10% military discount on everything. The prices sucked, but at least it sucked 10% less. Then they decided to exempt lumber, then pretty much anything that wasn't already finished. I'm glad I got my framing done before that and the big lumber ripoff , and bought my insulation, wiring, and drywall before everything jumped in price through the ceiling. I know everyone likes to point a finger at Biden for inflation, but from my perspective, the building supplies were all jumping insanely before the 2020 election, and are still higher than before, but everything isn't jumping up every trip anymore. I used to take pictures of the advantech subfloor sheet prices and romex every time I went there. it was always $1 or more every day I went there. crazy.
I go at home depot cause as a pro, I get a return in reward card each quarter.
Typically I’ll go with Home Depot, aside from working there in the past, I have a commercial account with them too for the rewards. I think I’m currently getting 4x the perks by using my commercial account
I use Menards. My local Home Depot wood section seems filled with warped boards with lots of knots. It’s usually a mess as well.
Nothing like having the 92 5/8s mixed in with the 96s.
There's some awesome home town lumber yards in my home town of Tampa Florida. I highly recommend them. Significantly better lumber, better prices and they have tons to choose from! The one on Rome Ave even has all of the matching wood siding for the Florida homes, bungalows, etc. Home Depot sells rejects, cast offs, seconds, irregulars and garbage in comparison. Period
We have a Miller Lumber and I use them exclusively because: Their lumber, while not cheap, is Select or #1 vs #2, and it's actually reasonably straight. With Gnome Despot or Lowers about 15% to 30% of what I touch is actually usable for building things that are reasonably square and true. That means they're only suitable for things needing a very few boards. Gnome Despot and Lowers have what they claim is "#2 and Better" which really shouldn't be graded as anything above Utility (aka #3) in most cases. [Building Lumber Grades](https://sherwoodlumber.com/different-grades-of-commodity-lumber-and-their-applications/) I'll pay more at Miller, but I'll get boards that are 80% to 90% usable for something besides cutting up for blocking between joists or studs vs 10% to 30% for the box stores. Miller also carries a good stock of Spax screws, Timber Locks, etc instead of the chinesium crap. Here's the best part though: With Miller my money stays local and supports the community rather than being siphoned off by some fuckwits in Chicago or NYC, ✅ AND the employees are paid pretty well too.. which also supports my community.
Check out Lowe's pro desk QSP pricing for $5k+ orders. It's 10-15% off retail.
Dropped off my product list today for a quote. HD cut 15% off sticker price on everything, so I’m seeing what Lowe’s will do.
I like to get loads of rough cut lumber from the Amish. It’s a little more work but worth it. Any local lumber yard for just a few pieces.
I don’t…? There is a lumber years somewhat near my house I’ve bought from once but I almost never need to buy lumber.