The one guys comment in there about us all paying for the judges ruling is correct too.... HD isn't going to learn from this as much as it will simply forward the cost and move on..... it's a bump in the road...nothing more...
I have a local cash and carry Hardware store that frustrates me to no end.... but it's not their fault they can't buy quality... Lowes and HD buy in such bulk that they get first run at wood ( for example ) and they drive the quality control standards as well as the actual market place... and Price.... ( as much as they can make the public pay today )
The story goes like this.... I go to buy 40 studs... walk around to a Brand new wrapped pallet of them... and we go through the entire pallet.... say 2000 boards...and I find less then 20 that aren't totally JUNK.... the edges where I'm going to attach sheet rock and outlets and so on... are virtually missing on the corners.... on most boards.... BUT WAIT there's More...... there was a Phone number on the plastic wrap for the pallet.... so I call it on the way to the job site and talk at length to a guy in the back room of a HUGE saw mill that builds the lumber...and his answer was Stunning....
The edge of the board can be missing and the stud is still good... think of the corner being the outter edge of the tree so it's just rounded in places.... he called it warfing... and that warfing standard is so low for the newer definition of a #2 Stud that two corners can have significant warfing and it will still be structurally sound... Which Grade of a Number 2 stud is another discussion all together.... and What HD and Lowe's spec's are for their customer is substantially higher then the actual "industry standard" that they have had a hand in defining in the first place....
Bottom line... there are only so many "High Quality #2 " studs available from the industry and if you want the best.... guess were you going to buy them??? and Pay LESS.... Yep.... so .... while I love my Mom and Pop store.... Frankly... they simply don't have the ability to buy the quality at a price we can all afford.... So... it's off to Lowes we go...
Just Freaking Grumble a lot on the way... cause it Sucks to be the little guy some days...
All of my accounts are lumber yards........all are pro yards.
Most all stock #1 and better.......some Select grade.
The contractors they deal with demand this quality and you won't
find many that will shop HD for lumber.
A #2 grade has to have at least one good nail face.
There is one grade below it called Economy.
Normally any hardware store who carry's convenience lumber will
stock a #2 or Economy stud.
You also have to check the species by reading the grading stamp......DF
is Doug Fir, HF is Hem Fir, SPF is Spruce Pine Fir and PP is Pine.
Most builders will not use yellow pine studs.......lots of warpage in humid weather.
In my area lots of SPF used.
A good lumberyard buys studs in truckloads and carry much
more inventory than a HD........HD is a inside lumberyard and limited
to inventory and length. You won't find lengths longer that 16'.....at a pro
yard you typically can get up to 22' lengths.
Lot of these pro yards buy on contracts and their specs are always
high quality...........I would say as a group they purchase much more lumber than the
box stores.
Thom "The object is to keep your balls on the table and knock everybody else's off..."
So my dad and grandfather have been in the pallet and box business together for nearly 40 years now. The aptly named, "Lohnes Pallet and Box Co." of Hanover, Ma is their deal. They buy lots of lumber, like shitloads. Luckily for me, they are like my personal lumber yard.
Anyway, as a kid I worked with them on Saturdays doing whatever they needed me to do. Lots of the time I was checking and stacking the 2x4s that they use to make up the ribs of pallets. I'd need to go through bundles of them and stack them a certain way to face the crown (if there was any) of the wood in the right direction so they could lay their hands on it, slap it in the jig, and nail the deck boards to them quickly. It's amazing how fast they work. No automation, all by hand.
Anyway, they buy direct from the mill. Most of the stuff comes from Canada. I remember the uniformity of the wood. Very few bends, nothing too crowned, etc. When I got "good" I could fly through bundles of two-bys like mad.
Fast forward to owning my own house and building stuff, doing projects. Whole pallets of 2x4 that looks like a fist full of spaghetti. Curved this way and that, ugly. Go through about 30 pieces before you find a couple you'd actually use to build something.
I think lots of the problem at those stores is that stuff gets stored outside for so long and them moved onto the racks inside. It's all wet and stuff and then once it gets inside the store all the moisture comes out of it and it curls like string. All the big "pro" lumber yards around here store all their stuff outside (covered by roofing, etc) and they don't have those issues.
Cape Cod Lumber, which is a good local oufit sells a sweatshirt that reads:
No Aprons
No Carriages
No Stupid Birdhouse Classes
hd was pretty good when first opened
hiring the lowest common denominator on a part time basis has really hurt the business
bob nardelli seems to be the well paid fail master at the depot and at chrysler
We always use an independent lumber yard. As a bonus, anything over $250 they will deliver for free, and their driver will actually help off load and stack when he shows up. Hardware and electrical/plumbing....independant Ace store down the street.
I personally try to use my local lumberyard even though their prices are pretty high. Home Depot's lumber is highly overrated, When I do buy lumber there, it takes forever to find 10 good studs. I used to work for a lumber supplier with them, but it was all the hardwoods and it was pretty high quality stuff. The management was always a pain in the ass though, and that was about the time they started knocking everyone down to part time and taking away their bennies. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
I chose to spend my hard earned at local family owned establishments when ever possible, even if I have to pay more. the chains are arrogant and most complaints fall on deaf ears. It's good to see the big guys lose some coin.
Guess I should have said that's the way it is in Enterprise Al. and your mileage may vary....
None of my locals have Anything worth a poop.. one's a golden rule and the other is a Ace....
My friends own them.... Service is great.... but neither one of them has quality studs.... just the way it is here....
The place to go in these parts for decent quality dimensional lumber is either the Co-op building center or a place called Security building supplies.
The co-op keeps the stuff outdoors under open roofs so it "seasons" properly....security also racks the stuff outdoors, but being the choice of many local contractors, they go through the material so quickly I don't think it has a chance to get all twisty.
Comment