Originally Posted by Iowanian:
I'd like to go on record after 3 weeks of purchasing piles and piles of building supplies from local, Lowes and Menards.....Menards is NOT the Walmart of the big box lumber yard....It is the Dollar General.
Mouth breathing morons abound in that place, and they're department managers. I declare they help me invent new swear words.
They opened one in Garden. I'm hearing the same thing about that one.
EDIT: One thing, we put a building up and put a bid into our local lumber yard and they were really competitive. If we would have piecemealed it together they wouldn't have done anything, but with the volume they worked with us. The other benefit was that they'd take back the crooked ass boards. Big box stores have more crookeds than straights and you can't return any. [Reply]
Menard's is ok if you know what you are looking for and understand how the place works, but as far as knowledgeable employees it is the worst of any of them. Do not go in there thinking you're going to get any type of useful advice from their staff. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
They opened one in Garden. I'm hearing the same thing about that one.
EDIT: One thing, we put a building up and put a bid into our local lumber yard and they were really competitive. If we would have piecemealed it together they wouldn't have done anything, but with the volume they worked with us. The other benefit was that they'd take back the crooked ass boards. Big box stores have more crookeds than straights and you can't return any.
sure you can.
if you order a bunk of 2x from a local or from a big box, you're gonna end up about the same, assuming same grade and distributor. It's not like the sell different material to different stores. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jspchief:
Agree iowanian. Menards is a shithole.
There are just so many tongue chewers working there.
I've had to find my own pre/special orders....that had my name on them. Yesterday, one of them gave me attitude because I didn't want 2 doors I intend to clear coat...that had 2 oil boot prints on them. I loaded 14 of 15 doors myself while corky counted his hand tatoos....
Unless it's the best deal of all deals, I'm pretty much done there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
They opened one in Garden. I'm hearing the same thing about that one.
EDIT: One thing, we put a building up and put a bid into our local lumber yard and they were really competitive. If we would have piecemealed it together they wouldn't have done anything, but with the volume they worked with us. The other benefit was that they'd take back the crooked ass boards. Big box stores have more crookeds than straights and you can't return any.
Our local Lowes has amazing framing grade lumber. Their cheapest is seriously better quality than Menards premium grade. .. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.:
sure you can.
if you order a bunk of 2x from a local or from a big box, you're gonna end up about the same, assuming same grade and distributor. It's not like the sell different material to different stores.
It's 50 miles away from me. In our case it's not really applicable to return them.
And yeah. The quality is different I don't give a fuck what you say. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
It's 50 miles away from me. In our case it's not really applicable to return them.
And yeah. The quality is different I don't give a **** what you say.
so, that's your problem....
Lumber is graded on appearance and quality. #2 is going to be fairly consistent no matter where you buy it. In any bunk of lumber you will get a mix of good and bad, thats just the way it is. Some places, like Lowes do offer a "premium" #2, but that is material that has been hand-culled from the mill. Comparing #2 and "premium #2" isn't apples to apples.
FWIW, I buy about $75-100k in lumber a year. Much of that lately has been coming from Menards because the buys happened to line up with their 11% rebate sales, but i buy from several sources.
If you don't want the bad that comes with the good, get off your ass and go pick out your own sticks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.:
sometimes you have to for certain things, I do for any personal; projects, and my brother and I always did on the side work we did.
Hard to do when you buy 750 2x6x16 treated though for a roof project. :-)
Yeah. I wouldn't do that. But I do more than the average person would, especially when it's going to be exposed to elements and visible to the eye. Cedar has a way of dropping its knots after it fully cures outside. I won't install a board with a knot in the joint. Even basements and additions, I look down every stick to ensure that it's true. One bowed board can seriously jack up an entire wall or shower. I don't trust labor to eliminate them. They don't care as much. [Reply]
I just finished my mom's patio cover to totally cover her cement pad. Hand picking all materials is essential. Built upper and lower headers, added onto existing roof, which I hate, stripped and installed new roof. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.:
so, that's your problem....
Lumber is graded on appearance and quality. #2 is going to be fairly consistent no matter where you buy it. In any bunk of lumber you will get a mix of good and bad, thats just the way it is. Some places, like Lowes do offer a "premium" #2, but that is material that has been hand-culled from the mill. Comparing #2 and "premium #2" isn't apples to apples.
FWIW, I buy about $75-100k in lumber a year. Much of that lately has been coming from Menards because the buys happened to line up with their 11% rebate sales, but i buy from several sources.
If you don't want the bad that comes with the good, get off your ass and go pick out your own sticks.
Maybe go to each again and take another look. It's been awhile, but petty sure Menards has 3 different grades of rough 2X lumber, while Lowe's has 2. Lowe's lowest quality is better quality than Menards top.
This was last year, so this could have changed. [Reply]
