# Home Depot



## buddy110 (Oct 3, 2009)

BamBamm5144 said:


> Doesn't sound true to me. You go ahead and pay 20 dollars more for the same product as I do. Lets do that 100 times.
> 
> I know I can find better places for my 2 grand to go than wasting it on the same product.
> 
> ...


Except that most times, it's not the same product. It may look the same, it may feel the same, but it's not. This is especially true with plywood, plumbing, tools, windows and paint.:no:


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## mudpad (Dec 26, 2008)

BCConstruction said:


> It's the opposite at the new one here. They piss me off keep asking if i need any help. Get asked at least 10 times in the space of about 10 mins.


I think that may be a new thing the corporate office has decreed. Problem is, most of the people who work there don't know a #12 wood screw from a Char-Broil Grill, so how they gonna help?


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

OKay then what you are saying is not even comparable to what I am saying. I am saying the EXACT same product. What you are saying it two different products. Of course there will be two different values. Your point of view is changing the subject from what I am saying.


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## mudpad (Dec 26, 2008)

I go to Home Depot and Lowe's fairly often, but only because of my own lack of planning. I would much rather buy from the little guys, but I won't pay a premium to do it. 

I do sometimes play the HD card against the specialty vendors. Example: "Hey, I can get that 10 mil poly from HD for ----$ per SF." They usually match the price, and deliver it for nada!


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

Mudpad - That is my point. That huge school you are working on, lets say you are usuing gaf 30 year arch natural shadows. Currently 19.50 a bundle at the local HD or nearly 60 a square. My supplier wants 77 a square for them. Thats a difference of 17 dollars a square. On your project, how much money could you save going through HD? 17,000? I would take the 17000 dollar profit over spending it on the EXACT SAME materials.


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## IHI (Dec 25, 2004)

I love the idea of supporting the 1 and only local ma and pa lumber yard, but when i'm bidding a job against 3-6 other hacks calling themselves contractors, I can try to sell "quality and service" until i'm blue in the face, and it's not going to justify the fact ma and pa want $23/sheet for 3/4" OSB and the big box gets $11, the fact ma and pa get $3.23/2x4x8 that is of no better quality than the big box $1.26 boards....

Sure they know me by name, but they also know my name at the big boxes as well through sheer volume. i get front row parking at any of the stores big or small....so fact of the matter, as much as i want to help support the local community, I'm not going to jeprodize my income to do so. I try to work with the small shops, but they're just simply prices way out of line for what other's are selling for...not their fault, just the way of the day.

Same with the few specialty shops, that for me are twice the driving distance, at least half again priced as high as big box stuff. Say the quality is different, my junk has held up just fine over the years. Just no real reason incentive for me financially....and service, well, like anything else, it's who you know. I just goto my contact people int he big boxes and they usually take care of any problems for me...works out nice.....but when budgets are looser, I will entertain small shops first and foremost, so it's a case by case judgement call.


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## brcon (Oct 7, 2009)

I find HD cheaper and better on some items and not cheaper on others. Items the local yard can't order in huge quantities, like sheet rock and joint compound, plywood, insulation are much cheaper at HD. Surprisingly, lumber is not. 

Also much of their stuff is inferior. Pine boards, moldings, vinyl windows, interior doors are all crap. However, their exterior Fiberglass and steel doors are good quality and much cheaper than my local yard. Small plumbing and electrical parts are very expensive at HD. But their faucets (lesser quality) and ceiling fans and light fixtures are fine.

Basically, I try to shop my local suppliers as much as possible, because I don't want to wake up one day and find that HD is my only source for material. But I'm also in business, and if I can save good $$, then that's what I do.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

I go to HD more times than I care to admit. (only for convenience reasons-believe me)

A couple months ago, I went in with my ex on a Saturday afternoon to buy rock salt and we were accosted by several HD reps trying to sell us a new kitchen, bathroom, etc.

Of course at that time I didn't "look" like a contractor. Anytime I had gone there before (and since), I'm guessing I looked "contractor-ish" and they knew better than to approach me about this.

Another thing happened just yesterday there that made me think of you guys. I was picking up some misc. materials for a fixed price contract job, as well as materials for a T/M extra (same customer) where it was agreed that I would only charge him what I paid for the material.

I separated the purchases, had him ring them up separately, and when I put the same job name on both purchases, he got a little fussy with me and asked why I didn't just put them all on the same order.

I didn't feel like explaining that I don't show material costs on fixed contract jobs...etc. The only thing I could think of was to say "long story". 

Of course later I thought of all kinds of things I "should have said", but in the end it was none of his  business.


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## mudpad (Dec 26, 2008)

BamBamm5144 said:


> Mudpad - That is my point. That huge school you are working on, lets say you are usuing gaf 30 year arch natural shadows. Currently 19.50 a bundle at the local HD or nearly 60 a square. My supplier wants 77 a square for them. Thats a difference of 17 dollars a square. On your project, how much money could you save going through HD? 17,000? I would take the 17000 dollar profit over spending it on the EXACT SAME materials.


As the general contractor, we don't buy shingles directly, it is the subs option who he buys his material from. But I would assume that when you buy a tractor trailer load of shingles you get close to the same price that HD gets. If he can buy cheaper from HD that's what he will do. 

A good example is pressure treated lumber. We use a lot of this for nailers at the roof lines on commercial buildings. I can take a little time, do a accurate take off, email to the local suppliers, and order from the low guy. Or, I can buy a few at a time and pick them up at HD, get some more when we run out. Obviously the former is the most efficient way to do it. The price is always within a few cents a BF of the HD price, but the local supplier delivers for nothing, HD wants a $65 delivery fee.


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

BCConstruction said:


> I have 3 HD's and 4 Lowes within 15 mins of me here and i can tell you that no 2 stores are ever the same. Every store here is laid out different and they all have varying stuff they have in stock.


From the Department of Useless Trivia: A guy I used to work with went over to the Dark Side and now works at Lowe's (which suits him well, but I digress). He told me that across the entire country, there are exactly four layouts that they use for their stores.

So if you're familiar with one, you have a one in four chance of hitting exactly the same layout in another.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Gus Dering said:


> I have a hard time doing business at a place that I get cranky just parking the truck in the lot. HD is the devil's child.:no:


my skin gets all itchy and I start getting flush every time I have to go to Menard's.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

Tinstaafl said:


> From the Department of Useless Trivia: A guy I used to work with went over to the Dark Side and now works at Lowe's (which suits him well, but I digress). He told me that across the entire country, there are exactly four layouts that they use for their stores.
> 
> So if you're familiar with one, you have a one in four chance of hitting exactly the same layout in another.


 
That explains why all 4 are different then. I have only been in the 4 local to me so i didnt know about the others being the same. You would think they would keep the same layout to make it easier to find stuff.


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

BCConstruction said:


> You would think they would keep the same layout to make it easier to find stuff.


Yeah, OTOH, we've all been in stores where they purposely lay out the shelves and racks so that it's impossible to go directly to the area you're interested in without passing by 70% of the other stuff. Marketing, baby, marketing.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

Tinstaafl said:


> Yeah, OTOH, we've all been in stores where they purposely lay out the shelves and racks so that it's impossible to go directly to the area you're interested in without passing by 70% of the other stuff. Marketing, baby, marketing.


 
That explains why i have so much crap i dont need when i leave there lol :thumbsup:


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## loneframer (Feb 13, 2009)

Tinstaafl said:


> Yeah, OTOH, we've all been in stores where they purposely lay out the shelves and racks so that it's impossible to go directly to the area you're interested in without passing by 70% of the other stuff. Marketing, baby, marketing.


 That's why my garage is laid out the way it is. I have to look at and appreciate all my other tools before I find the one I want.:laughing:


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

loneframer said:


> That's why my garage is laid out the way it is. I have to look at and appreciate all my other tools before I find the one I want.:laughing:


Kind of like looking a word up in the dictionary. What should take only a few seconds turns into a half-hour tour. :thumbsup:


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## HSConstruction (Mar 21, 2009)

We all pride ourselves on our service and sell with that angle. HD and lowes are the equivalent to the low-ballers we have to outsell everyday. Why is okay for you to sell yourself as the high quality contractor but the local lumberyard is not allowed to do the same?

Yes I pay a premium at the local yard but at 3 in the afternoon I can call them and say "Kerry, it's Russ I need more xxxxxxx pronto" and the response is "Are you at Mr. Smiths or at the Johnsons today?" "Smith". "its on its way"

Yes, they know all of our job names because of P.O.s and the locations from prior deliveries. There are 5 people at the counter and all know exactly who I am without using last name or company name.


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## mudpad (Dec 26, 2008)

I knew a superintendent once who went through HD once or twice a week the way people go through the supermarket. Get a basket, go up and down each aisle, and pick up whatever strikes your fancy. I was in the office at that time and had to approve all his purchases. 

It seemed like he had some kinda thing about "kits" If it said "kit" on it, he bought it. Screw, pilot, countersink "Kit"; Truck and trailer tie down "kit"; Paint roller and brush "kit". And then going out the door he would buy a bottle of water and charge it to the company. ( even though he already had his 5 gallon cooler and water cup dispenser "kit". )

He was one who loved HD. 

He did not survive the economic downturn. :whistling


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## bdoles (Sep 11, 2007)

My biggest beef is with the so called "loading area" at Lowes. It never fails that I need to get something from the front of the store on the contractors side. I run in and pay for it. Go get the truck and TRY to pull into the loading area. Surprise, surprise, there is some  moron parked right in front of what I need. So I wait a minute or 10, and here comes from  idiot with a bag of bolts or a tube of caulk. So he really needed to park there to "load" his bag of bolts? 

That's what burns me. Time is money, I don't want to deal with some lazy SOB that is being inconsiderate. But I have had that happen at a local lumber yard as well.


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## jhark123 (Aug 26, 2008)

I am actively trying to reduce the amount I spend at HD, why would we, as a community, support a store that is actively trying to take business from us?


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