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Home depot prices

Started by hookhill, December 04, 2006, 05:35:36 PM

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hookhill

Ever look at 2x lumber prices at Home Depot. Prices average .50 cents a foot for Spruce/Fir (2x6x10' costs around $5.10) . How the hell do they do it? Thats about what the local sawmill charges for green/dam heavy hemlock. Spruce/fir logs cost about .25 cents a foot, add another .25 cents a foot to saw it and you still have green lumber. Its crazy. The only financial incentive for having your own logs sawn is that you save around .25/foot.

Patty

I am guessing that many of us own a sawmill for just the sheer pleasure of it.
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

ShowMeSawyer

Volume. HD's purchasing power is in the millions of board feet.
I've priced lumber at HD and Lowe's, wasn't impressed with quality of the lumber there either.

Noticed that Katrina downed SYP has made it on their shelves too....as treated lumber.

WH_Conley

I think both of the previous posts nailed it right on the head. Most people that own mills enjoy it and the quality is better than you can buy at the box store.
Bill

Larry

Last big project I had DF delivered from a yard.  All S4S and studs cut to an exact length.  Quality wasn't near as good as I'm sure most of you guys could put out...but if I was not happy with the lumber I got from the yard they delivered replacement boards and picked up my culls.  I really didn't have many culls as I used a lot of them for blocking, or cripples.  Even more amazing is when ya buy trusses cheaper than lumber from the yard.

I'll saw/process hardwoods and leave the softwoods to the big boys.

Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

I do love sawing boards, but Larry is right on:
You can not compete with the box stores on soft wood.
I cut some sweet wide boards from some 32" pines this
weekend, but why pay me 65 cents for this nice stuff, when
less than that will get you kiln dried (well at least down to 19%)
planed and precisely dimensioned pine or whitewood.

On the other hand, Poplar is around $4 a foot a HomeD. and
Oak is almost $7 per ft for the wide stuff.  That means we,
the little guys, can make some wampum on the hardwood.
Phil L.
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Chris Burchfield

Like Patty said, I enjoy "the sheer pleasure" of making it. I've made real 2" X 4"s 20 foot long with out a knot. My recent deck is out of 5/4 X 6" cedar. The biggest cedar at the blue box store measures 3 1/2 X 3 1/2" or 5/8" X 5 3/4". I bought my mill to turn out quality for myself and clients in the near future, that know what real value is. I do not recognize a person on the Forestry Forum as lowering themselves to the big box standards. I do suspect we might lower our price on quality product to put a roof over our heads or food on the table.
Woodmizer LT40SH W/Command Control; 51HP Cat, Memphis TN.

Qweaver

In my case where I'm cutting down my own trees to saw and build my cabin, I'm sure it makes sense to have my sawmill.  But if I would get a job making the same money that I was making before I retired and subtract the cost of the sawmill and other tools needed to produce the lumber...it might make more sense to just buy the lumber. 
I just wanted to do it this way and it is very convenient to be able to saw just what I need.  My rafters were just over 16' 4" and I would have had a lot of waste with box store wood. It also takes me at least 35 minutes to get to HD so by the time I get there, shop and get back, half a day is gone.  Then there is the beauty of the wood that I'm using. 
Sawing commercially with my LT15 is not a reasonable thing to do but I'll do some custom sawing as it comes my way.  Trading lumber for other things that I need has also been good for me.
Quinton
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

RMay

hookhill when that 2x6 left the woods it was more than likely in a 12 to 20 year old log 6 to 8 in. DBh. that was sold as a chip & saw in the two to five dollar Range and they cut two 2x6 & two 2x4 out of it and than sold the chips to a paper mill for what thay bought the log for. ::)
RMay in Okolona Arkansas  Sawing since 2001 with a 2012 Wood-Miser LT40HDSD35-RA  with Command Control and Accuset .

RMay

I meant to say three to five dollars per ton  ::)
RMay in Okolona Arkansas  Sawing since 2001 with a 2012 Wood-Miser LT40HDSD35-RA  with Command Control and Accuset .

brdmkr

Quote from: ShowMeSawyer on December 04, 2006, 05:50:00 PM

Noticed that Katrina downed SYP has made it on their shelves too....as treated lumber.

I think I picked up some of that to use for facia on my shop.  One of boards had close to 20 rings/inch.  That was a real waste.  Woodworkers would have fought over boards like that, but they wound up in ACQ!

I don't do very much sawing for others, but when I do, I try to convince all of the folks with pine to cut it into 1x's instead of 2x's.  Have you noticed the difference per bdft for pine?  Like mentioned above, hardwood prices are still really steep as well.

Of course, I like cutting my own regardless ;D.
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

WDH

One of the things that ya'll are not taking into account is the significant over-run that the big softwood mills can achieve.  For example, I have purchased several log truck loads that had been weighted to determine the number of tons (walnut, and I purchased it by the ton).  I then bucked all the logs into sawlog lengths and scaled the logs with the Doyle scale.  On average, in decent sized walnut logs, I was able to cut approximately 1.4 board feet of green lumber for every 1 board foot of Doyle scale.   Where Doyle would scale approximately 1 MBF for every 8 tons of weighed green logs, I actually could yield 1 MBF for every 5.5 tons of green wood.  The big softwood sawmills have incredible recovery.  The old log scales, Doyle, Scribner, International, are not in sync with modern sawing technology in softwood.  The most efficient big softwood mills (they cut 1 million feet per day!) cut-on-the-curve, that is the logs are cut in the plane of the sweep ( they pivot the logs thru  the gang saws so the the gang saw follows the curve), with yields much better than 5.5 tons/MBF.  If it is possible, the next time you buy logs, weight them green and scale them.  Compare your actual cut to the origiinal log scale and you will be able to calculate the "over-run".  So, it looks like a mill is paying $.50/foot for logs, but when you figure in the over-run, it is actually a good bit less.  That is why the lumber in the Big Box stores is seemingly so cheap.  That and also like a previous post said, the plantation logs that are being sawn are bought for less than the older, tighter ringed, natural timber.  The portable band mills that many of you (and me small-time) operate actually come reasonably close to the really big boys in terms of recovery, however, we cannot cut on the curve like they do, and that is where they get their edge.  Also, because they can cut so much volume, their sawing cost/MBF are very low, half of what you would even think of sawing for.  Like Phil L. said, however, in hardwood, it is a different story.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Furby

Don't softwoods weigh less then Walnut ???
Thus you can't compare the "over-run" between the two based on weight?

JimBuis

I think that there's another dimension to the big box store lumber prices that has not been thrown out there yet.  They use the lumber to get the customers in the door to buy other things which have a higher mark-up.  They don't want those folks to buy a couple of 2 by 4s and nothing else.  They want that customer to check out the new kitchen cabinets, the new flooring, new lawn mowers, blah, blah, blah!  In that context, they don't have to make much money on the lumber as their real profit comes in on all of the other stuff.

IMHO,
Jim
Jim Buis                             Peterson 10" WPF swingmill

Ron Wenrich

Our rule of thumb is about 6 tons of logs/Mbf.  Your tonnage would be a lot higher if the logs are pretty small.  My guess is that if they had any size, the logger wouldn't have sold them by the ton.  Walnut sawlog prices are pretty good, and veneer is even better.

I don't know of anyone using the curve sawing in hardwoods.  Isn't there a size restriction on curve sawing?  Besides, you would probably lose pretty much grade.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

WkndCutter

I get enough logs to offset the cost.  The tree cutters in my area are always looking to get rid of their logs as to not pay for disposal.  Urban logs do have certain pitfalls though (nails, screws, lag bolts, dog chains....).  There is a large amount of work to turn those logs into lumber but I find a great sence of accomplishment completing a project with wood I cut and dried.  Better yet when all is said and done there was little or no actual money out of my pocket and I enjoy the time I spend cutting.  I cut some 6x6 x 14' a while back, can't emagine what that would have cost in the box store.

Warren

The other thing to consider with big box stores is the "loss leader" mentality.  The men in our church built a wheel chair ramp for a family in town last spring.  Several guys said "Oh, I drive by the big box store everyday (30 miles up the road..).  Tell me what we need,  I'll pick it up on the way home."

I did some price shopping for treated lumber at Lowe's, Home Depot, and the local family owned hardware store in town.  In both cases, Lowe's and HD were significantly under the local place ON 2x4x8FT.   For every other length, 10ft, 12ft and 16ft, the big box stores were significantly higher.  10ft lumber was almost double the 8ft price.  12ft lumber was more than double.

Long story short we bought the entire material list locally and saved about $15 dollars (on a $500 sale) and 60 miles of driving by checking ALL of the prices before buying. 

It was a real eye opener for me to see the price games that go on to get people in the door at the big boxes....

Warren
LT40SHD42, Case 1845C,  Baker Edger ...  And still not near enough time in the day ...

slowzuki

Same story here, 2x4 stud wood is really cheap but start into beams or 6x6 if you can find it and the prices become insane.  I used over 100  16ft 6x6's in our shop/apartment and they would have been between 3-5$ a linear foot to purchase green.

leweee

Sawing on the curve explains the "canyon of twisted lumber" as someone on this forum stated. ::)  Back when Florida had Hurricanes someone showed use a lumber stamp from Slovinia .:o Buying by the boat load also explains how they can offer it as a"lost leader" to get you in the store. ;D
just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

rebocardo

I hate buying Home Depot lumber after having cut my own. The ends split when nailed or come apart if touched with a router, for the most part the whole pile is warped, and I do not know much about grading, but, a 1x6 piece of pine should not have knot holes you can see through  >:(

I sent my wife for wood, ONCE. After she came home with a 1x12x96 I could not use because it was bowed, warped, and had see through knots. Not exactly shelf material.

The thing is it is good contractor wood! Most houses because of code are not built with paneled or wood walls, it is all drywall. So, the 1x and 2x lumber is mostly hidden and most contractors simply do not care about quality in new construction. They are paying Mexican day labor to put up the house as quick as possible including using people that do not speak English, to do a  slap happy install for the plumbing and wiring.

I was told by one contractor when I was doing day labor not to worry about fit when nailing because chalk and expoxy holds most new houses together. Just get them up. On a job site there is no such thing as a cull, though there are boards they have to nail a dozen times on one end to force it into place long enough to sell the house.

Home Depot, very very good for contractors, very very bad for anyone that does quaility work.

I wish I could put a kiln on my property and buy green locally from sawyers.

FWIW: I have been using the leftover Home Depot wood for firestarters for my stove since they are kiln dried.


beenthere

Interesting (to me anyhow) how we have so many who want to be negative about HD and other box stores.  There are plenty of lumberyards selling higher grade lumber than the box stores. The box stores likely are making money or they wouldn't have their lumber for sale and would go out of business. Around this part of WI, most contractors don't go through the box stores for their construction lumber (I personally know a lumber buyer at a non-box store lumber yard).

I believe, what the box stores end up with, are the lower grades of lumber after the truss industry, and the laminated beam industry have creamed off the higher strength material that brings a premium price. What is left is negotiated with the box stores. Gotta face it - what they carry does sell to those willing to buy. 

The box stores don't have any obligation to supply a higher quality lumber, IMO.  They carry the dregs and the dregs will sell or they would be outta business.  :)

From my observation, the hardwood lumber that HD sells, is clear, and very pricey. But it's there, just to say they have it.  It is also picked through and there is a lot of un-stickered, free-standing wood that is influenced by the heat in the store, and warps because it is drying out. Customers don't buy it, but push it to the side. Someone unsuspecting, or who wants shorter pieces might buy it, but likely it just hangs around because no-one wants to make the decision and toss it.

But, the box store is where many customers shop----probably not too many that are on this Forum  :)  Better to cut your own.

Also, a stud in a wall doesn't have to be high quality. It only needs to separate two pieces of dry-wall long enough to be taped and painted. It's not a structural member once the dry wall is in place (at least not a very significant one) and low grade pieces fit the job quite well.  Dealing with warp is needed.  As far as curve sawing, that results in bow-type warp, which is not a problem in studs, joists, or rafters as it is pushed straight and nailed to the sheathing plywood or mdf in most cases. Crook-type warp and twist are a different matter, but they don't come from curve-sawing logs.  My thoughts and opinion anyway.  Take that for what it's worth  ;D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

leweee

Quote from: beenthere       Crook-type warp and twist are a different matter, but they don't come from curve-sawing logs. 
quote]
Explain to me how it can be anything but straight. ::)

QuoteAlso, a stud in a wall doesn't have to be high quality. It only needs to separate two pieces of dry-wall long enough to be taped and painted. It's not a structural member once the dry wall is in place (at least not a very significant one) and low grade pieces fit the job quite well. 

In a load bearing wall "a stud" is a structural member....ask any building inspector ::)
just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

beenthere

Quote from: leweee on December 05, 2006, 05:11:55 PM
...........Explain to me how it can be anything but straight. ::)
It will have bow, but not likely crook. I didn't say it was straight, but when the drywall and/or panels are nailed/screwed on the bow will be taken out.  (And I didn't say it was 'pretty' either  :) )

QuoteIn a load bearing wall "a stud" is a structural member....ask any building inspector ::)

Structural in compression only. The surfaces (drywall, etc.) hold the stud straight so it won't bend which keeps it's compression strength.  Also,  no-one can win a fight with the building inspector - or the reaper...... :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Kelvin

One thing nobody has mentioned is how when you walk from the 2x section where wood is .50 a bd ft to the 1x section, knotty pine is $1.25 a bd ft.  Oak is $7 a bd ft, poplar (as mentioned about $4 a bd ft.)  I tell customers that sawing 2x is not really worth it unless the logs are yours and they have to be gotten rid of, but you can't find any 1x lumber around .30 a bd ft that you have to pay a sawmiller.  I don't think many people here have a sawmill b/c its just fun.  Some do, but most realize its a money maker.  not like in the Baker sawmill ads with piles of money around the mill (doesn't this just kill you?)   You can not buy anything like what you can saw.  A 2x12 16' still costs quite a bit at .50 a bd ft, and i can make them outa freebies in my log yard.  Its gravy.

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Well, today I turned the big box store to good advantage.

Last week I had to de-sticker and restack a big pile of 18' long
pine (right by myself) so that I could reuse the stacking sticks.
Using them, plus every stick I could find, I was then
able to carefully stack the lumber from a 40" diameter Sycamore.
(Included quite a few 20" wide boards in that stack, too:  YUM!)

Today I had about seven thousand pounds of pine from
some oversize logs to sticker stack.  Sawed it over the weekend
(and loaded it right by myself).

At the big box store a 1x3x8ft. furring strip is $1.45. 
I bought five bundles of a dozen per bundle.  Cut one in half;
rip the resulting halves down the middle; You get stacking sticks for
37 cents each.   These furring strips are the heart of small spruce -
the sorry-est, knotty, cracked, splintery stuff you have ever laid eyes
on, but I took my Makita 16" beam saw and cut the bundles of a dozen
in half in a few minutes, then ran the resulting 4-footers two at a time to rip and
in twenty minutes had 240 sticks - sorry ones, but cheap and dry and
good enough for an emergency situation.  They are the poorest sticks
I have ever used, but it was a quick solution, and I did not have to fill
my shop full of planer chips this time.

I stacked all the pine on top of the Sycamore. And NO I did Not do it right by myself!
:D

Phil L.    (You do realize that I paid $.72  per bd. ft. for those sorry furring strips!
              Amazing!   The savings to me, however was the speed with which I
              could convert them for my particular need.)
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Furby

I was told some time back that the box stores business plan or rather their prospectus were basicly the $ gained on the inprovement on property value at each location.
Wether or not they turned a profit inside the building meant nothing.
If they did make $, it was simply gravy.

Ron Wenrich

What about their leased properties?  I know of a couple of Home Depots that are sitting on leased property.  The Lowe's are on bought property, but that may be different in other areas.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Kelvin

All i know is...  a few years ago i bought one share of stock in home depot and one of lowes for an experiement.  It goes up 10-20 % avg per year.  If i had invested the money i used to buy my sawmill in 2002, the same time i bought the shares, i would be a rich man.  Instead i've worked my a$$ off, the mill has depreciated, and so have i.  I've got a stack of wood in the logyard that "should be worth something to somebody, if i can find 'em".  I figure besides the mill i have $75k invested in equipment to go with it.  Add all that invested at the same time, and ????  This is why those stock broker types drive fancy cars and have baby skin hands.  They just handle money!

Course the market is similar to gabling... "if i had just put all my money on the red chip, i would be rich, instead of a poor dead beat gamble-aholic"  Its hard to watch others make money hand over fist without doing a thing!  But as they say...  Money makes money.  not  "a bunch of equipment makes money"

Ha Ha,
KP

DanG

Lowe's tends to move every ten years or so.  The westside store in Tallahassee is on its third location, and the eastside store is on its second.  Of course, each new store is bigger than the last, but I think it has something to do with property depreciation, too.  Some of the big grocery chains do the same thing.

The contractors do buy a lot of lumber from the big box around here.  Lowes' trucks are beating a steady path to the new subdivisions.  The smaller local outfits are doing well in this area too, though.  The little regional chain, Stone's Building Supply, has about 12 stores, all of them in small towns.  Their stores tend to be quiet little places with no more than 4 or 5 customers in the place at any one time, but they are running the wheels off their delivery trucks by offering good prices on construction materials.   Their "walk-in" items are pricey, though, depending on the convenience factor pulling the customers in.  They're usually the only game in town.  There is one located 9 miles from me, and the nearest Lowes and HD is about 30 miles.  In my 10mpg truck, I gotta save a good bit to make up for the trip cost, not counting the time it takes.  I don't go to Lowes much.

As far as their lumber is concerned, I imagine it varies regionally.  All of them have SPF, or "whitewood" from all over the world, but locally they carry a pretty good line of SYP for a reasonable price.  When I visit, I usually get a good chuckle at their rack of "appearance" lumber.  I guess they call it that because it appears to be lumber, but most of it would go on the burn pile at my place. :D :D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Larry

I'll throw out something...just my opinion and might not be correct.  I've never seen anything but SPF and SYP in HD and Lowes.  In my book SPF is dead last for construction lumber.  SYP is a step up, but when it comes from the small plantation trees you get a lot of warp and twist.  DF is far superior to both SPF and SYP in about all categories.  A lot of the locally owned smaller yards are beating HD and Lowes prices with DF and throwing in free delivery.  The small yards don't seem to be competitive on a lot of other items...sometimes not even in the same ballpark.

Don't take much effort to fax off your lumber list to every yard in town...see who gives the best price and service.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

leweee

QuoteWhen I visit, I usually get a good chuckle at their rack of "appearance" lumber.
Reminds me of an oldtimer watching a band mill demo....he says to me "just because your maken BOARDS, doesn't mean your maken LUMBER"....Reminds me of the "canyon of twisted lumber" in the box stores every time. :D
just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

metalspinner

My biggest frustration with these stores is the flat out lying they do in their advertisments.

The dozen or so employee's walking in and out of each isle, or the "quality center cut lumber that you just can't get anywhere else".

Or their experts ready to help you with your question's.  I've learned it's best to keep your head down and don't ask. ::)

Even their plywood isn't stored correctly on their uneven ballasters.  Each sheet has twist put into it by this careless method.  Not to mention the forklift stabbings on the edges of the piles.  And why do they put the MDF on the high rack anyway?  Don't they know that stuff weights in at 80#'s a sheet?

I can go on and on....blah, blah, blah.... :D
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

tcsmpsi

We did get a Lowe's here recently.  Nearest Home Depot is about an hour a way (legally). 

There are certain items and certain circumstances that each has its benefit for.  For general construction lumber, I would not even give either a consideration.   The independent building suppliers are much more tuned to the building business.  I've never purchased anything from any of the chain stores that couldn't be hauled in the pickup.

Home Depot and Lowe's weren't options when I was in the business.  However, there was Furrows which I purchased most of appliances, fixtures and many tools from (especially ones that hands were apt to be using frequently). 

Dealing with independent suppliers, they became to know my particular needs, what's acceptable/what isn't, and most of the time an order of material would be well suited to that end.  Guys in the yards, building good relationship with them was important in getting good loads.

For the most part, and an overall building project of any significance, the independent will be less $, and hands down better suitable material. 

I still do a little, from time to time and special projects.  I still stay fairly abreast of material availability, quality, etc. between the box stores and my local indedpendent.

There's not really anything in Lowe's/HD that is less.  They run a few raggedy old 2x4s 'on sale' from time to time, but they're not worth the time fooling with.  In my opinion.  Lumber, fasteners, electrical, plumbing, are all less $ at my independent builder's supply.  Lowe's is convenient, though for a few things, after hours and on 'weekends'.   And, they carry things the independent doesn't.  And, vice versa.

One moment.  Box stores do a pretty good job today with OSB.   ;D
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

JimBuis

Regarding contractors buying from the big box stores, my son-in-law does quite a bit of construction and deals with Lowes but not Home Depot.  He's told me that Lowes gives him a discount on everything he buys there and Home Depot will not.  Due to the 'no discount' policy at Home Depot, he refuses to do business with them.

Lowes does better than the discount though.  At times when they need to move a large quantity of product, they don't advertise a sale.  They simply call each of their largest volume customers and offer the cut rate price to them.  They called once a couple of years ago and offered him as much 1/2" plywood as he wanted.  We took his 1 1/2 ton dump truck up there and they loaded him up at a price he said was WAY cheaper than normal.  The story was that one of their largest customers had ordered several hundred sheets or more and after it was in the store he cancelled.

Jim
Jim Buis                             Peterson 10" WPF swingmill

brdmkr

Here in town we have an HD, a regional home center, and a couple of other 'buildign supply' stores.   I hate  to say it, but in terms of quality, HD wins hand down.  The regional home center is really bad.  If you have it delivered to you, you will wind up culling half of the lumber. 

In the town I grew  up in, there is a bona fide lumber yard.  I remember going there to pick up some lumber to work on my mom's house several years ago.  They won't let you touch the lumber.  You drive in the back, and they put it on the truck.  I figured I'd get pure garbage if I couldn't pick through it (I was used to the box stores).  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Some of the prettiest lumber I'd ever seen.  Not many places like that anymore.
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

Ron Wenrich

I've bought lumber from both Lowe's and HD.  I haven't had too many problems, but I don't buy too much and I do a lot of picking.  If I can't find enough to pick through, I'll go somewhere else.  It seems that about 10% is usuable, the rest isn't.

We have a HD, Lowe's, 84 Lumber and a local lumber mill.  The local mill will beat the others and provide free delivery and have better quality.  Most of the better contractors go there.

There used to be a Lumber Yard in our area.  When an exceptional batch of lumber would come in, they would phone there better customers.  I wonder if the other companies do that?
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Larry

Few months ago we had a new Menards open in St Joseph, Missouri...for you southern boys same bore and stroke as HD and Lowes.

Had to check em out and first place of interest was there hardwood lumber section.  They had a 12" by 6' long S4S red oak board...shrink wrapped...can't remember the exact price but it was north of $5/bf.  What was amazing was this 12" wide board was made by gluing 5 boards together.  No attempt to color or grain match...this board was just plain butt ugly.  Were not doing a very good job of marketing iffen we let the box stores sell something like that with that kind of price.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

dutchman

Larry,  I just saw 1x12 's at the local HD that were 3 and 4 pcs.
I wonder if it's legal to sell as clear red oak when the grain is not matched.

Rockn H

Here locally it's still cheaper to buy SYP lumber from a bandmill.  Of course we're still sawing the customers logs for 185 to 200 /mbf.
I agree with the reasons given so far on how and why the box stores are able to buy their 2x SYP so cheap.  I don't know about them selling it cheap, I find some of their prices outrageous. ;D  But, here's a possible reason why so many people buy the stuff.
There's a big retail store ,that started here in Ar, that seems to have trained people to head for the big box stores and buy what they offer.  They all tell us constantly that their quality and value can't be beat, and it seems like most of us have come to except this.  Maybe it's because they stay open when so many people are off and no one wants to make more than one stop.  Or waste their increasingly valuable time. Don't forget how often the box stores tell us about their well trained/ expert employs.  If you were not well informed wouldn't you want to put your trust in an expert? ::)  If you tell people what a great deal they're getting loud enough and long enough, sooner or later somebody's going to start thinking they can get a great deal from ya. ???

leweee

Rockn H ...your post reminds me of Ron Wenrich's signiture. ;D
just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

Rockn H

Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups. :D

DanG if he didn't say it better than I did. :D :D

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