The WORST home centers for wood (Home Depot vs. Lowes vs. Menards)
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- I compare wood quality, selection and price at three major home centers.
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@3:45 I don't shop at lowes because their service down here has been bad for years, multiple complaints and manager changes have not resolved the issue.
That sad, its not useful to look at a small quantity of lumber and decide quality in general. I know you clarified this in your video but have had many pallets of lumber delivered form the same supplier, the quality will vary greatly from batch to batch.
@@MichaelMantion I am not basing any of these opinions on "a small quantity of lumber." I made that clear in the introduction when I said this was based upon years of experience and only applies to the stores in my area.
Hey Stumpy! Your experience agrees 100% with mine on all three stores. The one thing that Men-tards offers that is good, is their 1/4" Baltic birch plywood. They sell it as sub-floor, but it is high quality and the REAL stuff. Once in a great while, I find good Maple at HD. I make guitar necks with figured maple, so it's worth scrounging through their disorganized stacks to find the rare good piece. LOWES has the cheapest small plywood boards, although they are still WAY overpriced. It's cheaper to get the plywood you want from HD, and have them use 2 free cuts to disassemble it when we have to fit it in a small car. Inside tip: Once you know the poor bastard that operates the panel saw, it's good practice to slip him a gift card around Christmas. I don;t get anything "free" from that practice, but he doesn't hate me quite so much. ;-)
You're based in Saginaw?
I didn't know. Where is your shop?
Also, which local wood supplies do you recommend?
The quality has gone way down across the board. They are being dryed to fast causes twist and splits.
Home Depot in my area is awesome. If you want to make an arch, a bow or maybe a wooden leaf spring just buy a home Depot 2x4. It's already pre shaped!
5-9 73s
You made me smile!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Great for concrete forms.
Brilliant comment!
“… for garage shelving, or for firewood”. Made me laugh. Did some remodeling on my bathroom and the pine they used as studs 40 years ago is cabinet grade today.
No kidding. I got some old shelves out in my shed that my dad built when I was kid 30 some odd years ago. Those things look completely different than what I can get my hands on now.
No doubt, we used to burn that stuff. Now when I'm tearing out old stuff I'm looking at those old 2x's like they're gold. I've got a special place in my shop where I stack all of the "vintage" lumber. I pulled a bunch of stuff out of a garage my Grandpa built about 60/70 yrs. ago, I saved all of the 6 to 12 in. pieces and made a butcher block table out of them and all the little scrap stuff. It turned out really neat but everyone probably thinks I'm nuts. I'm being a geek and looking at all of this old growth pine and fir thinking I can't find this stuff anymore. Lol
@@richc9503 We had a 2nd story deck that was in poor shape when we bought the house and multiple contractors just said to tear it down and scrap the wood. I decided to take one of the boards off and trim the ends assuming I'd find old cedar at best. Turned out to be 60 year old CVG old growth redwood milled to actual 2x6. A bit of planing and some trims and it still looks stunning 10 years on. Father-in-law is retired West Coast Forest Service and he just swoons. Kinda want to take it with me if we move.
@@bertsrake I keep hoarding the stuff when I find it. It's amazing what you can do with a little ingenuity and some time. A planer really helps too!
@@richc9503 I feel the same way! I was looking at some exposed studs in the house we just moved into and showed my wife the side by side differences of the old existing wood and the new wood the previous people put in to extend the wall. Amazing!
I have both Menards and Home Depot nearby. I shop primarily at Menards because I nearly always find what I need and I find the way the store is organized more comfortable.
Menards is low quality and if your cheap it's Menards
Menards always better than hd
@@clarknawrocki9718 - Yeah, they sell a LOT of junk. Worked there part-time for a few years and was shocked at just how much crap they pawned off on people. The brand names were okay, but when it came to Menard's own brands, I took a hard pass!
It's funny, but I find the employees at least around where I live to be happier at Menards. They seem well trained, mostly know what they're doing, and genuinely want to help you.
HD seems to be filled with people that just don't care. It's just a retail job for them, and they just seem like they hate their job.
But yes.. I find Menards just more comfortable. There's just sort of a nervous energy around a HD... maybe something about how the store is laid out, and packed with all that stuff in the aisles trying to jump out at you. Menards just feels more laid back somehow.
I'l also add that the way around the lumberyard hassle is to order online. I can order a board or a few on my phone, scan my phone to get into the yard, and drive straight up to the lumber pile. It actually ends up being faster than parking at Home Depot and going inside.
As a professional cabinet maker, I rarely go to the home center for hardwoods but do buy sheet stock given the supply challenges recently. The one thing I have found with the hardwoods is that while it’s already milled, it is milled to different thicknesses depending on the supplier, so you may pick up two boards thinking they’re both 3/4”, but in reality one may be 3/4” and the other is 11/16”. As you indicated you can’t joint or plane the stock unless you’re working with very thin material. I use to think that the higher price at a home center evened out the labor cost of milling rough sawn stock into dressed material, but when you do doors and your styles and rails don’t match because of thickness issues, you quickly appreciate the milling process.
10:26 "butter knife station" had me laughing! Thanks for the informative vid Stumpy!
When he said that I thought to myself... Oh.. That's what those are called! Then I had a flashback to my last use of one and laughed...outloud!
I've never seen one where the saw they had chained to it had any teeth left. I assume that's what he meant by "butter knife"
If i have to use that station, i snag a new saw from the tools first
Pretty accurate description!
Also: "good for garage shelves or firewood". Dry humour is the best humour.
a great topic... I discovered during a pandemic lumber shortage in Canada that the 16' 2x4 were less than twice the price of a 8' 2x4 ... As a former logger and log scaler I know that 16' lumber is much straighter and knot free than 8' 2x4's that are often "gang sawed" and banded before being kiln dried. Within a couple of days after removing the bands these sticks will twist like a pigs tail. The 16' 2x4 remain straight for weeks after bringing them home. I know as things get back to normal the price of 8' and 94 1/2" lumber will drop but I will stick with the 16' lumber bringing my cordless makita saw to cut it to length in the parking lot.
Great insight thanks!
good tip!
Great idea!
Thanks for the insider info
"but I will stick with the 16' lumber bringing my cordless makita saw to cut it to length in the parking lot." -- BRILLIANT!
I love how it's ok for them to record us in the store from every angle but if you want to record them they lose their mind.
@@devilselbow I had an episode of COPS filmed in my house once 😂
Wear stealth eyeglass cam and record secretly :)
Lowes ALWAYS has the worst selection. Always.
The poplar is generally the nicest at Lowes, and the cheapest. The day I checked anyway. The next day; Twilight Zone.
because it is their proprty DUHHHHHHHHHH
I work in lumber at HD and it's pretty interesting seeing the general impression of products at different stores. The butterknife station was a good joke, I'm going to start using that lol
What home depot do with the 2x4 that are bend, damage or the one that are not straight?
@@elpupusero Cull cart, 70% off. Usually sits in the back of the department near one of the saws
@@elpupusero Foist them off on unsuspecting new DYIers.
@@cjsan96 some of the 2x4 are not straight but can be use for some small projects
@@cjsan96 bingo
Lived on the west coast most my life without ever know what a Menards was. moved to Nebraska a year ago and LOVE Menards. Always has a better selection. Price tends to be a little better, but more importantly to me, If I ask an employee where something is they either know or they guide me to the person that does and they bring me right to where its as. Superior service at my local Menards is the main reason I think to go there than anywhere else.
You can save big money when you shop Menards.
Love Menards
I worked at Menards - still have nightmares about that jingle - but it's a quality retailer for sure.
@@burkepetersen8073 At Menards I will ask for help, at Home Despot I will ask them to leave me alone, I got tired of training their employees. They would have no clue what I was talking about. When the plumbing person doesn't know the difference between galvinized and black iron there is an issue.
Yup. It sounds corny but, service *and* selection. Lowes doesn't have lots of stuff. Home Depot doesn't have some stuff. If Menards doesn't have it then it pretty much has to be ordered online.
I found an excellent, knowledgeable and friendly English Hardwood supplier only six and a half miles away. I’m in the UK and every time I walk in I’m offered a cup of tea. Nice man 🌞
That's nice of him. You don't get offered a beverage of any kind at B&Q. (UK box store)
Maybe if we drank more tea in the states, we'd have better customer service?!?! Sounds like you have a great set up there!
For wood I usually go to my local Menards. I like the variety of species and because it's S4, it saves me time. The only time I looked at Menards and then left to go to Home Depot was when I was looking for a 4x8 sheet of maple plywood. Menards was $20 more for the same sheet. I had to dig about 3 sheets in but I came across what I think was a mislabeled A grade and bought it right up.
Great video! Appreciate all the foot work and board pulling. Phil
I was at my Home Depot getting a sheet of Birch for a project and mentioned to the employee cutting the sheet for me that their only sheet of Oak was damaged. He happened to be the millwork manager. He sold me the 4 x 8 sheet of red oak for $10!!! Even with the damaged corners there was a lot of good lumber left. I make it a point to say hello to him when I am in the store. It pays to make friends with the milk work manager.
Yep. Those are the people you WANT to know in each store. I had one such "source" at the HD, but he left a few years back.
@@andre1987eph By walking out the door without paying?
That's the first place I run to, LOL, I buy 70% lumber just because it's 70% off, there's time I'm looking for some wood for a project and I'll looking for the small damage wood just to try and get it for 70% off that's not in the rack yet
I'm always looking for milk work
Any associate at HD will do that for you if you ask
I am in Wisconsin and love Menards because they carry rough sawn Cedar 2x4’s, which means they are actually 2” by 4” before milling :)
Lucky!
Where in Wisconsin are you? Didn't know this.
@@bendykstra791 I’m in Appleton
Menards headquarters is located in Eau Claire Wisconson
Great assessment! This is spot on for the three big box stores in my area as well. I do like minards mahogany… it’s cheaper than the local mill and tends to be the same quality.
Nice job on the video! I really liked the photos you were showing while narrating.
A quick tip for Menards. Just buy your items online and choose the "customer picks" box when checking out. Then you just print out your order pickup barcode/receipt. Then when you get to Menards you just drive straight to the lumberyard and the guard scans your printout to confirm you have paid. Easy as anything. I almost never even go into the store or even get out of my truck until I am parked next to the pile of lumber.
Great tip. Thank you
A better tip would be don't buy from Menards.
John Menard is a horrible person.
I used to live where they are headquartered.
I met a guy who was contract working at the Menards facility.
Conditions on site were a major factor in an accident where he broke a leg and spent 4 months out of work. (Menards employee bumped the scaffold with a lift)
Menards tried to pay him off with a $50 gift certificate. If he'd accepted he wouldn't have been able to sue.
A friends Dad worked at their distribution center. He told me a story about how John Menard threw a fit and tried to fire a truck driver who he saw waiting in the break room. He thought he was being lazy.
Turns out he was another companies driver who was waiting for Menards to actually unload his truck.
The owners of the trucking company were not pleased with the treatment of their driver.
Menards was cited with more regulatory violations involving air/water pollution and hazardous waste disposal than any other company in Wisconsin.
Strong arming the city to not approve business permits to Lowes and Home Depot. He told the city he would move the dist center if one of those stores ever opened in Eau Claire.
Building a new store without a permit. Menard found out Home Depot was going to buy a certain plot of land so he outbid them and started construction before he had a permit.
The company is strongly anti-union, to the point that it will not hire anyone who has ever worked in a union shop.
Price gouging during the pandemic.
The list goes on and on. If you aren't close to the distribution center you never hear about the stuff.
@@douglascampbell9809 Mennards is still the best of the three...my go to store.
I do that all the time too. If you find something in the yard you forgot to buy you can buy it right from your phone, load it with your original order and have the gate attendant scan the barcode in the email for the new order when you leave without having to print anything out
@@douglascampbell9809 wait till you find out about home depot and lowes execs. Menards are saints in comparison.
I recently had to go to Lowes for some Top Grade Red oak. I only needed one 8ft 1x6. This board was $54! However, I needed it so I digress. Got it home and noticed the board was actually 1x's edge glued to make a 1x6! I took it back. Wasn't happy about their shenanigans.
Yepper got to love that trump Canadian wood product embargo. Woods come from Ecuador, Peru. Cutting down the jungles? Very soft woods. Prices jumped way to much. A good 4x8 good plywood, now $80-$100
@@AFullNelson right on. Its so easy to blame Trump for everything!! Shows there lack of intelligence.
@@wallisparnell4464 Who can afford to buy wood with Brandon occupying the White House? After gas and groceries, most American's can't afford a 2x4...and I think you should reevaluate what President Trump ACTUALLY did with Canadian trade...either you are Canadian (as Canada had an unfair advantage in trade with the US) or you are just the average, uninformed TDS suffering sheeple in whose rattled minds President Trump still occupies territory.
@@ggebhard1 Where lack of intelligence?
@@wallisparnell4464 lowes lumber sucked and was more expensive long before Trump... that said, Trump still sucks
Very good information. Possibly the best breakdown I’ve heard/seen.
Great video! I'd love to see you talk about the various pressure treated boards and sheet goods.
I work in the lumber department at my local Home Depot. Our construction lumber tends to be slightly better than the Lowe’s across the street but they have a significantly better selection of plywood than we do. Prices are about the same, the prices differences become more noticeable with molding and hardwoods. Great video!
Home Depot on 130th?
Thanks for sharing your time and knowlege on the subject matter....it was extremely helpful... great job...
Great review, James. I'd like to add one option that I've found very useful. I shop online at Mendards. They have car-side pickup for in-store items, and for lumber, it allows me to bypass the in-store shuffle. Whether I want one 2x4 or a trailer-load, I do the order online. I get the gate code emailed to me, swipe in when I get there and go straight to the barn to pick up my goods. If I have a car-side order, I can pick that up at the same time - then, I just check out with the guard and I'm on my way. Very, very convenient.
Pro-tip if you're buying plywood or something that's stored indoor: load up a cart with what you want to buy first, leave it by a bay door, and then get an order sheet at the building supply counter and checkout. That way you can make sure the stuff you want is in stock, you don't have to roll a cart full of lumber through checkout, and you can drive right to the door to load up.
No, simply no. If you let someone pick your boards for you, you are likely to get bad boards.
@@thomasbonse you still get to pick your wood. Ordering online is just a replacement for needing to go to the pro services desk to get a ticket that you would then need to take through the checkout inside. It allows you to choose the stuff you need online and prepay for it then go straight out to the back of the store and load up your stuff. All lumber is usually designated as "customer picks" when you place an order online.
When you add items to your online cart, you can see what they will pick, and what you pick yourself.
@@thomasbonse Not at the Menards where I buy lumber. They pull it and load it and consistently select higher quality than I would have.
I live in the MD suburbs of Washington DC and before we had Lowe's or Home Depot, we had Hechinger's. They've been gone a long time, but I remember my grandfather pitching a fit literally every time we went there for lumber to frame in some new walls for the basement and do some extra work in the garage. For every 2x4 we settled on as "good enough" there would be a small pile of twisted, crooked, sap-leaking, chipped, and/or under-length wood that had to be waded through.
Here in Watford, UK, we have a timber merchant and a couple of stores (large by our standards, small by US standards). For timber I use the timber merchant, BUT, if I were building a small aircraft I would definitely use one of the stores for wood to make the propellor - it comes pre-twisted which will save me a ton of time!
I just busted my gut laughing about the pre-twisted wood for propellers. I often thought about building some rocking chairs while rejecting all the bowed wood at a local big box store.
I pull a flatbed semi and have had a contract with Menards shipping to their stores for 8 years now. I love them and they treat me awesome. I think they have the most control over their products because they manufacture so much of it themselves. They own their own concrete and truss plants; block, countertop and plywood factories, they pressure treat their own treated lumber etc.
I was also a truck driver for 15 years and delivered loads to the all the major stores. I loved Menards as well, but Home depot and Lowes were on another level of OBNOXIOUS. Lowes treated us drivers so bad I will NEVER shop there again. Home Depot is only SLIGHTLY better.
@@bulruq Menards at least has proper room to unload flatbeds. I don't know about Lowes but Home depot usually has hardly any room at all so it takes forever. But I live near the Menards DC in Nebraska and signed a contract with them now and hual for Menards exclusively. They keep me busy everyday and home most nights.
@@bulruqk
@@ceasar3696 Our local Menards bought out half a city block years ago to expand their lumber Wearhouse into and made a big chunk of it a gated dedicated truck unloading and parking lot.
Menard makes their own nails too.
The worst sin that I've been inflicted with buying Pine boards from hardware stores is that the boards are so wet that once you bring them home even if they were straight at the store they will soon warp and twist on you. I've had to invest in a moisture meter so that I know what I'm going to get before I bring it home
Yeah, and often times the boards are actually WET and heavy right there in the store.
@@greggolden307 that's called CCA-PT. (joking)
They RUSH the lumber thru every stage, including the drying process to keep up with demand.
I remember M.P. Moller organ co when they were in business had one million board feet of lumber carefully drying in their warehouse sugar pine, spruce, oak, walnut, cherry and others, and the lumber was fine grained, straight, little to no knots, dense. I've salvaged such used boards over the years from various organ parts and reused the lumber.
Came here to say this. Im in Albuquerque and it is very dry and the sun is intense at 6k feet. If i buy lumber from lowes or home depot i bring a moisture meter. It's either that or you have to seal the cut ends and build a little drying hooch to control the boards
@@greggolden307 , the lumber is transported on flatbed trailers, open to the weather, and stored outside when it reaches Home Depot, so yeah, of course it's gonna be wet! They bundle it together so tightly that it can't warp until they bring it inside and break up the bundle, and theclumber warps and twists as it dries. I assume it's probably not quite so wet when it's processed by the sawmill (air-dried or kiln-dried at some stage of the process?), because wet lumber is more difficult to cut and plane, and the wet chips and dust would be more likely to gum things up (wet lumber would probably beat up the saw blades more quickly).
I went to the local Lowe's and Home Depot for some ST 6"x6"x8 and 10' timbers. Although both advertised online they would cut ALL lumber, Lowe's told me they did not cut anything bigger than a 2 by. The Home Depot not only cut the 6x6s, they did multiple cuts per item, without charging extra. My project was small, only a dozen or so pieces. It won't break Lowe's but THD has my business for lumber from now on. It makes a difference when you alone, are trying to load heavy timbers into a Honda CR-V.
I remember when back in 2007 working on building a built in fireplace surround I bought all the popular from Lowes which was great and I think the other two stores didn't have it. Lowes was also good for adding pre-cut details trim molding to fireplace if you are building it from scratch but don't want to make every cut. When building decks I would mostly get it from Menards. Even though they keep it outside it still is usually able to find a really nice pile of green treated deck wood.
What I took away from this video: Gosh, I wish that we had Menards here in the Intermountain west. But, like he said, a hardwood supplier will likely have a wider selection, higher quality, and better prices than any big box store. Even so, with today’s prices, I’d need a home equity loan just to buy wood. A 2x6 purchased a few years ago has appreciated something like 2.5 - 3 times. Talk about great returns!
As someone where Menard's is the closest of the three for me I do count myself lucky as I much prefer them over Lowe's or HD. Not just for lumber either but for almost everything home improvement related. Only notable exception is I buy battery power tools at HD as am deeply in their ONE+ ecosystem...
Pre COVID, a single pressure treated 2X4 would have run me about $3.50. If I was to go to Lowes right now, that same board would be around $8.
Just to build steps to my shed a month ago was almost $200 in lumber.
This has the potential to be a video series if you wanted to undertake that many trips, but it’d be massively useful to cover the gambit out there. Sandpaper, bits and accessories, woodworking tools and jigs, shop disposable (consumables?)
Gamut?
@@chrise-b9942 ecto gamut
sandpaper gets finer as you go up in size, and now that im thinking about typing all this out i understand why a video series would be helpful
@@williampike6813 Corbin Dallas multipass?
S: Pro Tip: Stay away from Masterforce tools at Menards, they tend to be cheap Chinese knockoffs that will not last. If youre going to buy tools spend the money on reputable name brands like Milwaukee, DeWalt or Makita. Bostitch still makes some good stuff and Rigid is quality as well, but Masterforce, Black & Decker and other "off" brands should be avoided even for homeowner level tooling.
This has probably been mentioned, but the having to mess with the mail-in rebate from Menard's is a deal killer for me. It is like Menard's is stuck in the 1980s. Just give us 11% off or handle rebates digitally.
Or they could just give you nothing like the other two.
No Kidding - Like I am going to spend 10 minutes online or 50 cent stamp to save 37 cents.
Its not really a rebate when you have to go back to Menards and spend it there
cheapest for washer and dryer locally. No hassle to get 50 bucks in credit from there just how lazy are we becoming if that is a hassle?
The big dirty secret is home Depot will honor the 11% when they are running the sale
God, the integrity of your videos is so refreshing. Truly inspiring in many ways. Thank you for your great work!
An excellent fair and balanced review of the three stores. Everyone knows that no stores are the best for all of your purchases. I have Fleet Farm stores in my area. I love them for hardware. They have a wide assortment of hardware and you buy it by the pound which is significantly less expensive than buying a package of four bolts.
We have by-the-pound here at Rural King and Tractor Supply with bolts and nuts in grades 3, 5, and 8.
Yea Fleet Farm is the best for stuff like structural screws which are sold by the each at the other stores but by the pound at Fleet Farm. It's worth a special trip.
Before the pandemic I was able to get decent quality plywood at HomeDepot, but recently it has been dismal. Most of the time I can't even find 3/4" smooth on one side of any type, only rough decking with lots of voids and many are warped. The 1/4" is so bad I would not use it to even board up a broken window.
I live in Canada and the material quality has significantly dropped since the pandemic. I had some old 2x4 in the shed and they compare to furniture grade when against what's available now!
Meanwhile, the price has gone thru the roof…..
Great info. I don't buy lumber enough to realize the differences. But I know now. I'll have to see if we have a Menard's around here. Home Depot drives me nuts with all the missing price signs. They seem to think weekend DIYers don't deserve to know what they're getting or what it costs, whereas contractors, handymen, etc., already know or don't care because the client is paying.
haha! I worked in a home depot lumber department! I made a list of all the price tags that were missing, and I was about to start the lengthy process of printing them. Unfortunately, my shift ended, and when I came back the next day, the list was gone!
Just stumbled upon this video. Thanks for sketching things out for us like this.
For small projects, it's good to find a Home Depot with really bad forklift drivers so you can get culled lumber 70 percent off. :)
Yes, Home Depot always the best for culls. Menard’s is terrible. They barely mark their’s down, making it not worthwhile
I think for what it's worth most home depots will offer 70% off on any of the bent or dodgy boards if you are getting enough and ask nicely or if all the boards in the bunk are bad ones. you just need to find the right employee.
It would be exciting to find a Home Depot with competent forklift drivers, or for that matter, any competent staff. Heck, most days you can't find any staff!
Good luck with that in Missoula Montana. My son was buying some 2x6's for a project. There was a new unit banded up and sitting above the ratty pile of splits, thins and no nailing edge. He told the guy in the dept. If he got the unit down that he would buy some. The guy threw a hissy fit and screamed "he wasn't opening a new unit until the other boards were gone!" My son then said "I guess Lowes wants to sell some lumber and left. We look at the boards before we buy them. I wonder how many people know that units of lumber are "allowed" a small amount of off grade or trashy wood in them, so the Home Depot trash was leftovers from several units.
@@patjackson1657 well they don't pay enough.
One of the downsides of buying construction lumber at Menard's is that sometimes after you go thru the process of ordering it at the desk, go thru checkout to pay, drive thru security, head on back to the barn, locate your particular product, you then find out all they have left is all the broken and warped rejects nobody else wanted.
Now what?
They all do that; ALWAYS pick out your wood BEFORE paying, NO EXCEPTIONS.
@@bulruq : You cant at Menards, you need your ticket to get the gate to raise up. You could walk out there to load them on a cart but then you would have to push the cart up by the order desk so nobody scams it on you. Then you would still have to transfer the lumber to your pickup. RR1 does bring up a good point but its only happened to me once or twice in hundreds of trips to Menards, and if it does happen you just hope you need 8 footers cuz then you find a blue vest and make them saw some 16 footers in half.
@@repetemyname842 what Menards are you at!? That sounds horrible. I go to my local Menards, pick out my wood, and pay at the front. Never had any issues.
At Menards: go to the lumber shed, pick out all of the pieces and stack them against the shelves or on a cart. Then go to the pro desk for a pick slip, while there help them update their inventory by informing the clerk that the “33 in stock” is actually 3, all warped. Then pay and drive through to collect. Any other order is an even bigger time waster.
Y'all are making this too hard. Just order online (even on your phone) and drive straight to the barn, never even have to go inside. If I'm worried about stock, I'll order a single board so I get clearance to go in, then pay for whatever I actually pick out from my phone from inside the yard. Or just tell the guy at the gate when you leave that you are only picking up part of your order.
I agree walking all the way to the back desk to get an order, then up to the checkouts to pay, then driving to the barn is ridiculous... so just don't do that lol
Several years ago at my local Home Depot, I went to the 2x4 bin. It was down to the bottom level and I pulled one out only to find it termite infested and riddled through 18 inches. I guess it can happen but I would have expected someone to catch it, Needless to say I usually buy wood at Lowes but I still really check it out.
Great video Stumpy, Thank you!!
Great video, and consistent with my experience. Locally, neither Lowes nor Home Depot have Maple boards, just Red Oak and Poplar. One other thing to keep in mind is that even within the same region and franchise, there are differences between individual stores. I have two Lowes stores within 10 miles. One is larger and has a wider selection of sheet goods than the other. I have a love/hate relationship with Menards, for many of the reasons you noted. I love the hardwood variety they stock, but hate the whole process of picking up construction lumber in their barn. Just figuring out HOW to do it like joining a Secret Society. Menard’s stores are so huge that I find it very difficult to find anything there, even though they have more of EVERYTHING than Home Depot or Lowes, usually at a better price. Fortunately, my Menard’s has many more employees than the other two, so at least you can usually get some help in finding items. That’s the reason you got busted with your camera there….they actually have employees who are paying attention. You could have brought in a 3-person film crew and done a 30 minute video at Home Depot or Lowes, and you probably wouldn’t have been noticed by an employee.
"there are differences between individual stores"
I have seen the same tools priced differently, and yet people don't believe me
Wow! David, you are spot on
My experience is the opposite of ours. I find it FAR easier to find stuff at Menard's, which is a shame as I'd rather shop the other two. Pro tip: don't do a search on 'John Menard' if you want to shop his stores with a clear conscience. Also, don't search any illegal dumping they may or may not have done.
I agree, I think regional differences are going to be common. In the large metro area where I live, the lumberyards are not nearly as convenient and the process is exactly what he was complaining about lowes/menards: you have to go to the office counter, purchase your wood, then head out to the yard and wait in line for a helper. When it's cold, rainy or snowy then the yards are muddy, wet and cold. Wait until they fill your order, then they bring out a cart with your order on it and you load it in your vehicle. Meanwhile, either the multiple Lowes or Home Depot locations all have their lumber indoors, and you can fill it yourself and park your truck just outside the big doors and you load it or they'll help. Far nicer. (We don't have Menards in our part of the country).
The lumberyard wood selection is much, much better however, both in variety and quality. The lumberyard closest to my house unfortunately only sells bulk to contractors; so I do have to drive a bit to get to any of the other lumberyards.
Between Lowes and HD, usually Lowes is a tad cheaper and better quality. They also treat their employees better than HD, so I prefer to shop there if I'm going to get lumber from a big box store.
Menards....I need bread...and a plunger
This is interesting. When I purchased my home 25 years ago, my Lowes offered much better wood than Home Depot. Constantly compared the two and virtually always went with Lowes. Getting ready to start new projects, now I'll know what to watch for.
Up here in NY, Lowe's consistently has much lower quality wood than Home Depot (when Lowe's workers actually stock it). A pretty consistent 10-15% of their construction lumber has major cracks/splits in it, and almost half of them are curved or twisted. Home Depot's construction lumber is both more consistently good quality _and_ cheaper than Lowe's. Unfortunately it's a fair bit further to drive from my house and anywhere I usually do construction work.
Amazing, you did a great job in comparison. I shop all 3 also with menards being my fav for lumber, HD for tools & electronics & Lowes for plumbing & electrical.
If you reside in CA, Homeless camps seem to have a large selection of lumber and always willing to make a deal
Ha....I heard they also have good deals on pork and beef....don't worry about that green color. That's the pea soup marinade.
I worked at Lowes for almost 10 years. Three saying was, "Contractors go to Home Depot and their wives go to Lowes." So if you're looking for a job, apply at Lowes.
I think its because the owner of home depot's x-wife started lowes
I worked for Lowes for 24 years and in the early 90’s and pre Niblock Lowes had better everything including real Pros in departments , when Niblock took over inventory went out the window but that’s what happens when a bean counter takes charge ..
I worked at HD with a Union Electrician in electrical, a union plumber in plumbing, independent contractors in doors & windows. I am a long time DI yer & I worked in lumber. We had regular self improvement training to do. We were trained to satisfy the customer FIRST. Our other tasks could wait. That is great management and I believe my customers appreciated speaking with a knowledgeable and caring salesperson. I haven't worked for Lowes and I've only been their a couple of times for their "Kobalt" tools which are good Quality and reasonably priced. The kids they hire there probably have extensive experience playing X box games, but would have a hard time finding the working end of a hammer! Every time I go in there. I have to tell the salesperson that I do not wish any help and they are free to help the next customer. I don't wish to hurt their feelings, but if I don't do this, I end up spending 15 min. of my time, educating them on their products.
@@hotwire62 Now at Lowes Marvin Ellis is trying to make a clone of Home Depot to play catch up.
@@davidmcfarland8967 is it that or is he taking Lowes on the JC Penny’s route ..
Lowes of yesterday will never be Lowes of tomorrow
Glad it’s a professional observation that’s explaining quality. Because I was going nuts a few months ago trying to find just 2 2x4s in a lowes. I tossed nearly 20 out the way just to find 2 straight 8fts
At Menards you will not find a single piece that does'nt have bark, loose knots, warps and splits. So if you want the beachcomber look its great.
That is OK, Lowes people replace ALL the warped ones you threw back into the pile, so you get to go through the whole mess again the next day. I have a Lowe's less than one mile from my house...but have walked out of it and gone to Home Depot instead....on more than a few times.
Good video; it's very helpful, thanks.
I ran a lumber department at Lowe's for a few years and I can agree with every single point of information in this video. Absolutely accurate even though the store in which I worked was in a different part of the country.
The only thing I would add is that Lowe's will accept returns on bad lumber. In fact, you can return anything at Lowe's for any reason. So, the contractors who bought lumber at Lowe's would save their bad pieces and bring them all back when they filled up a van or small truck. That made buying lumber at Lowe's okay even if the quality of about 20% of the lumber was unusable.
And they would put it back on the shelves and continue to charge an outrageous price for crap lumber.
@@laff000 Yes. But if you take the time to choose wisely then you can get the better quality pieces. Also, I think that many contractors brought their lumber back on Fridays when they usually completed their jobs, so lumber available on the weekends was lower quality then lumber available during the mid week.
I had guys in the store who would spend an hour or two picking out 25 good pieces of lumber.
@@laff000 It goes back on the shelf and goes back again until it doesn't come back.. Some dummy will keep it eventually.
My issue with the pre-packaged boards (besides the waste) is that they have a good chance of bowing/warping immediately when you open them up. So it's basically a crapshoot on whether or not your board will be straight enough for your project once you unwrap it. Here in the Phoenix area, Lowe's usually is more expensive and has worse quality and selection on all wood stock
The plastic wrap does a few things, it slows any changes in moisture of the already dried boards and it makes the employees handle the boards much more carefully since it is very easy to tear and highlights any potential damage and finally, it keeps everyone's grubby oily hands off the boards.
I don't know how airtight the wrapping is. It's certainly more of a barrier than nothing at all, but the few hardwood boards I've gotten from Menards have had numerous pinhole leaks in the heat seal seams and I seem to recall one of them actually having circular vent holes punched in the plastic itself.
The plastic wrap protects the board and holds the label without glue and the boards don't need to be marked. This probably helps with inventory control because any employee can identify the size and type of wood without any training.
Great video! Many thanks. We live in Elkhart, IN & have several rentals. Love your vids
Great comparison video, I like your Redwing mug.
I recently bought some 1x4 at Lowes that were "Made in Finland". Well surfaced, small knots, and smooth faces and sharp corners. Not to mention not cupped and pretty darn straight. Almost the same price as our junk. Excellent stuff I didn't know existed.
Likely wood imported by Ikea Finland from Russia that wasn't good enough for cabinetry. Instead of returning just re-sale. Hense still cheaper then local donats.
1x4 what, was it maple? That maple grows on the steppes of Russia and about 50 feet before there are any branches on it, it's amazing.
@@mytuberforyou You will not be getting any more Russian wood, the stuff is embargoed.
@@jvaneck8991 given the fact the dry-in is several years, you can still get it from mills in Scandinavia and this whole Russia thing may blow ovwer in a year.
I too got the same boards and they were really nice.
I was getting some garden variety 2 x 4's in a Home Depot and they were so damp it reminded me of a phrase a carpenter I once knew often used: "There are still squirrels jumping out of it."
I've been into carpentry for a very long time and have never seen lumber this green on the shelves.
@@Austin-sv6io A couple of those stud length pieces I got from that batch, once they achieved nominal moisture contact, twist warped about 30 degrees end to end. That's a pretty good indicator that the wood was "green".
And then, at HD we bring them inside and place them under the industrial sized forced air furnace and watch them twist until they look like curly fries!😆
@@Austin-sv6io I have. Damp and covered in sap.
Nail it up quickly with ring shanks
I agree entirely with this video. These observations echo my experiences in both Northern Michigan and NE Ohio. Menards is usually my first stop and then I follow up with Home Depot. Another big complaint I have with the sheet goods at Menards, though, is that the corners are prone to damage in the cubbies they're stored in. Customers that put sheet stock back in too aggressively while not centering the sheet will hit the corner of the shelving. I've passed on a number of perfect sheets with a ruined corner or corners.
I recently replaced my 25 year old cedar fence and I couldn’t believe how much thinner the new boards are, they might be 1/2 and my old ones are 3/4”
you can still buy 5/4 thick fence boards but not common and pricey. 5/4= 1"
at Lowe's in Houston, I had hard time getting pressure treated fence pickets, I had to buy cedar pickets for 4.00 each
I don't know about Depot, but Lowes gets their shitty fence boards from a mill called Alta, and their boards are 7/16th inch thick.
I moved from Nebraska to Virginia in 2019. I miss my Menards. One thing Menards carried that none of the others did was 2x cedar. It was out in the board shed, so you had to get a ticket at the counter inside, and then drive around to the shed to load it. But the cedar in construction lumber sizes was useful as a substitute for treated lumber in some outdoor applications.
Thank you so much for putting the time into this. I have been buying from these guys for over 20 years and never did much research on the qualities and differences between them! Good job!
Wow, that was really helpful! Thanks!
Where I grew up, we had Menards, and they recently put a few in where I live now. I've shopped there, but being that I still pass several orange and blue stores to get to them, haven't thought to try them for wood. I'll have to remember to try them next time I need more selection than Home Depot or Lowe's have but not requiring the selection or grade of hardwood dealers in my area (which are even further away.)
Thanks for the comparisons!
I have been wondering about exactly this comparison question. I didn't really want to spend a weekend researching. But you did it for me! Thank you. This was immensely helpful.
Where I live in the Midwest, the 2x4 framing studs at both Lowes and Home Depot look more like abstract art projects than lumber. Menards had a lot of twisted and bowed pieces too, but I was able to find enough relatively straight pieces for my project. The Menards here is the same, you get a lot of exercise walking if you want to buy deck planks or stuff like that from the barn out back.
I'm a framer and we get hacks of 2xs and there was a period about 15 years ago that there would be 2x4s with bark on all four sides. They out there cutting saplings haha.
Yep....I never seen so many curves and knots.
The wood at Menards may be ugly, but I guarantee you it will be straighter, less twisted and more usable. Home Depot brings cold wet wood inside and places it under a large forced air furnace that blows on it 24 hrs. Per day. It doesn't take long before their 2' x 4' x 8' look like curly fries!😁
Menards leaves their crap outside, does me no good when boards nice n straight come home and the humidity is way off and then there warped. Menards boards are junk now, home Depot been doing better as of lately
When it comes to buying large quantities of wood, Menards has the right idea with their volume pricing and making it easy to pick up lumber. I drive my truck to the back and get loaded up in one go, unlike home Depot or Lowe's where we have to double handle the lumber. Lowe's in my area are ghost towns and most of them closed down. I cannot blame Lowe's tho, since Menards is three time the size of the largest Lowe's and home Depot.
VERY Helpful , matches my experience !
I recently built an integrated drawer, with a deck on top and cubbies in the wheel wells of my truck using the sanded 3/4 sanded 7 ply plywood from HD you mentioned at 7:20 and it was a pleasure to work with and yielded great results. Ive gotten multiple compliments on the appearance of the veneer and its very stiff, sturdy and straight
I just picked up some 2x4s at Menards a few days ago. They kept a big stack inside the store, so no need to go through the hassle of going into the barn behind the store.
They keep 2 x 4's inside the store because that is what most people buy for small projects.
The great thing I love about Menards is that when my wife says to pick up bread and milk on the way home, I still get to look at tools! And when I come home with a new trimmer and she says I was only supposed to make one stop, well…I did! 😁
Of course, it also works in the morning. On my way to work…picking up nails screws and such…I can grab chips and soda, nuts and all sorts of stuff to snack on or have for lunch while working…
For a single guy… being able to get laundry detergent and frozen pizzas with your tools makes Menards the only store you need.
Finally, discounted bacon and pasta sauce and their 11% off rebates means my wife actually shops at Menards more than Walmart. She piles up those rebate checks buying all her household stuff and I get to spend them buying a beer fridge for my workshop!
I once picked up lumber and snack packs at the same time. No store does it better than that!
Ha! I hear you! I just hide the new tools and tell her that inflation caused that milk and bread to cost $150.
Great Video! Thanks for doing the research. Keep up the good work
I really like that Favoritism of a store didn't seem to be in play here, Very objective info. Nicely done.
Great video. I LOVE Menard's here in Ohio. I always thought the prices and selection between the 'big box' stores were fairly similar... I never noticed HOW much price difference there was at Menards! I also love their 'pre made' pine table tops. Great for a cheap project.
Agree with all your observations on the 3 in regards to price and quality. Menard's 11% rebate is pretty nice after a big project too.
Home Depot (my location at least) will match the 11% rebate as well
I have sent in several of those rebate forms with receipts over the past couple years and never received anything from them. When I asked about it at the Menards store, I was told "We can't help you with that."
@@LucidDreamer54321 That's too bad! I've probably sent in well over a 100 receipts over the years during their 11% sales and have never had an issue.
My disappointment with Menards is that unlike Home Depot and Lowes, Menards doesn’t give a military discount and their rebate is only usable for future purchases at Menards.
Just made a large purchase at Menard's a week ago and got the 11%, even on the steel roofing and 1x4s that were on sale.
good, well thought out, informative video, thx.
So relevant & useful. Thanks!
I really enjoyed this review / store comparison! It really made me "pine" for the pre-COVID prices. Laughed at your, "garage shelving or firewood" comment. We don't have Menards in our area, but your observations of HD and Lowes fit my experience to a T. I know it's not so much the stores as other issues but the prices here in Virginia Beach, VA are just insane. 7/16"x4'x8' $49 and change, 8' studs were $8. I bought some 3/8" plywood and 2"x2"s last week to build some storage shelves and spent about $30 something per sheet for the plywood and $4 something per 8' stick of 2"x2" and felt lucky, hahaha. I think I'll start looking for buildings that are being tore down and ask if I can help for lumber, hahaha.
Thanks for sharing with us James, it really makes a difference to shop around and know what you're looking for. Fred.
Thank you sir. I have all 3 of those stores in my area and I think you just saved me some time and money on my next project.
Good info. Up here in Canada, We have Home Depot and Lowe's (though not as prevalent). We did have Rona that unfortunately went bye-bye a few years back. Cheers!
one big thing for me is that lowes stores their pine boards standing on end, menards laying flat. makes it much easier to find good boards at menards. menards select is usually new zealand white pine , surfaced 4 sides and excellant quality
Menard's is my favorite store for woodworking, and I live in Georgia, where we don't even have them. I miss the Midwest. I've gotten to the point that going to Lowes or Home Depot just turns my stomach. I miss Menard's.
Home Depot’s “select pine” is New Zealand radiata pine. I find it to generally be good quality.
Ganahl Lumber.
Stop lying worked at lowes for 3 years as a lumber and sales associate they didnt stack shit vertically everything was flat stack and anything warped was thrown in the cull pile
@billjones is a liar
3/4" 4x8 sheets WERE 49.99 no matter the species. Since pandemic they all range from 69-79! These prices are crazy
Ya there like over 100 $ where I'm at,
They were $120+ in my area. Now down to $70ish.
The Stimson doug fir 2x from HD is still going strong in my garage bench after 15 years, it's NOTABLY denser, heavier, and harder than the soft spongy "wood" you get from the other places and the Menard's stuff you're just lucky to have full dimensions and not half bark.
This took a lot of time. Thanks very much!!
I have a collection of small saw mills in my area that provides a variety of hardwoods and some softwoods with some hardwood as low as $1/per BF. It is air dried and not surfaced anywhere. I do have to resort to BigBox and local lumberyards from time to time. As always, a huge thank you to Stumpy for your work on these videos.
I recently needed a piece of 8' 2x6 red oak for a boat transom. Home Depot wanted $99 for it. I special ordered it through our local lumber yard for 40 bucks.
You must have a decent local lumber yard. Closest Lowe's or Home Depot was an hour drive for me, and local lumber yard only 5 minutes. I would not go there unless I absolutely had to. One time I needed 4 2x4's for window frames for a chicken coop. Out of a whole bundle I couldn't find 4! I found 2 and I wasn't even picky because it was for chicken coop. All I wanted was somewhat straight (not perfectly) and without big gouges. I didn't care about knots. All complete junk so I would not trust my local lumber yard with any order because their lumber is only good for fire wood.
Worthwhile video. Thank you.
Keep on keeping on.
Great video as usual.
This is very helpful and something I wasn’t aware of. I would love to see a comparison of lumber yards and big box stores. Thank you for your time.
This was very helpful. Thank you! I haven't really explored Home Depot much because I just got into the hobby a couple years ago, and our nearest HD is an hour drive. 🙄 Our local Lowes has very little selection of wood that you might use for projects, most of their inventory is devoted to construction. But they do have some decent boards, and the prices compare similarly to your area. The menards is the next town over, where there is another Lowes with better selection, but I hardly shop there because I would rather go to Menards. Even in the few things that Lowes does marginally better, I would still rather buy at Menards because they just have friendlier and more knowledgeable service.
Yeah, I'm stuck with a Lowe's about a half hour away or a local wood shop (same area) that tried to charge me $40 for a (in my novice opinion) firewood grade bullshit board. I can't go to the HD or Menard's because they're like an 1½ away and I have some PTSD about big city driving after being in a rollover as a kid. 25 years later and I still get anxiety about more than 3 lane roads outside of my hometown
Love, love, love this video. Unfortunately in Canada we don’t have Menards. We do have Lowe’s and Home Depot, which for some odd reason doesn’t carry the same quality products that the US stores have. I’m glad that you pointed out that some stores have better lumber then others. I will definitely go to a specific lumber supply store, rather then these hardware chains. I would rather pay a bit extra and get better quality.
I just saw this video as well as you for the first time... I appreciate you taking the time to put out this info it made me realize that you are quite correct... I do not have a Menards unfortunately but the other 2 you are spot on with your comparisons... So thank you and I will now subscribe to your channel...
Our Menard's has indoor construction lumber selection as well as some drivethrough options too. I agree Menard's is great for hardwood plywood/sheet goods. I've also bought some "random hard maple" boards from Menards too.
You've answered a question I've had for awhile now. Yes, I totally agree with you about Menard's hard wood boards. I also am pleased with their select pine boards.
Thank you for these comparisons. I live in Japan so my stores are different, but we suffer similar supply-chain shortages. The "Wood Shock" as they call it has dried up supplies of quality plywood leaving most home centers with huge piles of construction grade lauan plywood, aka Philippine mahogany instead. It's cheap but terrible stuff with lots of splinters, voids and knots, not to mention warps and other anomalies. There's not a single piece of Baltic birch plywood anywhere in Japan. Stocks of good quality 2x4s, which used to come from Canada or the US, have also run out leaving nothing but knotty pine and sapwood to choose from. One store, a place called Joyful Honda, sells very good quality ash 2x2s and 2x3s (in millimeter sizes) finely cut, shrink-wrapped and warp-free that's excellent for table legs and workbenches and such, but it's very expensive. A workbench made from the stuff will easily cost you $300 just in wood. Now that winter is over supplies of Japanese cedar and cypress have begun to come back but large furniture grade boards are rare. To their credit, Japanese wood suppliers have figured out many new ways to sell processed woods and are now selling lauan plywood sheets with a large variety of finished coverings from printed melamine to knot-free veneers, but their prices are also steep, roughly two or three times what you'd pay in the US. They also sell large quantities of "core board" which are veneered boards with lower quality lauan ply or cypress interiors, and what look like butcher block boards but they're assembled out of strips of knot-free pine or other softwood, not maple. These also come finely cut, finished, planed and shrink-wrapped to keep moisture out but I often wonder how long they'll stay flat once the shrink-wrap has been removed. MDF is popular but I seldom see thicknesses greater than 18mm. I long for the return of sanely priced hardwoods as I'm afraid all my projects will look like jungle furniture for the foreseeable future.
As a self employed wood worker for decades, I have cut my costs drastically on wood by reclaiming wood that others toss. Much of it can be sanded out, resized and made beautiful again.
Right....but, where do you get it from?
@@phillamoore157 local Curtis Lumber to me have 55 gallon buckets full of offcuts. You can buy a full can for $20(minus bucket) when I last did it before the pandemic. Most of them were 3-4ft white cedar. Great pieces of lumber. Otherwise the local home depot has a free wood stack of shorter lengths at the back. You just ask them if they got anything free that is available to take. Often times they have broken pieces of plywood and such they may give away or at an reduced price.
@@MrMega200 Outstanding…..I never knew that, Nick. Thank you, brother.
Thank you for this video! I appreciate you taking the time to do the research!
Great stuff, James. Here in South Florida, I have a love/ hate relationship with the 'orange' & 'blue' stores, but use them for many items. I also buy much higher quality sheet goods (interior AND exterior construction grades) at a few local lumber yards and a cabinet supply store. Granted, these options might not exist for many consumers, but cannot be overlooked to get some quality materials.
I buy virtually ZERO plywood from the box stores because de-lamination is almost a given. The number of plies and degree of voids in their products make then a joke compared to the comparable products at the lumber yards. I once did a shed re-reroof using CDX EXTERIOR grade plywood for the roof deck and it got rained on for about one hour. The very next morning the entire section of that plywood had literally come apart and had to be replaced, at considerable expense. The exterior glue in the plywood should have held up for a single soaking.
Unless you are building an entire Kitchen full of cabinets, with premium plywood, the price difference is worth it, IMHO.
A final note: the supplies of ALL building products comes from MANY sources (mills), so it pays to check around to see who has the better product AT THAT TIME. I recently scored a stack of ten foot white wood 2x4's at a material supply house in town and the stuff was AWESOME. It had very tight grain and virtually NO knots. I also paid LESS than the 'premium' 2x4's at the box stores.
Andrew Bieger, It makes me feel good to know that there are people here that really know their stuff and you do, I use to buy all of my lumber from our local lumber yards, the difference in quality was very noticeable if you knew what to look for, I will say that most people that shop at box home stores doesn't. many find out when their outdoor lumber project gets wet, once I decided to buy a full pallet load of CDX plywood for a garage, it was delivered we nailed plywood using galvanize box 7 to the entire lower section of the garage walls, it was getting dark so we stopped for the night, next day I went outside and I was shocked to see there was a light shower during the night and some of my boards was toast and had to be replaced with a whole lot of effort, I knew there was a quality difference in what I normally used but I did not expect this.
Where I live, there are a Home Depot, Lowe's and Menard's all fairly close. The Menard's is the nearest and opened only 1 1/2 years ago. Because it's closer, I usually go there first and if they have what I looking for and it's reasonably priced, usually don't bother with the others. All seem about the same as far as wood is concerned. 6 months ago, my 36 year-old GE refrigerator finally gave out, but when I went into Menard's, was dismally disappointed at the lack of choice along with utterly ridiculous delivery times. After hitting HD, I wound up buying the replacement at Lowe's and later upon checking my records, found that ALL the appliances I've purchased across the last 23 years have been from them. The sales girl had promised me 24 hour delivery and I was pleasantly surprised when their delivery van rolled down my driveway just 22 hours later. The competition really levels the playing field. Don't be afraid to shop around.
I also live in the upper midwest and have these three store options - couldn't agree more on all the selections and comments made in the video!
You nailed it with this one! I moved from the Midwest to Southern California for work and the first time I needed a board for a project immediately found how much better it was to have Menards in the mix for big box lumber, if for nothing else than actually knowing how to store 1x boards. At the other two stores near me in California all the 1x lumber was stored vertically and was warped and twisted nearly beyond use, even for the premium. There was an actual lumber dealer with good reviews on their retail offerings, but it was the other side of the LA area from me and would have been a very frustrating 8 hour round trip... The best boards I ever got in southern California were the ones that came as internal crate stiffeners from Oregon that we often got at work.
Menards premium wood is good and reasonably priced as long as it is inside the store.. In my area all the nominal construction wood (2x___ and 1x___) is Chinese crapy wood with dimension slightly different than the standatd. Their treated wood is particularly bad and cracks and bends in short order. I built a cabinet to sit next to the grill using primarily 2x2s and 1x4s and within a week, not even being outside but in the garage, it deformed so much that I could not open the door. I guess you get what you pay for.
My experience is similar to yours. My Lowes is pretty close to my home, and the Menards is only 5-10 minutes further. My Home depot is 40-minutes away, and their customer service there is horrible. All I have to add regards MDF/Malamine. Menards has 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" MDF in stock. Most of the time, the smallest boards are 4'x4'. Since I don't have a truck, I prefer 2'X4', but beggars can't be choosers. They will cut it for a fee. They have a bunch of good choices for Melamine. I think those are only 4'X8'. Anyway, for sheet goods, Menards is my go to.
Thank you. Please continue with other reviews.