My proudest moment was when I walked into my local lumber yard and announced "I'm new at this and don't know what I'm doing. Do you have an employee that can help me figure it out?" The guy laughed and spent the next 20 minutes walking me through the store explaining most of what you just said and helped me pick out the best boards for my project. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Better to announce your short comings and willingness to learn than to pretend you know what your talking about and make mistakes.
Lumber yards are great. A lot of family-owned businesses with employees who know their stuff and are helpful and hardworking. Most of the Big Box stores seem to employ dingbats who don't know a Philips driver from a doorknob and are just there phoning it in for a paycheck.
Sadly, I've been known to help folks at Home Depot (I'm loyal to the orange) with their projects. I've answered questions about techniques, and shown them where items are located. Yes, I kind of got bored some times over the last two years. Lots of time on my hands......don't hate me.
I wish you and your channel were available to give this advice when I was starting out but we didn’t have RU-vid in those days. (The Romans were still here in England!) If you have a timber mill within reach, popping in there and striking up a relationship with them can pay dividends long term. Thanks Steve. As usual a great video!
Great tips. I avoid "big box" stores on weekends if at all possible. Also, they often have a morning rush when the contractors are there. Project panels are a great alternative for 4x8 sheets. When you do the video for a "real" lumberyard, discuss the difference between board foot and linear foot prices. Definitely confusing for some.
I remember getting wood in a Chevy Spark and hearing people ask how are you going to get that in there? That's why we have a saw. I did need to get a 1x4 intact if possible to class and we could manage to get 2 in by me sitting opposite the driver in the back.
Great video Steve. As a manager at Home Depot you make great points, I really like when you said be considerate and put the boards back when your done. Nothing drives me and my staff crazier then someone tearing apart a bay of wood and leaving a huge and dangerous mess. I am jealous that your store carries woods like cherry. Mine only carries oak and maple. Also really liked the way youe explained the carts and the uses. Nothing is worse then trying to put a board on a regular shopping cart. As for the saw, sorry to hear you can't find someone to run it ever. We to have issues with them breaking, but a lot has to due to rough handling. All in all a great video!!
last time i got a 4x4 panel i wanted to get it cut to fit in my car (needed 3 16" wide pieces) originally planned to get 3 melamine boards or something (so didn't bring the roof rack or cordless saw) but they didn't have enough of the right size. and the panel saw was down. that was when i realized the maximum opening of my car's doors is about 47.25" so roof was the only option... thanks to their out of service equipment that store made another $4 off of me for a pair of ratchet straps!
It's worth mentioning that even Orange and Blue will usually give you at least one free cut on a large sheet of plywood, and even if they charge you for more than 1 it's cheaper to buy a 4x8 sheet and cut it into four 2x4ft panels than to buy four of that same size in the pre-cut panel section. Their big panel saws will always cut straighter than you can get with a circular saw in the parking lot, too. I'll also recommend getting some Carhartt silicone work gloves -- they're great protection, a lot more comfortable than leather, and the silicone is grippy enough to make a big difference when trying to manipulate those big sheets of plywood.
I usually have them cut my plywood into 3, 3, and 2 foot pieces. Gives me the biggest pieces that fit in my car trunk, and they've never charged me for those 2 cuts.
The ones I have come across at the box stores near me are broken 1/2 the time, or the blades are garbage and splinter much more than a portable saw with a good blade. So, what I do is allow for the extra 'waste' when figuring how much to buy.
I find when I show up with a detailed cut list and know exactly what I want, they generally seem to enjoy the challenge and the chat when it's not a super busy day - and I have yet to be charged for cuts :D
Omg the Carhartt gloved are a life saver. Have you tried the level 1 cut resistant insulated gloves? The rubber coating is very porous which grips so much better than the smooth texture on the non insulated gloves. The best feature is the insulation. For me the extra padding makes holding edges more comfortable and absorbs sweat so my hands don’t slip around inside. I feel like I have vice grips for hands when I wear them.
I love this concept, as I've personally had to get over the difficulty of learning this without guidance. I'd like to see more on this subject, of sourcing and buying materials like plastics, metals, more "exotic" materials like those aluminum X channel bars. I know I shouldn't prejudge the help at some stores, but I have a lot of baggage asking for help from the comic/game shop as a kid (and I know that was probably weighted to me having only $5 allowance to spend in the early 90's) and half the time if I couldn't figure it out on my own, I just left the store and gave up on my project.
I just want to point out that while home depot is convenient, I always try to go to a lumber yard whenever possible. I bought home depot pine for a long time before I decided to check out my local lumber place. They had furniture grade pine for around 1/2 the price of what home depot charged for much better quality and much wider boards. When it comes to hardwood it's even more of a difference.
I found this to be true some years ago, I bought small screen molding from my lumber yard at $0.25 per foot. I needed more, and had to go to home depot, and their price was $0.65 per foot. I was quite shocked to see the difference.
At least in my area, it is difficult to find a lumberyard that will allow me to pick through the lumber to select the boards I want. At H.D. and Lowes I can pick the boards I want.
@@jackfrost8439 Yeah, that's the issues a lot of places. I know I am very lucky where I live (north georgia). I have a really good lumber yard around 90 minutes away or a very mediocre one 15 minutes away if I don'tfeel like driving, but both let me pick through as much as I want.
It's truly amazing how similar the experience is everywhere there is a big box store. In Australia Bunnings is the name of our home depot but with the exception of the orange replaced by bunnings green (and metric) everything was identical.. right down to the disused panel saw.
Bunnings don’t have the variety of species in their wood board aisle. Pine, Tasmanian oak and Meranti are the choices for wood workers. Other than that there are decking boards in the builders section as well as an off cut bin for cheap bits and pieces. There’s no walnut, cherry or maple so have to make do with what you can get.
The price of the timber in Australia seems on par, but having visited a home depot store in my travels, their power tools are so much cheaper than our in Australia.
Another tip for the big stores is to find their “cull wood” pile. It’s a dog’s breakfast of offcuts, warped and knotty boards, and stuff they just need to get rid of to make room for newer stock. Lots of it is garbage destined for the dump, but you can often find really good useable pieces at vastly reduced prices. I usually make it my first stop when shopping the big stores for wood.
From personal experience, one of the most valuable pieces of advice in this vid is to make sure every piece of lumber you take to check out has a barcode on it! 😉
I usually take a picture of the price tag too, just in case. I’ve only ever had one cashier refuse to believe that I was showing her the proper tag-everyone else has so happy not to have to search for the UPC that they gladly scan my phone.
The home center close to my place has a different system. The personel gives you a piece of paper with the code of the lumber you want. You pay for it, then use the receipt to check out. You don't have to carry everything arround
Having just started dabbling in woodworking 4-5 years ago, I still remember how intimidating my first trip to a home center was. Wish I would have had your help back then!
If at all possible, avoid the big box stores on the weekends. I find shopping in the evenings much easier if you hope to be able to dig through the boards to find ones that aren't hockey sticks.
This is a good tip. Home Depot is basically dead after 5PM on a week day. All the contractors are done, and you can take your time without feeling rushed.
Equally, I try to avoid going during the week day. It's filled with tradesmen who are already pissed off because they're half way through a job and don't have time to go to a lumber yard :D
Cordless circular saw is a must have tool imo. I have always struggled to borrow a truck or a trailer to get sheets home. With that circular saw, I can break down the sheet to rough dimension and use my mini van with 4 car seats permanently installed to get the plywood home
“You’re on your own at big box stores. Nobody is there to help you.” Hey, hats off to the folks trying to do their best working at the big box stores. They’re undertrained and probably underpaid - they want to help you, even if they haven’t been given the tools to do so by management.
Yes, and on top of this both orange and blue notoriously understaff their stores. So even if there is a unicorn employee who knows what's what AND the panel saw is working that day, they're probably trying to help 4 customers at once while also trying to hit all the metrics spewed from the corporate overlords.
Yeah that was a pretty unfair blanket statement. That isn't the case at my local box stores. The HD nearest to my house is excellent. I say that from the perspective of a local contractor that visits the place nearly every day, and some days more than one visit over decades of patronage.
If you are starting out or just doing small projects, ask if the store has a selection of off-cuts and remainder pieces. They may have a cart like the one @8:08 and they will practically give away those pieces for a low price. Sometimes they have very nice hardwood in a size no one will want, and you can just grab it and save it for an inlay, or a little thing like building a handle, and you win on the price.
I work in the lumber department at my local Home Depot. I wish our customers were considerate enough to put away all the lumber they make a mess of. When it comes to hardwoods, we only have red oak, maple, and poplar. I wish we had more options… Great video as always!
I worked in the lumber dept at an HD many years ago. So I understand the frustration of lumber strewn everywhere. But I have also been working on jobs/projects and had to find the two good pieces of wood in the stack of barely-fit-for-construction garbage.
@@jnielsen1956 9 times out of 10 it just goes back on the pile. Which is why so much crap can accumulate after it has been picked clean a few dozen times. We would pull the worst stuff(sometimes rotting and full of voids) and throw it out back behind the store for disposal. For anything valuable we had a culls/cutoffs bin that people could buy from. Usually its not worth the labor to piecemeal out the cheap dimensional lumber. I don't know enough about the supply chains or the quality control at the mills to say how it is for any given region. I assume there is some variation.
Excellent advice. A few other things I learned the hard way. For heavy sheet good on lower shelves, pull it out, stand it up on the 4’ end, line it up with that center section, and tip it onto the cart. For any board, check for edge knots, gouges, chips, and checking/splitting on the end. I sometimes bounce it on the concrete floor and listen for anything other than a solid sound.
I’ve found that taking a picture of the barcode on the shelf is helpful when not all the boards have a barcode. Then just show the picture to the cashier
Great info. At my HD they always seem to put the bar code on the underside of the plywood sheets making difficult at checkout or very difficult if I turn if over on the utility cart. Oh, those stick on bar code!!!! I can never seem to get all the residue off.
When I built my 24'x18' deck I hand-picked and examined EVERY board I used! Rented a U-Haul and spent a full day going in and out of Home Depot buying 2x4's, 2x6's, 6x6's, 5/4x6's, 2x10's. I was wearing an orange t-shirt by chance and people kept asking me for help - that turned a 8-hr job into a 12-hr job. We saw 3 different shifts of store staff come and go! LOL
My local HD is great! The staff are friendly and helpful, the inventory is almost always adequate, returns (when needed) are courteous and efficient. My nearest source for more interesting hardwoods is 90 miles away, and the local ACE often has better and lower-priced softwoods and sheet goods, and they'll deliver! I can check availability and prices for both HD and ACE on-line. Most of the time HD is my go-to, and I like it.
As a beginner wood worker my biggest challenge is always transporting the wood from the big box store back to my condo. The store nearest me is actually only a couple minutes away but my car isn't designed for transporting all that lumber.
Great video Steve. I would also mention don’t be tempted to order online and have the lumber delivered. They will just grab whatever is on top and it’s a crap shoot if it’s good or not.
Always love your stuff man!! **ONE HUGE PRO TIP** (if I may sir..) Bring a pair of basic working gloves (Utility makes a great choice, I actually get them at my Home Depot as three pairs for roughly 10 bucks)... when you're going back and forth from moving wood... all the 2x4 / 4x4 lumber and 4x8 sheets... checking which pieces are splintered or have knots or have dings... a simple pair of gloves will save your hands a ton of headache!! I keep a very basic pair in the glove compartment for just that
Now Now Steve.....be careful curbing your shopping carts in the parking lot....they should go back to the cart corral otherwise the Cart Narcs might get ya....LOL
@SteveRamsey Love your youtube channel to give pple a chance at learning and seeing completion.. Here is a fellow who uses recycled materials and you as a craftsman would understand how your colleague in the woodcraft world makes it look so easy.. never says a word as its all shown or implied. ! Yet awesome.. Epic UpCycling. RU-vid channel.. This episode.. last 2 posted 3months ago titled :- Machinist Tilting Drop-Down Drawer Tool Chest Made From Scrap.
Freaking hilarious. I've been doing basic woodworking projects for years for home and have watched your videos that whole time. I always ask my neighbor Andy who's a professional woodworker about your videos and he was always like yeah he's a good guy. And then I'm watching this video and halfway through I see the BMW lot across from home Depot and I'm like Hey! How many home depots have a BMW storage lot across the street. Dude must be in Marin. That being said home Depot is ok for low end projects but Gooidmans, Fairfax lumber and Rafael lumber have better furniture woods for competitive price. And of course MacBeath is the king of Baltic Birch.
I purchased some timber from our local B&Q 🇬🇧 one 2.4 metre board had a warp 1/2 half way down . I mentioned this to the till lady and she reduced the price by half . Timber is so expensive globally , I got a bargain. Using imperial and metric together can be confusing !
@Steve Ramsey So, have you ever been to a Menards? They compete with Home Depot and Lowes, but their lumber section is typically more like a traditional lumber yard, in that it's largely outside in sheds, and what lumber is in the main store is farther away from the front. Perhaps the biggest difference from Home Depot (don't know about Lowes, haven't been to one) is that Menards stacks the lumber flat, rather than on end, which I prefer.
And last but not least, you'll soon figure out that all plywood from home depot and lowes is garbage compared to what else it out there. Although you can order Columbia forest plywood online thru home depot and they have all sorts of species. Unfortunately it's only cost efficient to buy it in 2x4' sheets, but its still a good option when you need cherry, walnut, or white oak plywood. For my recent project I just ordered some white oak plywood in 1/2" and aromatic cedar in 1/4" for drawer bottoms.
For plywood, the blue and orange stores near me will make two cuts in an 8'x4' sheet of plywood for free. I don't have a truck, so I usually look at my plans and see what cuts would make the most sense while allowing the boards to fit in the back of my car. Usually I have them take a 2'x4' panel off the end, and then split the rest into a pair of 3'x6' panels. Just like you said, however, it's a real crap shoot on whether either of the stores will have both the sheet I want AND a working saw.
Man I moved to Sweden and somethings are similar but some wood products are so different. They have these construction grade but usually really straight 2x2s, for example. Lots of interesting stuff
When your at a big box store your not on your own ! Depending on how nice the employees are, they are their to help your. Coming from a disabled person that likes to build, you can get help loading things, they wont strap down for you do to liability tho. An yea you can cut down large sheet goods in the parking lot. But most stores, not all. Have a big saw an will make some cutts for your. Say turn that 4x8 sheet into a 2 4x4 sheets. Some places one cutt is free. Some places the cost alittle. But dont expect them to cutt your hole project for your. Nor is their accuracy always the best. Something I've had things alittle off, so get it bigger so you can make the final cutt at home. Plus sometimes they have tear out
I was shocked when I saw you in a previous video at Home Depot, and your location had hardwoods for sale. The closest two HD's near me in South TX do not sell any hardwoods, whatsoever. The nearest to me is a Lowe's that carries some Red Oak and Poplar. For all other hardwoods (domestic & exotic) I have to order them online.
Maybe it's because I am in the friendly state of Texas but Home Depot guys are always right there to help me and answer questions. They have been great and always want to see pictures of what I am building.
I carried lots of lumber and plywood on my Corolla. Roll down the windows and run rope through and over the car. Get in and out dukes of Hazzard style. Easier than with an extended cab truck with a tiny bed.
"A less horrible experience" about says it all. I learned I could always count on getting the least convenient parking, the poorest service, a minimalist selection, wasted time in line, and not enough employees working when you needed them most. Home Despot.
Nice video, as usual, Steve. I work part-time at Home Depot about a month away from my 20th anniversary. I routinely spend lots of time with novice DIYers helping them better understand what they really need to complete their project. I wish more customers would watch your video. It would make their shopping experience much easier and more enjoyable. By the way, if you ask for help at your local HD, you might be surprised that some associates actually know what they're talking about.
Very good video. I remember being so freakin intimidated buying a lot of lumber at Home Depot on my first big project. It shouldn't have been but it was really overwhelming and a little stressful, for me. I hope the beginning woodworker watches this and learns a little bit from it.
About the missing bar code: I have gotten free lumber twice at the orange big box because there was no barcode/price on it. The cashier said it was too much trouble finding the price so just take it. Nice!
One trip??? Not once, ever for me. Been looking at the cordless circular since I can probably cut down in the parking lot better than the store panel cutter since I know it will work and I can put a sharp blade in.
Just loved this video. I work in a DIY store in the U.K.But this was an eye opener. Very different to our stores and certainly not all to the good either.
Brilliant video Steve! It’s exactly what all weekend woodworkers need to know. In Australia, just substitute “timber” for “lumber”, “Bunnings” for “Home Depot“ and “pine” for “wide range of good-looking maple, cherry, walnut etc.”
One more tip about the "common" boards discussed starting at 6:30ish. MAKE SURE to pay attention to whether they are pine or "whitewood." The "whitewood" boards are usually smoother and look like pine, but they are a BEAST to stain.
As a Home Depot cashier thank you for some of these. So many people miss the LF (which I admit is very small) and are shocked by prices). And the bar codes for many cashiers are completely unfamiliar with lumber and have no idea what it is. If there’s no bar code on the board you want, bring up another with the bar code and explain you only want the other one. Or take a picture of the shelf tag or write down the code.
If I’m buying something other then wood I’ll put a hand held basket in a regular shopping cart and then transfer the basket onto the lumber cart as I head for checkout. Also, if you have a green store near you I greatly prefer they’re lumber layout.
Another tip: if you're gonna use an employees time on a panel saw, limit it to 1-2 cuts. These big box stores work on skeleton crews. P.S you're the worst customer if you ask to have quarter inch plywood ripped into 4 inch strips.
I don’t know about that. I was making some basement storage shelves, since looks weren’t important I used 2x4 and osb. As my shelves were all 2’ deep I had them rip the sheets in half, I know some loss to kerf, but good enough for basement shelves. If I was picking up six boards, I had them make six cuts, one per board. I don’t see the problem there. Not to mention my local big box charges for anything past four cuts, if someone is willing to pay they can get as many cuts as they want.
@@Arbbal comsider this, that employee you give a laundry list of cuts to already has a laundry list of stuff from his one manager, and youre the 8th customer of the day with a laundry list. I worked both depot and lowes, I was pretty lenient with the cuts as I know the customers didnt know any better. But it was frustrating knowing that your boss would not sympathize.
@@aaronwalker2588 That sounds like a management issue at your store then. Myself having worked both in retail and food service, and as both employee and management, I was always taught in customer service the customer is the priority. If I gave my people a list for the day and they only got halfway because of helping customers those were the breaks. Sorry to hear about your poor management, not everywhere is like that.
@@Arbbal I ran multiple departments at a Home Depot during the course of a few years. I can tell you that each department has an affiliated service, wherein an employee can get "stuck" for the better part of a shift. In lumber, it's the saws, in flooring, it's the blinds cutter, in plumbing, it's the pipe thread cutting machine, in electrical, it's the wire wall, in hardware, it's the key machine. When customers see someone staffing the equipment, they flock to the spot because everyone seems to have the same experience (and complaint): "There's never anybody here!" It's hard to hear that sometimes when you spend shift after shift, week after week running that kind of equipment almost constantly. What I really wish Steve would have said is this: Try to go to the store around the same times on the same days(e.g. on the same shift). Ask a guy what his name is. Ask if he can help you. Tell him your name. Tell him about your project or problem. Make a friend. Be a human. Stop thinking you're dealing "with The Home Depot" and start thinking that you're dealing with a human...a human with a wife, a dog, a cat, a preferences against mustard, a crooked fence on his table saw, a truck that needs an oil change, a lousy boss, a sore back, all that. Uniforms are nice in certain ways, but they rob of us a lot, too. Oh, and last thing from your actual comment, one cut per sheet (like, ripped in half) is never a big deal. The other commenter was complaining about a LOT worse than that! Imagine cutting a single sheet in 32 specific sizes (15 3/4" x 3 1/4", etc.) for several sheets! It happens all the time. Anyway. You seem kind. Please stay that way.
OMG this is perfect 👍 sooo extremely helpful for a newbie woodworker, I love it, thank you so much 😊 I was able to make notes for my next shopping adventure 😀 I have a question about your course, is it universal? I mean I live in Australia, and we can have different materials etc over here?
Also, at HD, I always check the culled lumber cart. If you’re lucky you can find what you need for about 70% off. I usually check couple times a week or if I’m passing a HD in my travels, I’ll stop in to see what they have.
I came here to share the same. I’ve found some great deals in the culled lumber. This is especially true when I can just trim off the damaged part and get full use out of the rest.
This was a great video. You touched on just about everything, especially those subtle items that many folks won’t understand early on. For instance, understanding the difference between lumber that is sold by the piece versus that sold by the linear foot will help avoid embarrassing moments at checkout. My day job had me sitting in front of a computer most of the day. I have a little bit of carpal tunnel, but no calluses. Therefore, I usually take a pair of gloves with me to protect against splinters and cuts from the sharp edges on plywood. The gloves I like are the stretchy ones where the palms and fingers are coated in rubbery nitrile. I also carry a small, pocket-size tape measure so I don't have to wander around the store looking for one. I really like the Stanley 10-ft tape with a scale on the back for directly measuring the outside diameters (OD) of metal tubing, PVC pipe, etc. (Some woodworking projects use materials other than wood now and then.) My preferred tape measure is a Stanley model 33-115. (I have a cheap engraver that I use to carve my name on the side so I won’t get suspected of shoplifting.) This is the one mentioned above with the OD scale on the back side of the tape. Thank you for the excellent tutorial. I am looking forward to the one about shopping at an actual lumber yard. I haven’t done much of that yet, so I’m sure it will be enlightening.
Angela, Check out 731 Woodworks Hardwood dealer interview. it was posted on 7/8/2021. It is well done, explains all the terms that the hardwood dealers use. I know I will fell more confident when I venture to my local hardwood dealer ( which is the same one that was interviewed ). Steve's channel was the first one I subscribed to on You Tube and I have learned so much from him.
@@martinwebb7294 Thank you! Oh me too. Been watching him for a couple years now. Super helpful for all the little things that unless you are working with someone else you may never learn about. He's great. It's always interesting the spots where we hesitate because of feeling intimidated.
At Lowe’s I get my plywood cut no problem every time. 😇 There used to be a button to push for help that said “Assistance needed in the board cutting area”, but that’s gone 😂 But you can always flag somebody down.
Yeah, my Lowes is great. When I walk through the big door and someone says welcome to Lowes I say thanks send someone to the saw I'll be there in a few. They're so good there that they send a someone to help me sort the the plywood sheets. It's awesome. I arrive after ten in the morning when it has slowed down.
Steve... I think you covered everything... Including the broken/ non-operational saw routine at HD... which is always "broken" when I go in there. LOL. I don't have a truck so I am curious how you would breakdown the plywood in the parking lot, I haven't seen anyone do that ever! Have you? I'm just thinking that I lave a limited space in the car as it is and I'd need a saw horse (or two), a straight edge, pencils, measuring tools, saw, extra battery, etc. Because I would need to make cuts for my project, and I'll still need to get those cuts into my trunk of my car I have a narrow pass through... Cars were not designed for hauling wood! Oh... and BTW I don't have a roof rack either!
You’ve pretty much described it. Which is also, consequently, the reason you don’t see it happen much. That said, the way to go here is definitely to put a couple hunks of pink foam insulation in the car and spread them out on the ground. Lay the sheet on top and make your cuts. It’s basically the same method Steve uses in his shop, but you don’t get the benefit of having the full sheet of foam underneath. 5-6 1 foot x 1 foot squares can get you most of the way there though and don’t take up too much car space.
@@martinwebb7294 And maybe the liability of someone cutting wood in their parking lot, what happens if you get hurt on their property? I would think they'd discourage people doing that, but then I don't think they disallow it either... but it will only take one incident and it's game over.
When you're looking for 2 by 4s, start by looking at the ends. Big, wide, smiling grain lines, or lines that go straight across (the thin direction) are generally the best when it comes to not warping. Diagonal lines of the circular center of a tree are the worst, and can almost always be skipped in any further examination.
I genuinely appreciate your insight on these types of challenges. I think I'm about ready to move on to a lumber yard, but you're right that is very intimidating. I look forward to that video!
Omg thank you. This is going to sound so stupid but I’ve been twice and just got totally overwhelmed and felt really out of my depth and left with nothing! This is exactly what I needed…rolling bed table, here I come! 🙏 thanks
