Crown moulding at HD almost50% HIGHER - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

oldfrt · 03-05-2008, 10:04 PM

Got a call yesterday from a client in Florida that has a painter at her house and wants some crown installed.
I run down to my regular Lumber yard and pick out some of their primed stock.My cost was .81/ft,all nice straight ,clean edges,no gouges.
I stop by the Depot on my way back and see their price at $1.19/ft. ,looking like pretzels.

Don't figure?

troubleseeker · 03-05-2008, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldfrt

Got a call yesterday from a client in Florida that has a painter at her house and wants some crown installed.
I run down to my regular Lumber yard and pick out some of their primed stock.My cost was .81/ft,all nice straight ,clean edges,no gouges.
I stop by the Depot on my way back and see their price at $1.19/ft. ,looking like pretzels.

Don't figure?

Their marketing people got the majority of people heading there automatically like trained rats, convinced that everything from a big box will be cheaper than from a local supplier. As many have posted numerous times here, when you pay attention to prices and quality as a package, you soon come to realize that you can equal, and a high percentage of the time, beat the big boxes at local suppliers, plus deal with knowledgable people.

**Double-A** · 03-05-2008, 10:49 PM

They are higher on a lot of things, just like Wal-Mart is.

Find a good local supplier and stay out of Home Depot. You're not doing anyone a favor by going in there, especially yourself.

You're an oldfrt. You should be old enough to know better.

copusbuilder · 03-05-2008, 10:52 PM

The small town I live in has a lumber yard that has been here for years.

I can buy "most" wood cheaper than the box stores.

If I try to price match ....say treated lumber at Lowes, They ask if it is #2 prime? I ask them if we are talking steaks or lumber.
What a crock. As mentioned before, we are trained rats

Tscarborough · 03-05-2008, 11:07 PM

Of the hundred or so SKUs that Home Depot/Lowes and I share, they are more expensive on every single one. Of course, I have a low tolerance for stupid questions and you may be subject to ridicule and abuse if you don't know what you want, plus I charge large to educate you....

Edit- I misstated that. On tools they are cheaper, but the SKUs do not match up exactly.

oldfrt · 03-06-2008, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double-A

They are higher on a lot of things, just like Wal-Mart is.

Find a good local supplier and stay out of Home Depot. You're not doing anyone a favor by going in there, especially yourself.

You're an oldfrt. You should be old enough to know better.

It's because I'm an oldfrt that I get nosy and want to verify my assumptions.
Besides,when things are slow,like now,it's fun to watch all the tire kickers at HD and try and sneak a few business cards into peoples hands while they wait for a HD employee to come around.

Small Town,cheap entertainment!

trptman · 03-07-2008, 02:31 AM

Thats how the big box stores operate. They open up, have low prices, get everyone going there, put some competition out of business, raise their prices and people still go there assuming they are still getting the lowest prices.
Pretty clever on their part. Pretty stupid on everyone else's part.

john5mt · 03-07-2008, 03:01 AM

pretty sure the only thing i ever buy at hd or lowes are tools. I cant get out of blowes in less than 30 min it seems. always waiting in line for the one cashier who cant figure out how to do one simple thing on the blasting computer for a customer and the other 10 people get to wait till a fat lazy bastich manager finally gets there to help her. And then he goes back to whatever he was doing and calls on the speaker for some other people to help up front. Then that person shows up ten minutes later and i am finally up to the counter and their is no one else to cash out and he has this irriated look on his face trying to figure out why he got called up from jacking off in the back.

i hate box stores. There is something to be said for actual lumberyards. (nopt to mention free delivery)

buildenterprise · 03-07-2008, 07:54 AM

Simpson double 2 x 10 Z-Max joist hanger at my local lumberyard, $3.00. At Home Depot, $11.00.

'nuf said

troubleseeker · 03-08-2008, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buildenterprise

Simpson double 2 x 10 Z-Max joist hanger at my local lumberyard, $3.00. At Home Depot, $11.00.

'nuf said

Similiar to what really opened my eyes to their prices several years ago. Agreed to help daughter"s club at school with service project to rebuild benches around school yard. Bought box of galvanized carriage bolts at HD for $27. Thought it was high, but figured..it's HD, guess there are more expensive than I realize, as this is not a common purchase for me to know the price of. Had a few extra pieces of wood, so we decided to do a few extra benches, but were out of bolts, so I asked one of the other dads to run to a close Ace and get another box. He returns with a box of the exact same manufacturer's bolts and a receipt for $16 and some change.

buildenterprise · 03-08-2008, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troubleseeker

Similiar to what really opened my eyes to their prices several years ago. Agreed to help daughter"s club at school with service project to rebuild benches around school yard. Bought box of galvanized carriage bolts at HD for $27. Thought it was high, but figured..it's HD, guess there are more expensive than I realize, as this is not a common purchase for me to know the price of. Had a few extra pieces of wood, so we decided to do a few extra benches, but were out of bolts, so I asked one of the other dads to run to a close Ace and get another box. He returns with a box of the exact same manufacturer's bolts and a receipt for $16 and some change.

Don't even get me started on lag screws and such! $1 per pound at Fazio's, over $1 EACH at HD......

chris klee · 03-09-2008, 09:58 AM

when i was in college i worked weekends at home depot.
they tell you in the training that they put their main supplies for cheap. drywall and lumber was the big ones. hardly any profit on it. to make up for it they put buckets of mud, screws, nails, ect at much higher than normal.

Millwork · 04-08-2008, 12:28 PM

Price and quality at HD are usually crap. Which is the exact reason I started my site.

BKFranks · 04-08-2008, 03:46 PM

I could have told you that. I get base shoe from a local supplier from $.13 a foot. HD has the same thing for $.75 a foot. It's a joke. Don't even look at the price of the hardwood lumber like oak. It's even worse.

philner · 04-08-2008, 09:57 PM

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I dont mind a couple bucks here and there to stay loyal or to save a trip but when you're buying quantity often times its several hundred dollars on 1 item! But the alternative is buying your siding one place, the insulation somewhere else and the trim a third place. When you factor in traveling time it becomes calculus to get the best deal.WTF??? Phil