Best dimensional lumber: HD, Lowes, or Menards

[cgallery]

I'm going to build a work table or two and I'm wondering who has the best dimensional lumber (2x4 to 2x8 or so) between Home Depot, Lowes, or Menards. I know Lowes used to advertise kiln-dried (isn't it all)? Are there any superior brands or products?

I used to buy stuff at Handy Andy (remember them) that was kiln dried (very light compared to stuff at Menards), straight, and strong.

Thanks,
Phil

[LCHIEN]

I'm going to build a work table or two and I'm wondering who has the best dimensional lumber (2x4 to 2x8 or so) between Home Depot, Lowes, or Menards. I know Lowes used to advertise kiln-dried (isn't it all)? Are there any superior brands or products?

I used to buy stuff at Handy Andy (remember them) that was kiln dried (very light compared to stuff at Menards), straight, and strong.

Thanks,
Phil

it varies from batch to batch. You need to go down and look at it and hand select pieces.

If you go there and there's only a few boards left, forget it, because these are the ones no one wanted, they'll have checking, waning, loose knots, warping, twisting and bowing. Did I leave anything else out? bad grain, splits, off color, whatever.

[drumpriest]

Not to go outside of your list of possibilities, but look for some cabinet shops or mills. You can get better stuff cheaper. They will dimension it the day you pick it up sometimes, and that makes for a better built project.

[Popeye]

If you don't have a moisture meter (I don't either) then besides straight and flat I go for weight. Dry lumber dimensional lumber is very light compared to wet. I always let it set at the house for a week or so if in doubt. Kiln dried has nothing to do with the gullywasher rain that the untarped load ran through getting to the store, or that it sit through on the yard before they brought it in. I'm talking framing lumber here BTW. Pat

[Russianwolf]

The lumber I get at lowes is marked as KD and I tend to beleive it due to the weight. Since it is Indoor framing lumber they usually store it inside so it stays dry. I have made a couple projects from them with no issues.

[scorrpio]

Local HD sells KD 8' 2x4s for just $2.32 each. If you want a lot, and want them to be straight, with no splits etc, it can take a while. When I needed about 30 of them for a project, I spent around two hours selecting them. For indoor work, they are great. Totally dry to the touch, lightweight, and I had no issues so far.

To be fair, though, I did not look at Lowe's lumber closely. Nearest Lowe's is about 5 times further away than HD and when I need to haul bulky stuff (lumber, pipe, sheet goods) I shop close to home.

[Tom Miller]

Wherever you decide to get it, give it another 2 - 4 weeks in your shop to see that it really is acclimated.

The difference in species they use for dimensional lumber makes it difficult (at least for me) to tell anything by the weight alone.

Regards,
Tom

[mschrank]

Around here, most of the dimensional lumber and plywood comes from Oregon mills (in fact, I used to work for one of the companies that supplies most of the 2x4's).

I can't imagine that Oregon mills are supplying all of the HD lumber, so I would think that the quality would vary a bit depending on where you are and which mill it came from.

[LinuxRandal]

Yet another option. I was building some legs for a bench and went to Habitat restore. The lumber I used was pulled out of old houses and true dimension, I did check it with a metal detector before cutting, but it was clean, and stable.

[sacherjj]

The lumber I get at lowes is marked as KD and I tend to beleive it due to the weight. Since it is Indoor framing lumber they usually store it inside so it stays dry. I have made a couple projects from them with no issues.

That works as long as you make sure you are looking at the same species. I was picking out some studs and found a mix of Fir and Pine. The Fir was much heavier, but much better wood. I bought all they had of the Fir, then filled the rest I needed with Pine.

[cgallery]

That works as long as you make sure you are looking at the same species. I was picking out some studs and found a mix of Fir and Pine. The Fir was much heavier, but much better wood. I bought all they had of the Fir, then filled the rest I needed with Pine.

What is the fir to pine weight ratio of dried similarly? For a given size (2x4 by 8', for example), how much heavier can I expect fir to be than pine? And, what is the easiest way to differentiate? I think fir is darker-colored with more pronounced grain?

[cgallery]

Yet another option. I was building some legs for a bench and went to Habitat restore. The lumber I used was pulled out of old houses and true dimension, I did check it with a metal detector before cutting, but it was clean, and stable.

Does Habitat have stores where it sells old lumber? Or did you volunteer on a Habitat house and take stuff that they were throwing out? Or something else altogether?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Does Habitat have stores where it sells old lumber? Or did you volunteer on a Habitat house and take stuff that they were throwing out? Or something else altogether?

Habitat has some stores that sell stuff that was donated by local stores, contractors, etc. Left over gallons of paint, old cabinets, etc. My local store does not have a lot of lumber.

[SARGE..g-47]

I usually pick up framing lumber at HD. The utility stud (2 x 4) racks you see is usually spruce or fir (not douglas fir) and normally light. If you can't find enough straight studs in that utility rack, you could consider the wider southern yellow pine in 2 x 6, 2 x 8, 2 x10 and 2 x 12. If you have rip capability, you can take them to any size you want. Always get the kiln dryed and not a bad idea to let it stabalize in your shop after you get it home as someone mentioned.

The habitat idea is a great idea also. I love to re-cycle old lumber and create from others throw aways. You can make some heavy duty work tables from any of the lumber that the guys have mentioned. I glue up 2 x 4's and make a lot of shop tables for others in the summer when the humidity is high here in Atlanta.

Below is a pic of an assembly table base made from 2 x 4's. Also my current work-bench that I made from old Douglas Fir rafter beams that came from a civil war ware-house being torn down. I had ripped it up and decided to laminate it back together to build my work-bench base with what I had laying around the wood-rack. You are only limited by your imagination. Good luck!

SARGE..g-47

[LinuxRandal]

Does Habitat have stores where it sells old lumber? Or did you volunteer on a Habitat house and take stuff that they were throwing out? Or something else altogether?

Best to check your local habitat website. Locally, my store, is called Habitat REstore. Besides the donations and overflows (mistinted paints, etc), mine has a lot of building materials, from houses that are being torn down (studs, etc).