Stunningly bad "cabinet" plywood at home depot

[Robin Dobbie]

I know no one's shocked, however what they have sometimes works for me to make "acceptable" cabinets for my house. Now, I'm not impressed with their ply on the best of days. But sometimes what they have works, sometimes it has flaws, either in the manufacturing process or caused by the way they handle and store their sheetgoods. I'm never surprised anymore when I leave empty handed because there is simply too much damage to every available sheet. But I've never seen 100% of every sheet totally farked. They said it was triple sanded. But the sheathing plywood was smoother. Seriously. Sheathing ply was more warped, but slightly fewer ply.

Every sheet looked like this all over, except where even worse, front and back.



That's almost acceptable, in a way. Not what I was expecting, but it could be interesting. Too many flaws, however. I honestly think they forgot to but a veneer on top.

I might have gone ahead and gotten it if every sheet didn't have major zones of rough, almost fuzzy areas across the entire length.





Off to lowes tomorrow and see what their ply looks like. I've walked out of lowes before, too, so if that fails there's a plywood company in ft worth I'll try. Supposedly they sell to amateurs, so if I can look at a few sheets before I buy them I'll be happy. They have legit baltic birch, so that may be what I get.

[Brian Holcombe]

Go to a lumberyard that sells veneer core baltic birch ply. My locals are super competitive on pricing and always carry very high grade material.

[Steve Eure]

Seems to me that the big box stores do not cater to woodworkers, only construction or novice sells. I went to Lowes and bought a 4 by 8 sheet of 3/4 BB ply for a cabinet one time and needed to make 3 perpendicular rips length ways. After the initial rips, I picked up the first outside piece and took it into the shop. Went back, picked up the center one and it nearly doubled over. It honestly had a 3 foot continuous void in it. I wasn't too happy. Its a 2 hour round trip to town for me.
When I explained to the clerk that I wanted a refund, she gave me attitude over it because "I had already cut it". After some heated words she finally told me to just pick another piece off the same pile. I told her "no thanks". I haven't bought BB ply from them since.

[glenn bradley]

As mentioned, no one is surprised. The BORGs sell to the air-nailer crowd and stock accordingly. I don't mean that derogatorily, I don't want the guy who builds a china hutch to necessarily frame my house either. The skill sets do cross but, not enough for the BORGs to stock for both. Find the friendly lumber yard in your area and be (mostly) happy.

[Ted Derryberry]

I can't remember the last time I bought anything wood from a big box store.

[Curt Harms]

It depends a little on where you are but there may be real plywood suppliers within a reasonable distance that will sell to non-Pros. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

http://www.industrialplywood.com/

As far as buying from a borg, it seems like the luck of the draw. You may get pretty good or you might get Lays brand plywood (curls like a potato chip when cut). If you have Menards, I've heard their plywood is better than H.D. or Lowes. We don't have Menards so no first-hand experience.

[Robert Engel]

I've never seen ply that bad at HD. Its obviously a bad lot. You should take it back and talk to the manager. They will work with you.

I always get ply for a cabinet build from a local distributor, but the ones I deal with if you specify "baltic birch" you can't be sure of what you will get. Both I deal with carry 3 different "grades" and the "good stuff" is Russian. (??) The other stuff is identical to what the BORG's sell for cheaper.

FWIW, with utility cabs and jigs, etc I've had good luck with the Sandeply that HD sells.

The problem with ALL of them is the top veneer is so damn thin you can barely sand it at all.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Do they not carry Pure Bond at your local HD? It's the best stuff I've found at the big box stores and it's only carried at HD. None of the BORGs in my area carry anything worth a darn outside of HD's Pure Bond. Lowe's selection is just awful.

[David M Peters]

If you have one in your area, Menards carries good plywood as well as pretty good grades of dimensional lumber. HD and Lowes are awful.

[John C Cox]

The reality is that cherry picking cheap BORG plywood sometimes yields nice stuff.... Occasionally a good sheet gets mixed in my mistake.... Mostly it doesn't...

3/4" Marine grade BB plywood costs me over $100/sheet for the real stuff with no nasty surprises....
BORG plywood costs 1/3 that.. So you get what you pay for....

So yeah - for utility cabinets, non-show structural parts, or stuff you are sealing and painting - it will be fine.... But it does add up for a lot more work sealing and filling all the uglies.

[Jim Becker]

I don't even buy full sheets of MDF from them anymore. I might pick up 2x4 panels for jigs, etc., but no way am I going to put money into sheet goods where an entire stack looks like it's been riding a tidal wave.

I spoke with Industrial Plywood this morning, in fact, to get current pricing needed for some commission quotes. The prices are very reasonable and it's all US-made sheet goods.

[Keith Hankins]

I don't even buy full sheets of MDF from them anymore. I might pick up 2x4 panels for jigs, etc., but no way am I going to put money into sheet goods where an entire stack looks like it's been riding a tidal wave.

I spoke with Industrial Plywood this morning, in fact, to get current pricing needed for some commission quotes. The prices are very reasonable and it's all US-made sheet goods.

I'm blessed to have an Industrial plywood close by (30 min away), what a pleasure to see quality stuff. I use very little ply mostly cherry in some cabinets, and its $$$, but you get what you pay for for sure.

I'd also search out a local cabinet maker and see if they will sell you ply. One place I lived thats how i got mine. I paid a premium but hey it was good stuff.

[Ted Derryberry]

My go to lumber and plywood supplier is cheaper than HD on MDF and it's better quality. Their "shop grade" birch, not baltic birch, is cheaper than anything HD has either. They only carry 5'x5' interior grade baltic birch and it's not much more per square foot than their shop grade birch. For 4'x8' exterior grade baltic birch I have to go to "the other place". It's from $95 to $105 per sheet for B/BB (top grade) depending on the market and how much I buy. The quality can vary and sometimes it doesn't technically meet grade on the number of patches. It depends on the mill and time of year. One mill I won't touch, another is my favorite, and there are about 3 in between, but it all depends on who the importer is dealing with at the time.

[Bill Dufour]

My HD caries a lot of plywood made in Central America. and some pine from China. The Central American stuff is "hardwood" plywood no particular species. Is this common all over the USA or is this because I am near a shipping port?
Bill

[Andrew Seemann]

A second to Menards. At ours in MN they carry the cheap imported stuff, but also the good made-in-USA cabinet grade plywood, similar to the stuff I get from the main local hardwood supplier (Youngblood). Its cheaper at Menards, but they don't have the species and size selection that the specialty retailer does, not surprisingly. For baltic birch, I just order half dozen sheets from Youngblood whenever I get low and have them deliver. The $22 delivery fee spares the 50 mile round trip and pain of transiting of 5x5 sheets.

Unfortunately Menards is mostly a midwest thing, I don't believe they go down into Texas. Dallas Ft Worth is a big place, there is bound to be some decent lumber/plywood suppliers somewhere.