Home Depot Oak Plywood Rant and Safety Warning

[Tom Cowie]

I finished up some cabinets this summer with some plywood from Lowes. It was made in China ,it was stamped on the edge. Absolute junk! Veneer so thin anything but light hand sanding went right through it. I stopped by Home Depot to see if they had something better ,I found the same stuff only a dollar cheaper. It's definitely getting harder to find good plywood.

Tom

[Todd Jensen]

You guys just need to do what all the cabinet builders are doing now and just build with particle board. Its pretty sad that when I started 10 years ago you'd see it in closet packs, but its becoming more and more common with kitchen and bath cabinetry from sort've nice companies. I guess it must be more stable than the junk plywood thats available. We might be witnessing the middle of the end of halfway affordable decent wood products. Good thing the residential housing market is doing so poorly and diesel is up to $3.70/gallon.

Oh well, I gotta go finish my meteor helmet - the sky is definitely falling.

...and as much as I hate the HD's & Lowes, they do offer a wide selection of power tools at relatively affordable prices. I've found the smaller guys to have no selection, high prices, and still treat you like a jerk. Just my experiences.

[Bill Huber]

Well I will have to say the last time I got some plywood from HD it was crap. It was just a 2x4 footer and it was warped. I use it because I used screws to pull it all down.
Now that first layer is a real thick one, don't even drag some sandpaper over it or its gone.

[Alan Trout]

I have been using some of the junk plywood for some cabinets and being they are being painted it is Ok. Not the best but I can deal with it. Many years ago Home Depot had a product from Brazil called Para-Ply. I built a lot of cabinets out of that and it worked great. I wish they would get the Para-Ply back.

As far as service goes Home Depot and Lowe's pretty much run neck and neck. They both suck on equal levels in my part of the country. You can never find anyone to help either place. However as of late I have noticed Home Depot has made quite a bit of improvements in both the cleanlyness of the stores and the level of help. I actually had a pearson come up to me the other day and offer assistance.

Good Luck

Alan

[ROBERT ELLIS]

Sorry to break the bad news to you Charlie but your still gonna have to look your plywood over very closely even with Lowes. Last year I bought some OSB to finish out a room inside my shop. One sheet had a couple large bolts embedded into the plywood. You could actually make out the bolts size, threads, etc. I was glad I noticed them before I cut into them.

Just a few months ago I went to the same Lowes to buy a sheet of OSB for the shop...and you guessed it, another bolt embedded in the plywood. At least the manufacturer is consistent - it looked like the same size bolt.

Robert

[Jake Helmboldt]

Bottom line, this all boils down to the fact that we are a throw-away society that has become used to cheap crap and craftsmanship largely went the way of the dodo bird as a result. In the race to the bottom people simply want to know how cheap it will be and are happy with wood-grained vinyl anything.

We had a kitchen renovation/addition done 1.5 yrs ago (and we're still involved in a lawsuit over that) and the @#$# piece of garbage contractor used what looks like sheething for interior painted surfaces in some places. I could use the surface as a rasp! The sad thing is most people would never notice it so contractors have figured out that they can build crap and people will be happy. And of course the borgs and even some lumberyards have figured out they can provide crap to build crap and people will be happy.

I'm going to bed.

[glenn bradley]

My local lumber yard has good quality ply and is cheaper than the BORG. Talk about a win-win. Check some lumber supply outfits in your area, you may be surprised. If there are no lumber yards nearby, talk to a local cabinet shop and see if you can 'ride along' on one of their orders.

[Denny Rice]

I was in a recently built Menards the other day and was looking at their 3/4" Birch plywood. I was amazed, I don't use a lot of plywood but it was stamped "china" on both ends! What has this country become. We continue to do business with a country that puts anti-freeze in toothpate, lead in toys , and sells 3rd rate lumber. Its a sad day indeed.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have seen some of the Chinese plywood in big box stores in Canada as well.

The plywood has no standards markings, so you couldn't use in it in building construction, and as for cabinet work.........

The problem isn't that the Chinese make junk, the problem is that we want to have high wages ourselves, while begrudging anyone else the same wages.

In North America, the mantra has become cheap, cheap, cheap, and the suppliers have to supply us what we want.

Not convinced? Why do Delta and Powermatic make their equipment offshore? Is it because they couldn't find skilled workers in North America?

No the answer is our quest for cheap, cheap, cheap, so we've finally reaped what we have sown. We now have cheap goods, not inexpensive, just cheap. Powermatic and Delta found that their North American customers wouldn't pay for a made in North America product.

The remaining manufacturer, General has a line of Canadian machinery, and a line of imported machinery (General International). How long General continues to manufacture in Canada, will be determined by how much we value North American machinery, and hence are willing to pay for it.

For some reason we aren't smart enough to realize that quality, and a certain standard of living require a certain cost.

Keep shopping based upon price alone, and perhaps the remaining machinery/wood products/tool/food/clothing manufacturers will fold up and more cheap goods will be imported.

Once we get to the stage where our neighbour is un-employed and cannot afford post secondary education for their children, we'll realize too late that we sold our future to be able to buy a tin of tuna 10 cents cheaper.

regards, Rod.

[Dick Bringhurst]

Amen! Dick B.

[Mike Seals]

I have been using some of the junk plywood for some cabinets and being they are being painted it is Ok. Not the best but I can deal with it. Many years ago Home Depot had a product from Brazil called Para-Ply. I built a lot of cabinets out of that and it worked great. I wish they would get the Para-Ply back.

As far as service goes Home Depot and Lowe's pretty much run neck and neck. They both suck on equal levels in my part of the country. You can never find anyone to help either place. However as of late I have noticed Home Depot has made quite a bit of improvements in both the cleanlyness of the stores and the level of help. I actually had a pearson come up to me the other day and offer assistance.

Good Luck

Alan

If you have a McCoys near by, check them out for the Para-Ply, ours still has some.

[Chris McDowell]

I don't like using Chinese plywood in my shop, but it's become a reality. Just picked up a new order of prefinished 3/4 and 1/2. Every piece straight and flat, nicely finished, and I hate to say this , but far superior to any american plywood I have used in the recent months.
I cut all the parts out for a whole house including kitchen, and bathrooms with no problems. My supplier told me Chinese plywood is like a lot of things. It depends on what mill it comes from. They have better grade mills with standards and those that don't care. I will leave you to the conclusion which kind the box stores order from.
I would love to use good old usa plywood, but from a business stand point I can't pay $20 a sheet more for a product that is inferior. It's a sad day when made in America means nothing.

Chris

[Bert Johansen]

I had an experience similar to Chris last time I purchased ply. I always buy lumber from a reputable lumberyard, and I noticed the huge stack of ply with "Made in China" stamped all over it. When I questioned the owner about the quality he said he had done a lot of searching to find a reputable source, and said this was good stuff. Indeed, it is good quality with few voids and dead flat. So, the best advice I can give is the obvious: a) avoid the Borgs and b) use a reputable lumberyard for your purchases.

[Jon Lanier]

I think just like Harbor Freight, all the stores have some good and bad about them. Just need to be careful of what you buy and where.

[Todd Jensen]

I agree with Jon - I've been ping ponging between my hatred for Lowes/Home Depot for quite some time now - now I just go to both and take 'em for what they are. If there were a line of guys out of each store demanding perfect plywood sheets at $100 a pop, they'd stock them in a heartbeat. The truth is they're much more likely to sell a million sheets of junky ply at $35. And MOST people don't care. We all do, and most of us are passionate about it and why we're on this forum. However, reality dictates. Someday I'll have built all of the furniture in our home from beautiful hardwoods; the reality is I watch tv shows on a Chinese box laying on an Ikea sofa. And if construction keeps slowing down, we might not have to worry about it; the Lowes and HDs will shut their doors and we'll be back at Ace hardware paying $100/sheet for the junky ply.
Keep your meteor helmets handy, and in the meantime have fun and keep on keepin' on.