Battle of the 'Borg's

[Craig Hemsath]

Admit it, we all end up at one of the Big 3 more often than we'd like. So, which one do you prefer? Home Depot? Lowe's? Menards (for those of you that have them)?

[Don Abele]

Contrary to what a lot post here about the service/stock at the Borgs I have one of each by me that are both excellent in all regards (except wood quality which I buy from a lumber yard). Lowes is about 5 minutes closer so was my usual Borg of choice until January of this year. That's when Lowes Corporate Office put out a memo to stop giving military discounts. The local manager actually apologized to me personally saying I was the only active duty that ever came in the store. Now all my business goes to Home Depot who loves to give military discounts.

Be well,

Doc

[Prashun Patel]

The HD near me has marginally better 'lumber', but the LWS has a better plumbing supply section. If yr willing to wait for fresh stock and willing to pick through parts, then these places have passable lumber for many a small project.

For h. tools, it's a tossup - whichever has a sale running. IMHO, Kobalt and Husky have comparable handtool quality (at my level!).

For p-tools, if I'm buying Hitachi, Lws is hard to beat. But I usually consider Rigid in my search, so HD probably edges out Lws here.

One caveat on BORG's: watch yr fasteners. I've had screws AND lag bolts snap on me from HD. Problem with fasteners is that u can't tell the quality in the store. And a fastener failure cld be catastrophic - not just aesthetic. So, my advice is to buy the best fasteners u can from a reputable place.

I like the Ace near me for finishing; they have a good supply of brand name stuff and harder to find items.

[Jim O'Dell]

If I'm looking for normal hardware, or construction lumber, I will go to one particular HD. If I need some fittings for dust collection, I go to Lowes. If HD doesn't have enough specialty screws, then I'll try Lowes to see if they have them. Wish Menards would come to our area. Jim.

[Jeff Mohr]

I've got Home Depot and Lowes practically next to each other...less than 2 minute drive! Home Depot is the ONLY one a shop at...better prices, better service and perks that Lowes doesn't have.

[Ralph Barhorst]

Well it depends.

I find that Menards has the highest quality and best assortment of plywood and hardwood. They had some real nice looking maple ply, but I could not buy it since they did not have the capability to cut it down and my truck can't handle full 4' x 8' sheets. Menards also has nice MDO and Baltic Birch which is not handled by HD and Lowes.

I went to Home Depot and their plywood was horrible. I then went to Lowes and their plywood was not good but better than HD so I bought some from them. Both HD and Lowes can cut the plywood down.

Buying good plywood is difficult no matter where you go.

[alex grams]

I miss McCoys and Payless lumber. Those were the good old days of full scale out door lumber yards and people who worked there seemed to have a larger general knowledge of their products.

I play Lowe's/HD off each other (they are adjacent to one another where i live), and HD actually has extra speakers in their garden section which is next to Lowe's, so you can hear the HD system nice and clear in the Lowe's parking lot.

[Matt Meiser]

My closest Lowes and HD are right across the street from each other about 9 miles from home. The closest Menards is probably 25 miles. After a nightmare window purchase which revealed infighting between HD stores and a total lack of training, I'd sworn off shopping there, but since their recent changes I've been going back more. But Lowes is still my mainstay. However, in about 30 days, a new Menards is opening. Its about 3-4 miles further, but I'll probably start going there instead. When we do go to the other Menards, people generally know what they are talking about and are friendly. Probably because John Menard is watching them on camera

I've been doing more and more of my shopping for basic plumbing/electrical/general hardware at the local hardware store though. The prices aren't much different, the service is immensely better, and I feel better about shopping there. The are doing a really good job of improving their stock too. For lighting and plumbing fixtures though they can't compete in terms of selection.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

You folks should move to Lewiston, Idaho.


No big decisions.

Everything but lumber....HD....only place in town...No Lowes....No Menards..... But IMHO...their lumber stinks.....

Framing lumber I go to a local lumberyard......local lumberyard says they can't even order what I need sometimes......

Exotics...if you can consider walnut...oak....ash...alder....cherry...maple...et c....plus imported exotics.....I drive 30 miles to Moscow, Idaho to a lumberyard there....or...


If I really need something special a Canadian company has a store in Spokane...where I will drive 220 miles roundtrip to get some really special wood....

The good news....if I really need something special......it's a beautiful drive either to Moscow or Spokane!

[Nancy Laird]

We have Lowe's and HD about 5 miles away, practically across the street from each other. The Lowe's is clean and the employees are helpful and friendly; not so at HD. The HD store is messy--what I call trashy--and it's difficult most times to find an employee, much less find one that's knowledgable about anything. When we were in Minneapolis, we had the chance to visit a Menard's (they haven't made it to the Southwest yet), and I was very impressed--with their selection, their variety, and their quality. We were able to find a motion-sensor light fixture at Menard's that we haven't been able to find anywhere here in Albuquerque. Wish we had bought two!! Since we buy all of our lumber either at a specialty lumber yard or in Tennessee (except construction grade, T-111 siding, and fence boards), we don't really have an impression of the lumber at either place, but I'm willing to take the opinions of the others here that it's not very good (is that an understatement??).

Plumbing and electrical all come from either the local True Value or a couple of specialty stores here--lots of general hardware from Woodworker's Supply.

[fred woltersdorf]

i have 2 hd's within 5 mi. and lowes is about 30min, so hd is usualy my first choice. that said i have an ace hardware store 5min away with a killer hardware section that i go to first. recently i bought a plastic replacement knob for my delta shower control at hd and the next day it broke. returned it for another and the next day that one broke also. i then went to a real plumbing supply and got on for $1 less. been in for a week now. i'm trying to support the local stores first.

[J. Z. Guest]

I have two HD's and a Menards closer to me than our local Lowes.

I try not to buy lumber at either one of them. Maybe stuff for jigs...

Fastners, I buy more of at Menards, since Menards carries Kreg products and it means one less stop.

For tools, it depends what I want. I buy tools all over the place. I find the one I want, then see if a local store has it.

Menards has Bosch & Makita, which my local HD's don't. Just the basic models though.

HD's have Milwaukee & Dewalt, as well as the stationary Ridgid tools.

Lowes has more brands than either, including Hitachi. (great value on Hitachi!)

I started filling out the Home Depot surveys online, and since then, help is much easier to find in the store. That was my one main gripe with HD. If Menards has the same product as HD, it is always cheaper at Menards.

So I guess that's a long-winded way of saying I don't show any preference.

[Carl Fox]

I used to like HD until customer service went to crap and it got overrun with illegal aliens.

I thank God above there is a Lowes just as close.

However, I must admit I love HF very much.

[Jim Becker]

I generally shop at HD more than Lowes as the product mix at HD is more to my liking. But sometimes I hit Lowes 'cause they have something that HD doesn't...like Zinsser SealCoat. My HD doesn't carry it; only the waxy varieties. I have never had any issue with customer service at either store I shop at. I can't say the same for the HD I was in in Coral Gables FL not long ago...took forever to get help in the lumber department. (I was doing some projects for a close friend while I was down there on business)

[Eric Barker]

We don't have a BORG within 100 miles so I do all my buying from the local lumber/hardware place that I've frequented since 1975. I do also have a commercial account with Lumber Products and can get most anything delivered to my door in a couple of days.

My limited experience with Lowes and HD is that I prefer the service at Lowes and the inventory at HD. However, I'm content living in the country and dealing with my friends.