Lowes, How Frustrating

I go to Lowes first and if I can't find something, I drive a few hundred yards to Home Depot.

I started a bathroom built-in project and am ready to build the boxes into the wall that will be my shelving cabinets. I searched through the "top grade" pine lumber and spent a long time finding just the right boards, not split, or bowed, or flawed. It can be quite frustrating to have to paw through all the bad boards to find a good one, even when you are buying the best-quality-priced boards. I loaded up my lumber cart and headed to the back of the store to have an employee cut them in half as I can't fit 8 ft boards into my Geo. To my horror there was a sign on the machine that said "out of order". NO, NO, NO!!... I stood there a minute or two, to get my composure back (I actually broke into a sweat) and saw three guys coming through the back door where the forklifts are. I flagged one down to ask about getting the lumber cut because I can't fit the lengths into my car. He replied that I could buy a handsaw and cut them. Thanks, guy, nice. He didn't say it rudely, more like stupidly helpful without offering to help, like he had a solution for me. I told him "Thanks, I'll just be leaving this lumber here, then." And walked away from almost a hundred dollars in lumber and a good portion of my day wasted.

I found what I needed at Home Depot. Their lumber prices, for what I was looking for, was about a dollar more for each board but the quality of the board was much better and I didn't have to search through so many bad boards to find what I wanted. But I have been totally ignored by sales people there in the past so they aren't high on my list, either.

I should have gone to Kraft Lumber on Peninsula Drive for my lumber projects but it was too close to their closing time (early closing times are a drawback compared to the big box stores). I've never been disappointed by service or lumber there and I like supporting the non-big-box stores when there is a choice.

I'll be posting my progress for my built-ins via picture slideshows (how I did it and before and after)soon. It isn't that I think my bathroom is great (because it isn't, it is small and pink) but that it might help someone else thinking of ways to improve their bathroom and make it more efficient or give them some ideas, too. I like to search the internet to see others' projects and how they did them. That is how I learned to take apart our double-hung windows and restore them. I don't like replacing things instead of fixing them. I like original if I can but it is a lot of work. The old-growth wood is so worth saving. If I can't save something I want to at least stay true to the style of the house. I'm working now on my personal website. It will feature all my before and after projects. Digging up all my pictures I took along the way is time consuming. When I'm done setting it up, I'll be joining the www.houseblog.net webring.
http://www.houseblogs.net/webring/