I think it really depends on where the big box store is located. For example, my home depot is only 5 min away but my nearest lowes is in a very affluent suburb 15 min away. So when I got a new door and new trim and a new roll-top screen door, I got it from Lowe’s because they have plenty of “higher end” items. I’m getting my vanity, tile and tub surround and fixtures from Lowes as well for the new bathroom. Every day things and small ticket items I get at home depot because it’s more convenient and the quality is the same.
Both have excellent customer service.
My home depot has this one manager that is a rock star. She will walk the aisles if she’s not busy and actively asks people “Can I help you with anything”. The day will come when she’s promoted to some regional manager position, I just know it. I saw a group of managers meeting one morning: all were 50 plus old white men and there she is, the youngest by 15 years, the only girl and the only non white person. Go girl, go.
The main difference I see with the big box stores is the price of lumber as compared to local lumber suppliers. I first noticed this when making a project out of red oak where the local supplier offered prices slightly more than 50% less then Lowes. The same applies to veneers where the local supplier not only had better prices but better quality plywood.
Lowes will price match, even internet sales…to me this puts them on top.
I needed 3 EZ gate kits…about $30 at Menards, but they were on sale, I don’t remember how much…but I took the print out to Lowes and they beat it …They ended up costing me $19.99 ea …that saved me 33%
Lowes has lots of hardware, electrical, outdoor and appliances. in-store help is plentiful. small and medium city ones i’ve been to were good.
Home Depot is an all depends but lesser selection for materials. in-store help seems lacking. in a big city they might hire people from that neighborhood and you might get people who don’t know much with a bad attitude towards work.
both are similar for tools.
the best in-store help is often regional chains or local franchise owner of a national chain ( a franchise owner might have several stores of a national hardware store franchise). asking them about tool use or the right part to use gives experienced answers. cost is more often though doing a job correctly the first time is worth the price.
I tend to be a Home Depot shopper for a couple reasons.
They have want we need to complete a job and the store employees have always been helpful to me.
Home Depot’s politics have been for the most part good. They’re on the American Family Association’s hitlist because they support gay folk. So if shopping at HD pisses off the AFA, all the better. (And better than Lowe’s for pulling advertising, which is kowtowing and gross).
It’s about 3 blocks away from home.
Menard’s is good and more fun too. There are lots of odd distracting things at Menard’s (Hmm, I guess I do want a trampoline).
I go to Home Depot most of the time. The prices are reasonable enough to just get something done. If there is time to compare prices and hunt around, I like to check Menards since they have some unusual items. Prices are sometimes lower, but that is not a reason to spend time looking around. Sometimes Home Depot doesn’t have the right size etc, so I have to check around anyway. Lowes has pulled through a couple times for me. One item was a 100 inch cutting guide for my saw. That was 2 inches longer than the one at home depot they didn’t know was there. All places have a grove, but It sure is nice to be closest to the one you work well with.
Their dimensional lumber over 2x4 is green - it still has the original (sap) moisture in it. That will eventually dissipate. As it does, it will cause the wood to twist, warp and split.
They do carry KD (kiln dried) lumber in 2x4 - it is the “premium” studs and 2x4x8.*
They used to carry the green-colored pressure-treated lumber. They now sell brown pressure-treated. Many good carpenters lived and died without even knowing the brown stuff existed.
Reason: It is crap. The green stuff is rated for structural use - read the table for “pine” or “spruce” and the green stuff meets those specs. The brown stuff is not rated for structural use.
redwood is the exception. Even real redwood is not KD (except the lovely clear center heart). If you can find a complete (not missing an edge) straight bit of redwood in HD, it is as good as the stuff in real lumber stores.
I was going to respond, saying hey, I posted a thread just like this years ago! Then I realised, it’s the same thread.
For the record, I still like Menards the best. For lumber, I avoid the big boxes and go with independent yards that carry domestic lumber in longer lengths and a wider variety.
Wish I’d come across this thread years ago. I’m a 20-year Orange Box employee, and can tell y’all the view from the other side of the orange apron. If you’re interested.
One difference between HD/Lowes and Menards is that HD/Lowes are warehouse stores. There’s nothing “in the back”, because the “back” is atop the racking. Ask an HD/Lowes employee for something that’s not on the shelf and she’ll look up. In theory, all merchandise is supposed to be in the overhead above it’s spot on the shelf - they call that “striping”. Doesn’t always work out, of course.
Menard’s, on the other hand, is a more traditional store that does store its overstock in a back warehouse. So the racking is not so high - it’s more like a traditional hardware store. At least, that’s the way it was the last time I was in a Menards, twenty years ago.
If you need ground contact rated wood, you need to go somewhere else. HD and Lowes do not generally carry it in many sizes. Menards carries a lot more of the structual stuff, in fact you can buy home kits and pole barn kits there. Menards is a much larger lumber operation, and they carry metal roofing panels in several colors. Local HD only has it in white. Menards carries different types also. I haven’t seen that at HD or Lowes. Menards here are much bigger than HD or Lowes. I like Lowes for service, HD is closer, but I have to go to Menards for metal roofing or ground contact rated lumber. It’s about 40 miles away, but it is the only place to get that stuff here.
ARGH!!! That’s the one thing that’s always driven me nuts about Menards: their incessant playing of that infernal jingle in the store. I’m already here! I don’t need the continuous barrage of advertising to convince me to shop here because I’m already here! Argh!!
After shopping for a bathroom remodel around here, I found Menards to have better stock and availability compared with Home Depot, but it seems to be very much location dependent. My local Home Depot, to be honest, was kind of crap in choice of tile, cabinetry, sinks, etc. All that ended up being bought at Menard’s.
I know this is a dated thread, but thought I might add some info. One thing no one commented on was that unlike HomeDepot and Lowes, Menards is privately owned. Because of this you can negotiate prices, especially on larger projects. Try this at HD or Lowes and the managers go blank. Menards is owned by John Menard, whose son Paul races their NASCAR car. When you go into Menards and see anything labeled Midwest Manufacturing that is a Menards company and you may see these products sold at other stores. At their DC’s they roll their own steel roofing, just like the roofing companies and top pole building company Morton’s does. They have a concrete block/paver plant at their DC’s, unlike the other two who buy from who ever is in the area. They repackage hardware vs buying it already packaged from a hardware company. It may be imported, like most other hardware. They haul lumber in by rail to their DC’s and then deliver by truck, the others truck everything in. They make their own trusses and have engineers that can work with you on complex designs. They do sell name brand tools, appliances and promote what is actually made in the USA. They are currently changing store layouts to simplify the lumber yard purchases. They usually beat the other two on the service end, with my local store having the lowest level of any Menards I have been in, but that is just our area, poor workforce. I like many others was glad to see them come into our area, Lowes was not. Before this I would go to a Home Depot an hour away over our local Lowes. It was the only store in town and they knew it. Menards is based in Wisconsin and John Menard will only expand as he has money to do so, a wise man that avoids debt. I do see a day that Menards will be larger than the other two. If you do not see something in Menards, just ask the management, they may be able to get it for you, just not a stocked item. Per their rebate program, it is only bad if you are never going to shop with them again. Fyi, if they had a 11% rebate a week or so before you can ask for a special form to still get that rebate, as long as what you are buying is not on a special sale. Sometimes you just have to ask, the worse to happen is a no.
Sorry, but John Menard is a miserable son of a bitch to work for, an accused sexual predator, and a free market economy advocate. In other words, another conservative multi-billionaire asshole who is in bed with Scott Walker and the Koch brothers. My son finally got free of that asshole this past year and his health has rebounded.
