Walked into a big box hardware store in Austin and wanted to cry at the lumber aisle

I needed a few 2x4s for a simple raised bed, and every single board was either twisted like a pretzel or had knots you could lose your wallet in. This was at the Home Depot on South Lamar last Tuesday. How are we supposed to build anything decent when the wood looks like it was rejected from a pallet factory? Anyone else given up on big stores and switched to a local lumber yard for framing?

3 comments

3 Comments

felixlee19d ago

Brother I swear they're selling lumber that failed the scavenger hunt at a woodpile. Last time I grabbed a "straight" 8-footer from Home Depot it bent so bad I could've used it to measure a curve. Might as well buy a bag of sticks and call it a day.

the_patricia19d ago

dude i feel this so hard, i swear they just grab whatever's been sitting in the rain and call it "premium". last time i picked through the whole pile and still ended up with a board that looked like a boomerang.

lisaf385d ago

Swear I went through the same pile at that exact store and ended up picking a board that looked more like a glowstick than a 2x4, had to double check I wasn't at the novelty aisle. @the_patricia is spot on, that wood's been thru more weather than my grandpa's knees.

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