Shopsmith Forums

So I dont like to be negative and not for very long when it happens , however there is something really on my mind I went to a big box store last week and placed a order , over 2500.00 . asked for it to be delivered .
Life is good , I am getting old and the truck is down being repaired or I would have just done like all ways and picked it up my self .
Long story short I ordered 5 sheets of treated plywood near 50bks a sheet 5 windows , some water proof fire resistant to 45 minutes drywall ,,,,cement corner blocks ,a pallet of cement and mortar . life is good , thats a lot of loading for a old guy .

So it showed up , the ply's on the plywood was separated to the point there was no structural strength , no way it would even hold a nail let alone support a refrigerator ,he edges on the drywall was badly damaged the windows were the wrong size and the blocks were not what I ordered .

Ok so every one has a first day on the job and every one has to start some where , but come one folks do contractors really accept this sort of garbage now ? doesnt any one inspect material at the yard ? the truck driver said he sees this all the time and my stuff was rather good compared to some of what he sees .

So I went back to the big box store with windows in the back seat of a chevy impala , the girl at the front desk was very nice , we exchanged the windows and now they want me to bring back the bad stuff ,,IN MY IMPALA?

Its one reason I had it delivered !!

I would be ashamed to run a business ,,any business that way . JMO ad sorry for the rant .

Rant on. Your experience is one of the main reasons I rarely buy from the Big Orange or blue stores.

Good experiences and bad experiences. I think we all have had both kinds.

Last Spring I needed to put in a retaining wall. I went to Menards, and the load came to around 6000 pounds of concrete blocks. Like you, I decided that an old man shouldn't have to move that much weight too many times so I had them deliver. The delivery guy came right on time like he said he would, and he placed the blocks exactly where I wanted them using his fork lift. The order was exactly what I ordered.
I got my retaining wall built on time and I had to move the blocks myself only once to set them in place.

Hopefully they make everything right and you have a better experience next time like mine was.

On the bright side they had the windows I needed in stock and they said they would exchange the bad stuff , I just cant imagine having a crew on a job site waiting on the stuff or paying for a delivery truck and driver to only have the stuff returned .

With regard to the crew that made the initial delivery:

There is this "Favorite Quote" --- "If a man does his best, what else is there?"-

LOL

Those words have kept me sane for many years ! one would think after all these years and all the money wasted they would have figured out how quality control works .just guessing but It would probably cut down the cost of materials x 20%

Hobbyman2 wrote:LOL

Those words have kept me sane for many years ! one would think after all these years and all the money wasted they would have figured out how quality control works .just guessing but It would probably cut down the cost of materials x 20%

That MIGHT be true but if they did recognize a reduction in the cost of materials you and I would never see it. That money would flow right to the bottom line (the profit line).

Family Handyman magazine just did an article on plywood. They went through the selection process and what to look for and to look out for. One comment caught my eye after reading this thread. NEVER HAVE YOUR PLYWOOD DELIVERED. The reason cited was exactly what you experienced, crappy plywood.

When we were building houses we never ordered from the big box stores, always a local lumber yard that through experience we trusted. We did from time to time run to a big box to pick up odds and ends but we never had them deliver.

Our dry wall sub always ordered his own dry wall. I noticed that when it was delivered every sheet was in pristine condition. The delivery company always brought scrap sheets so they could lay them down first before stacking the good stuff on them. ALWAYS!

My neighbor who is an upholster/furniture builder from time to time gets cabinet grade plywood delivered. Again he demands the highest quality and checks the load before it is unloaded. If there is a problem he rejects the delivery. They hate that and make sure it never happens.

Good point glad to see others have seen the problem as well ,they should teach every one working in the lumber yards , the thing that disturbs me most is ,, if the chemicals or the process's are causing delamination like this then there is a lot of wasted material resources that in no way meets any kind of standard ,, makes you wonder about the the stuff all ready installed or being installed and / or sill being manufactured .