Drove 3 hours to a big box hardware store and their lumber section was a disgrace

I made a special trip to the Lowes in Modesto last weekend because my local place never has decent 2x4s. Figured a bigger store would have better stock. Walked into their lumber aisle and it looked like a tornado hit it. Boards were warped, split, covered in mud, and half of them were leaning in a pile on the floor. I spent 20 minutes digging through maybe 200 studs and found maybe 5 that were straight enough for the shed frame I'm building. What's the point of having a huge selection if nobody bothers to keep it organized or pull the garbage ones? The worker I asked just shrugged and said they get blamed for it but the truck unloaders drop everything off in a mess. Has anyone else run into this at your local stores, or is mine just really bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly3851mo ago

Not to be that person, but you drove 3 hours for lumber? That's like an entire day just for wood. Modesto's Lowes is the same mess as every other one, honestly.

wilson.joseph1mo ago

The lumber at my Lowes is always warped or split, so a specialty yard that actually cures their stock is WORTH the drive. Three hours round trip hurts but getting wood that doesn't twist and crack after a week saves way more time in the long run. Plus, that Modesto trip let me grab a dozen other supplies I was gonna order online anyway, so it's not like I burned the whole day on two boards.

angela_harris1mo ago

Yeah, @kelly385, it's more like 2 hours and 20 minutes from my place, not a full 3.