I took this a few days ago don’t see very many 3 log loads any more, cutting timber these days is mostly cutting standing dead and leaving it on the ground. We had 2 fires near me that usfs let burn because it was too dangerous for fire fighters cause, standing dead trees.

 

A few years back I needed to replace some cardside boards on the side of the barn. Went to the local big box store because they were advertising a sale on lumber. We spent over half an hour trying to find enough boards that we could use, most were full of knots, twisted or cracked. We gave up and drove up to the local lumber yard and within 15 minutes we had the trailer filled with the lumber we wanted. I don't remember the cost difference but it probably was about 25% at the lumber yard but was well worth it.

 

I am a retired sheet metal worker, ( field foreman). The safety protocol on equipment was awesome. I would have to go in to the shop occasionally and load the truck, but because I was only certified for field operation of equipment I could not load my truck so the yard guy had to do it. Loved it. Rules are not so bad, times are just changing which for older people change harder.

 

I can absolutely believe this. I don´t even bother going to lowes or home depot for whitewood 2-by anything - their stock is just plain junk most of the time. Menards is OK for 2x4´s and bigger whitewood boards, hardwood boards, and misc treated lumber, but even they can´t manage to stock usable 2x2s or furring strips. Tiresome.

Yeah, the price of lumber these days is nuts. I read somewhere that since there are so many people working from home, the number of people doing home improvement projects has gone way up, so maybe that´s part of the problem. And maybe there are supply chain issues getting wood across the border from Canada. And I can´t remember if the tariffs are still in place on Canadian lumber either; I remember a jump in prices right around when those went into effect a few years back.

 

I have a local lumber yard, but they basically sell garbage and charge more than Lowes/ HD. If you don't watch what the guys load you, they are going to put the worst stuff they have on your load

 

To your original rant Abe you can blame most of that on the tree hugging bureaucrats that shut down all the mills here on the west coast. They fail to manage the forest and then wonder why they burn with such intensity. They blame the loggers for "destroying the woods" but their wild fires leave a bigger scar and do more to add to "global warming" than anything else. As long as these people get elected and make the rules it will continue to get worse. Thank God I have more years behind me than in front of me.

I just came back from a trip to the SW Missouri and it was great being around like minded people, cheap fuel prices, and logical guns laws. Nine months more of this Gavin Newsome BS and I will be leaving this place and taking my retirement money with me.

 

An Australian Story....

When I was about 8 years old, my parents bought a Mazda, and my WW2 Pacific veteran Grandpa didn't speak to them for 3 years......I thought it was based on (understandable post-war racism)....
About 5 years ago when the Australian auto manufacturing industry finally collapsed, My Grandpa's warnings about not buying Aussie made, REGARDLESS OF CHEAPER IMPORTS finally came home to roost.

A Big Box hardware chain came to Australia about 20 years ago. DESTROYED all of the local independent stores.
Yesterday, I was walking the isles of a "specialty" tool store, trying to find the right $35 "discount" drill bit, with my recently employed 14 year old nephew.
I told him to go ask where they keep their nuts and bolts - he came back dumbfounded - they don't have any and instructed him to go to the big box store for that.....

Then we got pulled over by Police in my OT 88 Vette convertible......"not doing anything wrong....we just pulled you over in case there was something up".....

As for inflation - I then had to spend lunchtime explaining to nephew why his Grandparents (my parents) have mowed through most of their intergenerational inheritances and plentiful retirement savings, despite not appearing to have actually bought anything....

At least I've now got a good lad to leave my trucks to one day!!!!

 

Was at home depot just this morning, so i had to go look at the drywall. At least 50 sheets damaged enough that most buyers would pass on them.
too bad i dont need any drywall right now.

 

I can’t say how I have this information, but year ago I learned this...

A big box store home improvement store opens....

stage 1) bring in the A team, total professionals in their field. Purchase high end products and price them at a loss. The goal is to challenge local Mom and Pops and put them in jeopardy. No profit is expected, operating at a loss is the norm.

stage 2) once the goal of discrediting the local stores is reached (1-2 years) the A team moves on. The B team is local professionals are brought in. The goal is to stop the losses, provide good customer support, and purchase mid level products.

stage 3) hire minimum wage employees, teach them enough to help out when necessary. Corporate purchases all products, the goal is make the store profitable.

Its a sound business model, but hurts both the small Mom and Pops and the consumer.

 

I also wonder, if all the plywood being used up on all the store fronts in riot prone metro areas is also driving up the cost of plywood. I was listening to a Chicago talk show a while back, a guy said his wife got a quote from a crew to board up her store front for $10K. He didn't mention the number of windows. Hopefully that included the plywood.

 

Just saw (investment research) that lumber futures had dropped pretty significantly. This means that lumber prices should drop in the next two months ... or not.

 

I noticed this when Home Depot moved into our area. The first year they had a older person in each department. They even advertised they had the experienced expert to help you. Now if their is an older person working there he doesn't know any more than the younger kids working there. Talk to the older guys and they'll tell you either they were laid off from some other job not really related to anything in the store or they're semi-retired and working for beer money.

A few years back I was watching a NOVA show about Walmart. What they would do is move into a larger area and set up stores in a 25~ mile circle, mainly in small towns. Once they got those stores established and drove the local mom and pop stores out of business they would big a big super store in the center of the circle and close all of the outlying stores. They figured if they kept the initial circle of stores relatively close when they closed them their customers would be willing to drive a little farther to the big, more profitable store.

As for shortages of materials. There was an article on NPR about two months ago about the shortage of clear plastic. They interview plastic manufacturers that couldn't keep clear plastic in stock because of the plastic barriers every business is installing to separate the employees from customers, you know, the big plastic shields everyone talks around so the employees and customers can hear each other. Also, there are many new products being made using plastics, like personal shields that a person straps to themselves and large domes for restaurants so diners can safely separate themselves from others in domes that tend to trap all kinds of nasty things.

 

About the store's staffing. I read at one time I think it was Lowe's that outsourced many of their associates positions to a staffing company. So even though they were working in the stores and wearing the vests, they weren't actually Lowes employees. But if true maybe that has changed.

About Walmart's growth strategy. Dollar General is busily building out many stores in my area. Many of them in small towns right next door to the only convenience store in town. Their strategy appears to be to get the customer to spend their money before they get to Walmart.