Almost everything is less expensive, but the quality varies. Things like lumber and hardware are generally fine. Hand tools, depends on the tool. Power tools, don't do it.
I went in during covid with my kid and they told us she had to leave because she wasn't 18.
I was completely astounded by this, never heard of such a thing.
Anyways I never went back, plenty of other places to buy knockoff power tools shit and cheap Chiner garbage.
10% back. Lumberyard is reasonable, it's kind of in between a dedicated home builder's yard and retail. They're better than HD, Lowes, and Ace but worse than all the specialty shops.
No it's the walmart of hardware stores. Cabellas are a 3 story camping gear carnival.
Love Menards for building materials. Not so much for tools. They tend to have a lot of cheaper off brands, though that seems to be getting better. Went through the hardware dept for the first time in a while and they had some Milwaukee, Kregs and Bessey stuff.
For actual building materials, they just have a ton more on hand than HD or Lowes. You can literally pull up with a couple trailers and drive out a few hours later with everything to build a home. No one else seems to keep trusses and big LVL on hand ready to go. They're also the only big box with outdoor lumber yards around here.
>No one else seems to keep trusses and big LVL on hand ready to go.
The trusses are always special order only, they never actually 'stock' them at the box store locations. If you live near a DC where they make them and you have a long flatbed trailer, you used to be able to pick up 16' and 24' trusses on demand, but I think they stopped letting unaffiliated drivers onsite as of 2018.
If a housing project goes bust and some contractor leaves their trusses at a store for over a year, it used to be you could pick up stacks of old weathered trusses on the cheap, but idk how that works since even shit lumber hit premium prices. Ray's list is kinda pitiful near me.
Everything but 11"x 16' lvls are special order near me now, too.
The one by here has a full line of plaster supplies. I just bought a dilapidated old victorian money pit to fix up and I was special ordering that stuff until someone told me that. Lowe's here used to carry a small amount of it but they stopped a couple years ago.
they tend to have weird plumbing/electrical/birdseed/peanut butter/flooring things other stores don't carry regularly. I like it, but it's hardly a top quality place
Worked at Menards for 6 years until I was 22 and enjoyed it and learned a lot from the contractors who shopped there. Some good tool brands and relatively wide variety of parts/supplies as compared to HD or L*wes. Not a specialty store by any means, but pretty fair prices for any normal home improvement project.
Didn't pay nearly enough for the shit I had to do as a manager when I left.
Better than Lowe's. I still don't understand how the frick Lowe's is still in business. Lowe's is a more expensive and has inferior products compared to Home Depot, plus Lowe's only carries Dewalt.
both stores have their merit. As an example, I can only get purdy products at Lowes, but if I need a can of texture I go to home depot for homex. For the homeowner lowes has a better selections of home goods, like light fixtures etc. Overall home depot has the best employees that know their shit
Btw lowes has a major deal with klein now so I'll probably be spending more time there, fortunately my lowes and home depot are across the street from eachother
There may or may not be arbitrage opportunities because separate Lowes stores don't share inventory and sales data like the other box stores do. There are also individual store special sales.
Most anons have already summed up what I think so I'll just re-iterate. >Menards
Best value lumber, hardware, and anything you typically buy in large bulk. 11% rebate is great. Hand tools are merely OK, avoid the power tools. >Home Depot
More expensive but better quality, especially the tools. >Lowes
Quite literally a part of Walmart thanks to some corpo's wedding years ago. I don't go there. I would expect it to be like Walmart: full of brown people, uncaring unthinking minimum wage employees, and that blunt but untrue "we have the cheapest prices anywhere" mantra.
Menards constantly has 11% off rebate on all items in the store. you need to mail shit out, and get a cash card back later.
or you can go to home depot, and get the same items already priced 10% cheaper than menards.
menards has a better layout imo thant lowes, or home depot, and more home stuff, like cloths, snacks, cleaning supplies, etc.
Menards has a really great lumber yard and huge selection of flooring, lighting, garden, their prices are better I check it versus home Depot and Lowe's.
their tools they carry house brand which is made by Chervon and appears to be skil 20v rebranded and kobalt 20v version, outdoor line looks like green works.
they carry bosch, skil, metabo, and the prices are very good, recent deals included that porter cable jointer for $100, skil 10" miter for $200, the rikon table saw is 269 there and 600 everywhere else. right now they have that skil rear handle dual 20v with 2 5ah battery and dual charger kit for 200.
there upstairs appliance section has some great deals too, and that's all considering before the rebate.
Menards for huge building supply and lumber selection, lighting, mine even has nice grocery section with dry goods like pumpkin seeds and nice bulk foods. Get your power tools somewhere else.
Lowes is trash. They want $50 for shit like a terrible Chinese garden hose and $12 for a pack of 5 shitty 2in bolts (nuts not included.)
It is alright, personally, I think Ace and TruValue always have what I need when it comes to my jobs, then I usually just order old King Dick, Heart Brand, Sears Craftsman or DeWalt tools, unless I need metric and machinist size stuff, then I mail order from MicroMark.
I hate both Lowe's and Home Depot because half the time they are pushing brands that I do not like (Nairobi, Husky, etc.), but if you are open to their stuff, go ahead. But Nairobi tools are so shitty, that I frankly would sooner go to Harbor Freight instead.
I know there is Lowe's Craftsman, but I have yet to see what their stuff is like.
Usually located in dangerous neighborhoods. Worthless (granted underpaid) employees. Usually very poor quality items. Prices are lower but sometimes literally a penny lower. Its very meh.
Only absolute morons think orange and blue have better pricing on everyday stuff.
The other guys will have appliances and big brand name items $50 cheaper (usually a worse version they exclusively getbto sell) and then charge an extra $30 for a bucket of screws
That, along with them actually carrying everything that a serious contractor would need to buy makes the other guys worthless.
People talk shit about Menard, but Lowes is owned by fricking Walmart and Home Depot has 2500 stores but has 3000% margin on a lot of their hardware
As a contractor, you're throwing money away if you don't shop at Menards
Back when I was living in the Midwest I always played on their little playground set ups (not sure if they still have them) and smelled their wood chips. Staff didn’t like me doing that
nah moron go to Lowe's
Jon Menard is a c**t.
Action alley always has deals
Save big money at my nards
Almost everything is less expensive, but the quality varies. Things like lumber and hardware are generally fine. Hand tools, depends on the tool. Power tools, don't do it.
I went in during covid with my kid and they told us she had to leave because she wasn't 18.
I was completely astounded by this, never heard of such a thing.
Anyways I never went back, plenty of other places to buy knockoff power tools shit and cheap Chiner garbage.
This isn't true
My state had a serious mask mandate and all 3 Menards near here didn't even enforce it.
Frick off, it is true. Menard's went off the deep end when covid shit first started.
Stop being butthurt over 4 years later
Kek that sign was up for like 6 weeks, clearly posted outside and you didn't have to wear a mask where the other stores made you
You're moronic lmaooooooo
But is she 18 now and can you send her my way?
I think 'nards is British slang for a scrotum, e.g.,
"It's so cold, me 'nards have shriveled up!"
Is menards like the bass pro shops or cabellas of a hardware store? I went to a cabellas when i was a young buck and never forgot it.
10% back. Lumberyard is reasonable, it's kind of in between a dedicated home builder's yard and retail. They're better than HD, Lowes, and Ace but worse than all the specialty shops.
No it's the walmart of hardware stores. Cabellas are a 3 story camping gear carnival.
Love Menards for building materials. Not so much for tools. They tend to have a lot of cheaper off brands, though that seems to be getting better. Went through the hardware dept for the first time in a while and they had some Milwaukee, Kregs and Bessey stuff.
For actual building materials, they just have a ton more on hand than HD or Lowes. You can literally pull up with a couple trailers and drive out a few hours later with everything to build a home. No one else seems to keep trusses and big LVL on hand ready to go. They're also the only big box with outdoor lumber yards around here.
>No one else seems to keep trusses and big LVL on hand ready to go.
The trusses are always special order only, they never actually 'stock' them at the box store locations. If you live near a DC where they make them and you have a long flatbed trailer, you used to be able to pick up 16' and 24' trusses on demand, but I think they stopped letting unaffiliated drivers onsite as of 2018.
If a housing project goes bust and some contractor leaves their trusses at a store for over a year, it used to be you could pick up stacks of old weathered trusses on the cheap, but idk how that works since even shit lumber hit premium prices. Ray's list is kinda pitiful near me.
Everything but 11"x 16' lvls are special order near me now, too.
The one by here has a full line of plaster supplies. I just bought a dilapidated old victorian money pit to fix up and I was special ordering that stuff until someone told me that. Lowe's here used to carry a small amount of it but they stopped a couple years ago.
they tend to have weird plumbing/electrical/birdseed/peanut butter/flooring things other stores don't carry regularly. I like it, but it's hardly a top quality place
11% rebates
'Sale' price is $XX.99 after rebate. That shit is such a scam I'm surprised they haven't been sued yet.
Worked at Menards for 6 years until I was 22 and enjoyed it and learned a lot from the contractors who shopped there. Some good tool brands and relatively wide variety of parts/supplies as compared to HD or L*wes. Not a specialty store by any means, but pretty fair prices for any normal home improvement project.
Didn't pay nearly enough for the shit I had to do as a manager when I left.
Better than Lowe's. I still don't understand how the frick Lowe's is still in business. Lowe's is a more expensive and has inferior products compared to Home Depot, plus Lowe's only carries Dewalt.
both stores have their merit. As an example, I can only get purdy products at Lowes, but if I need a can of texture I go to home depot for homex. For the homeowner lowes has a better selections of home goods, like light fixtures etc. Overall home depot has the best employees that know their shit
Btw lowes has a major deal with klein now so I'll probably be spending more time there, fortunately my lowes and home depot are across the street from eachother
Lowe's is for people who can afford not to smell poor people while shopping
Lowes carries Dewalt, Flex, Kobalt, Metabo, Bosch, Skil, and Craftsman.
That's clearly more than Home Depot carries.
There may or may not be arbitrage opportunities because separate Lowes stores don't share inventory and sales data like the other box stores do. There are also individual store special sales.
They sell model trains, which I think is pretty cool.
Most anons have already summed up what I think so I'll just re-iterate.
>Menards
Best value lumber, hardware, and anything you typically buy in large bulk. 11% rebate is great. Hand tools are merely OK, avoid the power tools.
>Home Depot
More expensive but better quality, especially the tools. >Lowes
Quite literally a part of Walmart thanks to some corpo's wedding years ago. I don't go there. I would expect it to be like Walmart: full of brown people, uncaring unthinking minimum wage employees, and that blunt but untrue "we have the cheapest prices anywhere" mantra.
Menards constantly has 11% off rebate on all items in the store. you need to mail shit out, and get a cash card back later.
or you can go to home depot, and get the same items already priced 10% cheaper than menards.
menards has a better layout imo thant lowes, or home depot, and more home stuff, like cloths, snacks, cleaning supplies, etc.
>HD cheaper than menards
yeah, nice try Ed Decker CEO. The only prices HD will ever beat are Ace's.
Menards has a really great lumber yard and huge selection of flooring, lighting, garden, their prices are better I check it versus home Depot and Lowe's.
their tools they carry house brand which is made by Chervon and appears to be skil 20v rebranded and kobalt 20v version, outdoor line looks like green works.
they carry bosch, skil, metabo, and the prices are very good, recent deals included that porter cable jointer for $100, skil 10" miter for $200, the rikon table saw is 269 there and 600 everywhere else. right now they have that skil rear handle dual 20v with 2 5ah battery and dual charger kit for 200.
there upstairs appliance section has some great deals too, and that's all considering before the rebate.
I like Lowe's for tools too tho, so I check both.
What most people said.
Menards for huge building supply and lumber selection, lighting, mine even has nice grocery section with dry goods like pumpkin seeds and nice bulk foods. Get your power tools somewhere else.
Lowes is trash. They want $50 for shit like a terrible Chinese garden hose and $12 for a pack of 5 shitty 2in bolts (nuts not included.)
Ghostpolitics was here.
It is alright, personally, I think Ace and TruValue always have what I need when it comes to my jobs, then I usually just order old King Dick, Heart Brand, Sears Craftsman or DeWalt tools, unless I need metric and machinist size stuff, then I mail order from MicroMark.
I hate both Lowe's and Home Depot because half the time they are pushing brands that I do not like (Nairobi, Husky, etc.), but if you are open to their stuff, go ahead. But Nairobi tools are so shitty, that I frankly would sooner go to Harbor Freight instead.
I know there is Lowe's Craftsman, but I have yet to see what their stuff is like.
Usually located in dangerous neighborhoods. Worthless (granted underpaid) employees. Usually very poor quality items. Prices are lower but sometimes literally a penny lower. Its very meh.
Pretty much, the sales acan be pretty good, though.
Not PrepHole material, but their selection of model trains are pretty cheap, $200, for what would have cost 5x as much had it been branded as Lionel.
I'm sorry you're a citygay
their grape soda has a monkey on it
Menards beats everyone else every day of the week
Only absolute morons think orange and blue have better pricing on everyday stuff.
The other guys will have appliances and big brand name items $50 cheaper (usually a worse version they exclusively getbto sell) and then charge an extra $30 for a bucket of screws
That, along with them actually carrying everything that a serious contractor would need to buy makes the other guys worthless.
People talk shit about Menard, but Lowes is owned by fricking Walmart and Home Depot has 2500 stores but has 3000% margin on a lot of their hardware
As a contractor, you're throwing money away if you don't shop at Menards
I love to save big money.
It's a wonder they allow that 11% rebate on all merchandise. One deck project and you literally get back hundreds.
Back when I was living in the Midwest I always played on their little playground set ups (not sure if they still have them) and smelled their wood chips. Staff didn’t like me doing that