Hey CX

[genel]

CX where do you buy lumber? Before Home Depot I used to buy lumber at real lumber yards: Sutherlands, 84 Lumber, McCoys.

Well last year they closed the McCoys near my office, now I get everything at Home Depot and its a PITA, well they have p---ed me off the last couple of times.

So, I thought I might ask someone who knows, are there any lumber yards left near the North West/North side of San Antonio.

Thanks,
Gene

[Sponsored Links]

[cx]

I buy most of my lumber from Allen & Allen in San Antonio, Gene, not at all close to you, not even close to me.

I buy some lumber-type materials (mostly Hardi products and other such that A&A doesn't carry) from Builders First Source (BFS), which usta be Fisher Lumber, which is just north of Loop 1604 on I-10. That's a lot closer to me and where I buy most of my millwork products.

I'm not familiar with what's out your way, truth be known, because I always get my stuff from the same source no matter where I'm working. I know I would have no problem getting a load delivered to you out there, but for a place to just go by and get a little of this and a little of that, I'd be stuck with Homer's, too.

You need a substantial amount of something right now?

Where's your office?

[genel]

The only thing I need right now is the wainscot material that we are going to use on the bathroom wall (and associated molding). We have been working with Allen and Allen at their new showroom on 1604 and I will probably go to their down town store to pick it up.

I work off of Lockhill-Selma, very close to the I-10/1604 interchange. I mostly shop at the HD at DeZavala.

I mostly wrote because the last time I got any lumber at HD, they didn't have what I really wanted and when I got my second choice there was no one to help me load it. That and the idiots at the pro desk just drive me nuts. I have gone to the store on 281 and they are a little better, but I don't drive that way home much anymore becase 1604 sucks so bad.

I found the people in the Builders First Source showroom so unfriendly that I have not been back. I may try them the next time I need Hardi.

(The McCoys I used to go to was off of I-10 at about the Festia Tx exit, its become something else that looks like a lumber yard, I may go by there.)

Later in the year I would like to deck our porches and I want to use cedar 2x6's for that, but the price at Allen & Allen was just shocking. I also will need plywood for replacing the kitchen floor, I am not sure what I want yet.

When I bought the bulk of the lumber for the house I got it from the Ace hardware in Universal city, they cut me a really good deal and I would go back there, but it sure is hell and gone from any place I normally am now.

The thing is now I really buy just a little lumber at a time, so I usually just put up with the hassle to get it at HD. In the next couple of years I will be using a lot more trim and so far Allen & Allen is looking like the best choice. (I actually compared prices on the wainscot and they are 40% less than HD, and I just can't figure that out.)

Thanks for writing.

Gene

[cx]

Why, hell, Gene, I didn't know you were shoping just down the street. Acutally, the DeZavala Homers has been the most useful of their stores in the area for me. I shopped on 281 when it first opened and Builders' Square closed, but I'll take a serious beatin' to keep from having to go over there any more. There are a couple more to the west, but I don't go there either. I mostly deal with the new one in Boerne, but they are piss-poor and I frequently hafta go to DeZavala for what I need anyway. If something has to be ordered, though, I come back to Boerne to order it just because of the "associates" you describe at the pro desk.

As for your experience at the showroom at BFS, I'm not surprised but I can fix that for you. Should you need to go in there again, ask for Alison and tell her I sent you. Unfortunately, she deals mostly with exterior doors, but she also manages that showroom and is on top of everything. Don't know who you might have dealt with there before, but I know there are some real non-personalities available there at times. Don't deal with anyone there but Alison; call ahead and schedule an appointment if necessary. Unless you wanna buy Eagle windows, then there is another guy we need to get you connected with.

As far as the BFS lumber department is concerned, they simply have no one I can send you to for best results. You pretty much hafta know what they have and how to ask for it and you're not gonna get much in the way of service at any given time. I try to deal with them entirely by phone. If I need something that has to be seen and evaluated before purchase, I go all the way down to A&A.

The BFS millwork division is better than a lot of places, but I have constant problems there, too. The insiders there will admit that their position in the industry in this area is that of being "the best of the worst". Unfortunately, I have found that to be fairly accurate. I've been doing bidness with them since 1986 and deal with some of the same people I dealt with then, so I at least know to whom to take my complaints.

At any rate, if you need help with getting anything from either BFS or A&A, feel free to gimme a holler. I may have better luck getting you delivery on some stuff than you might be able to get yourself. Might save a buck, too, for all I know. I don't get the price breaks the big guys do, but I do better than the walk-in prices.

[genel]

I went to A & A on 1604 and ordered about $400 worth of molding. They insisted on delivery (the 1604 doesn't have much room to store stuff). Free delivery is almost as good as a discount considering how much it cost to run my truck these days.

There are three HD on 281, I was talking about the one outside of 1604. The one at bitters is not that great, and I have never been to the other one.

So, I am thinking I will probably just deal with Allen & Allen for stuff for now. I may write you when I need something in paticular.

Thanks,
Gene