a lesson in buying local

over the weekend i worked on my raised beds. built one, of six.

my original plan was to buy the wood from home depot and i estimated it would cost me roughly $120. my plan was to get twelve 2x8x10 boards and have them cut into four foot and six foot sections. at the last minute i traded up to twelve foot boards for beds that would be 5x7. looking at my first finished product, i'd say i'm glad i did.

home depot was incredibly unhelpful—boarding on negligent.
2x8x12 boards are heavy. and unwieldy.
especially when you are 5'4" and they are located approximately a foot-and-a-half above you.

after talking to the building materials service man, i was left there to load these monsters myself. i have never had an employee of home depot leave me to haul my own wood.

this man even came back and talked to me while i was obviously struggling to get these behemoths down without taking off my head, my fingers, or taking out someone else.

its not safe to be pulling things down from above your head that are that big and heavy.

i got fed up and left.
and called the local building supply store. guess what? the very same boards i wanted—almost three dollars cheaper!

sunday i went down.
even with the nominal cut fee they charge, i saved close to forty dollars. and the loaded to the saw and they loaded it in my car.

so, if you ever need a reason to buy local—think better service, better deals. i will definitely be buying my lumber there from now on.