Half Price Lumber

 Last week I was getting all geared up to do the ceiling insulation in my garage in preparation for the steel panels I wanted to hang in there. It suddenly occurred to me that I still hadn't purchased any wood for the floor of the attic. Big deal, right? Wrong. I had to get that material up there before I closed up the gaps between the rafters. Its a 50 pounds of shit in a ten pound bag kinda thing. Even if a four foot wide panel fit through the attic ladder hole there wasn't enough head room to physically wedge an eight foot length up there. It would all have to be done first and that meant a trip to the lumber yard, in this case Lowes.

 I never used to go to Lowes before this year. Lately I've come to like that store. Their lumber is of better quality than their competition. Customer service is top notch and the price advertised is the actual price without any gimmicks or mail in rebates. Well, its not always the actual price as this cheap bastard tested during my last visit. I said their lumber was decent but on this visit I was looking for cheap wood for the attic floor. What I found was some 1/2" exterior plywood sheets on a rack and they appeared to be cover and bottom sheets with the edges damaged from banding straps. I already knew I was gonna have to rip these to width to get them up there so if I could get these six lonely red headed step child looking sheets for a decent price I'd be happy. I found a manager and asked if they were on sale. He whipped out his phone, did some poking and scrolling and decided there were not on sale. He also decided he was seven sheets short on the pile which has nothing to do with this story but I found it interesting. Anyway, I asked him if he really thought he was gonna get full price for these sheets and began pointing out all the flaws and damage. So much so that I was having second thoughts on whether or not I actually wanted them. I told him I'd clear the rack and take all six for the right price. He offered 50% off  and I accepted without a counter offer because that seemed fair and was the number I was hoping for. I may be cheap but I'm not gonna be a dick about it. 

 They wouldn't even let me load the cart. Two of them handled the lumber and cart all the way to the big ass station wagon where I finally did get a hand in on the action. When I got home and started using grandpas table saw to cut the sheets I realized they really weren't as bad as they looked in the store and with a little thought on how to cut them I was able to make any ugliness go away.

 I'm not claiming to be some great negotiator. All I'm saying is that some times you need to keep your eyes and mind open. I didn't walk in to that lumberyard looking for 1/2" treated plywood but rather for the best deal on a product suitable for what I wanted it to do. I didn't let on that all I was looking for was cheap, cheap, cheap. Instead I offered to do him a favor and get those crappy sheets of plywood out of his hair so he could display a fresh bundle. 

 What a nice guy I am :-)

Later.