Rafter Lumber Delivery

I finally took delivery of my rafter lumber, which is shown in a couple large stacks (circled) and a few planks that I put up on sawhorses or left on the 'roof' (arrows) to start measuring, marking and cutting tomorrow.  However, this lumber was not easy to get - certainly not as easy as it should have been...

Cost:  $4300 for (4) 9.5" x 28' LVL, (2) 9.5" x 22' LVL, (44) 7.25" x 30' LVL - delivered by Menards.  $250 for (44) Stainless Steel Rafter Hangers - picked up at Milaca Building Center.

Follow the nightmare...

On a Friday I started my price checking.  Menards in Elk River, MN had the lowest price but the longest wait (2 weeks). Home Depot would match the price and could deliver the following Thursday.  Lowes also matched Menards price and promised the lumber the day after it was ordered.  Note:  I like to buy locally if possible to support the area businesses, but Milaca Building Center was almost 10% higher than the other 3 places, and, as usual, they refuse to bother with a price match.  "We can't compete with their volume purchasing power, and we also sell a better grade of LVL" (yeah, whatever).  For some reason, they did come in lower for the rafter hangers, so I gave them that business.

Lowes:  Monday I placed the order with Lowes.  The department manager called me that night to let me know there had been a mistake and that THEY would get the shipment the next day (Tuesday), and then it would come to me first thing in the morning of the following day (Wednesday).  I called Tuesday morning to confirm the Wednesday morning delivery timeframe and was told there had been another mistake and I couldn't get the lumber before Friday.  I was going to be out of town Friday, and had heard enough "mistakes" from Lowes, so I canceled the order.

Home Depot:  I called Home Depot, and they said they could still make it that Thursday, so I ordered it from them.  Thursday morning at 8:AM I heard a knock on my door.   The truck driver refused to drive town my driveway and wanted to leave the load out on the county road.  He didn't feel he could make the "sharp corner" at the end of the driveway and still be able to get out.  After several minutes of offering ideas, which escalated almost to arguing, he went back to Home Depot with my lumber.  I canceled that order, too, and they actually tried to charge me for a restocking fee of over $300.  I straightened that out with a district manager, but it took 2 days of phone tag.  Note:  I spoke with 4 truck drivers; 3 of them saying they could have made the corner with no real problem, the other 1 saying he would at least have tried.

Menards:  So yes, I ended up going with Menards and their 2-week lead time.  They were pretty good about putting the order through even though I couldn't pay them until the previous two orders had cleared off my credit card as refunds (3 days).  I was under the impression the lumber would be delivered on day 14, but was "reminded" that they had said it might be a day or two one way or the other.  Today...delivery day...is day 18.  On the good side, they delivered it with a boom truck and the guy was skilled enough to lift it onto my 'roof' with no problem.  That easily saved me a full day of back breaking labor.

Copyright  ©  2002-     Wright Track Enterprises, Inc.    All rights reserved.