Home Depot vs Lowes

[lxskllr]

Never been to Lowes, but I hate Home Depot. We used to have a Sears hardware store in town. It was a fairly small store, but they always had what I needed. I'd go to Home Depot, not find what I'm looking for, then go to Sears and find it. For all the room Home Depot takes up, they're missing a lot of supplies. Sears is gone now, so I'll occasionally go to Home Depot, but I prefer to drive out of my way to go to an independent if I have the time.

 

[JulesMaximus]

They're exactly the same...I used to shop at HD but Lowes is closer. If I can't find something at Lowes, I've been equally disappointed at Home Depot.

 

[BornStar]

Most things I buy at Lowes end up being defective or broken and HD is a lot closer so that's where I go now. I had it solidified this weekend that I should only buy hand tools at Sears now. My brother was using a spade for 10 minutes that I just bought at HD and bent the blade to a 45 degree angle. The Craftsman spade cost $10 extra and completed the rest of the job including the portion that killed the HD spade without a problem.

 

[Jadow]

If you live where Menards is, they're pretty good. Great garden section.

 

[CPA]

Lowe's is the housewives home improvement store

Home Depot is the contractors home improvement store

What are you talking about? I recently ordered 180 5/4x6x12 decking board, 120 4x4x6 posts, 80 bags of quikrete, plus 1000 screws (was building a rail fence) from Lowes. All of it was cheaper than HD, ther gave me an additional 5% discount on the order and had it delivered in 3 days for $40. Oh, and I rented a one man auger at the Sunbelt Rental attached to the Lowes for less than $80. Not bad for a housewives him improvement store.

 

[Kreon]

I don't shop at either of them if I don't need to.

I prefer the Ace Hardware store that's been in my town forever. A lot of the prices actually beat HD or Lowes. Like today's excursion:
HD/Lowes best price for grade stakes was $5 for 12
Ace was $5 for 25 stakes

 

[Squisher]

Lowe's is the housewives home improvement store

Home Depot is the contractors home improvement store

What are you talking about? I recently ordered 180 5/4x6x12 decking board, 120 4x4x6 posts, 80 bags of quikrete, plus 1000 screws (was building a rail fence) from Lowes. All of it was cheaper than HD, ther gave me an additional 5% discount on the order and had it delivered in 3 days for $40. Oh, and I rented a one man auger at the Sunbelt Rental attached to the Lowes for less than $80. Not bad for a housewives him improvement store.

The in-store selection at HD is little better when it comes to electrical, HVAC, lumber, and plumbing. Ironically, Lowes has a better selection of in-ground sprinkler hardware. Prices are all over the board, I can't say one is always better than the other. If I'm buying decorative items, I certainly go out of my way to visit Lowes over HD.

 

[thescreensavers]

Home Depot A - 5 min away
Home Depot B - 10 min away
Home Depot C - 10 min away

Lowes A- 30 min away
...

 

[Pacfanweb]

Lowes rules over HD in every way. It's the difference between Target and Walmart....neither is the "best" but one is significantly nicer, cleaner and has more knowledgeable staff than the other.

 

[BoomerD]

When the Lowe's first opened here in 2000, Home Depot kicked their asses for quality of customer service. It seemed like Lowe's hired the folks that couldn't cut it at Home Depot. Home Depot had far better selection and quality too.

Fast forward 5 years and Home Depot started firing all its long-term employees who made too much money...but actually knew stuff. Many of them went to Lowe's.
Nowadays, Lowe's beats HD hands down on customer service and the knowledge of their people. Overall, prices are about the same, and they both price match each other +10%, so I play them off each other all the time.

Home Depot is significantly closer, (less than 1 mile-Lowe's about 4 miles) but I still prefer Lowe's to HD for most things...especially in the garden department. I did buy my new Honda lawnmower from HD...because Lowe's didn't carry the Honda brand. PLUS, I used a 15% Orchard Supply Hardware coupon.

We used ONLY Behr interior paint when we bought this house in 1999. IIRC, we bought about 25 gallons to paint all the rooms and ceiling. GOOD paint.

 

[waggy]

sadly HD was mis-managed lately.

 

[Fritzo]

I prefer Home Depot because I have an account there. I guess their quality around here is equal though. Home Depot does have a better wood supply and flooring section, but Lowes seems to have better tools and electrical supplies.

 

[killster1]

lowe's is more helpful, but if you know what you are doing home depot has better selection, prices, and hot chicks working.

agree.. except with hot chicks aint seen any but im pretty picky i guess..

 

[Perknose]

Oh, re: "better prices" - not necessarily. When I did tongue and groove on my vaulted ceiling in the kitchen, HD's price: $6.99 for an 8 foot section. Local lumber store: $4.01 for a 14 foot section.

This, plus, where I live, we still have several ultra fine independently owned hardware stores where you STILL get the legendary "10 cents worth of parts, 10 dollars worth of service."

Neither Lowes nor HD can come close to that. Now, occasionally, you happen upon the retired guy who really knows his stuff in either, but in either Lowes or HD, their margin is predicated on fewer knowledgeable people and more stocked stuff.

Unlike the good Doctor, I'd say in my area that the HD/Lowes comparison is a crap shoot, with both often failing hard.

As for prices, the local/Lowes/HD comparo is like super markets, it varies dpending on what you're buying.

Additonally, I forget because I rarely have occasion to use it, but it's either Lowes or HD or both that had/have a 10% price match against the other with receipt, so . . .

Edit: THE BEST independent hardware store I personally know still standing:

http://www.finkles.com/

http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3718004252/jos-finkles-son-lambertvillehttp://www.insiderpages.com/b/3718004252/jos-finkles-son-lambertville

 

[dawp]

I've been to both and I prefer Ace Hardware where I live. I cant walk 20 paces without someone asking me if i need help. and I've found things at Ace that I could not find at either one of the others.

 

[Hyperlite]

I can't comment on the paint, but i ALWAYS go to lowes over HD. More helpful staff, much better organized store, and the ones in my area have a better selection generally.

 

[0roo0roo]

there are more mexicans in front of homedepot.

 

[chipy]

Behr is pretty much the top rated paint across numerous categories, last time I checked (couple years ago). Valspar isn't bad at all, though. Be fine with either one. Just make sure you don't cheap out and cut corners by not using a good primer.

what's a good primer? a couple of people recommended Kilz... not sure if the General Purpose is better than the Latex or Premium.

If using white or a very light color then use which ever one is cheaper.

yeah, i'll probably be painting most of my walls either white or a very light color. i've heard some people (in this thread and other websites) that say Behr is great and others that say it's the worst... so much conflicting information. i'll most likely go with that and see for myself if it's any good or not.

Lowes absolutely trumps HD in... store cleanliness.

definitely agree with HS on this one. i've noticed that every Lowes store i've been in has had a nicer feel, and it's probably because it's cleaner. but aside from that i haven't noticed a big difference on stock selection.

got a great turnout for this question... as always, thanks ATOT!

 

[Ksyder]

I used to do lots of contracting work and my personal preference was always Home Depot for better selection and easier to find stores. As far as price it was pretty negligible.

Nowadays I barely notice the difference between the two when I'm just buying stuff for personal use.

 

[dabuddha]

I've used valspar and behrs and honestly I can't really tell the difference but I go with Behr since that's what my father recommends. As for the stores, I prefer lowes over Home depot hands down. Going to home depot (my local one at least) and trying to get help is like pulling teeth. Where as when I go to lowes (my local one again), every associate is always saying hi to me and asking me if I need help with anything.

I do prefer my local Ace hardware over the 2 though. The people are extremely friendly and extremely knowledgeable (though the prices are slightly higher) If it's something small, I'll pick it up from Ace, otherwise I go to lowes (plus you can't beat the 10% off coupons )

 

[murphy55d]

We have both and they're within 5 minutes of each other. I generally go to Lowes because my buddy works there and if I need help I know I can go find him. That and Lowes is 5 minutes closer. No real difference I can tell, though.

 

[feralkid]

They're six and one half a dozen of each other.

Just an FYI...it is six OF one, half dozen of the other.

It means they are the same.

Six AND one would be seven

 

[slsmnaz]

Lowe's is the housewives home improvement store

Home Depot is the contractors home improvement store

yeah not really

I would choose Lowes if it's just between those 2 but I prefer Ace/Sears if I have to go to a retail store. If I have a little time to do some looking I will choose to do business with a local wholesaler and save money over any of the box stores.

 

[BTA]

what's a good primer? a couple of people recommended Kilz... not sure if the General Purpose is better than the Latex or Premium.

Get the Bullseye 123 stuff instead...Kilz is rather shitty in our experience.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally Posted by mmntech
They're six and one half a dozen of each other.

Just an FYI...it is six OF one, half dozen of the other.

It means they are the same.

Six AND one would be seven

Ah, but that's not what he says...he says they're 6.5 dozen...that'd be 78.

Otherwise, your correction is correct.