I spent my Saturday morning doing the rounds of the home centers (Lowes, Home Depot & Menards all within a mile of me) in search of some decent oak or birch plywood. I'm not asking for much, just something reasonably straight for some walk-in closet cabinets. I came home empty handed. There was some nasty looking Chinese junk I'm afraid to use or otherwise banged up and bent generic C-3 stuff (the manufacturers are too ashamed to put their names on them). It's quite sad. I've got a few five year old stashed away scraps of States and Roseburg ply -boy, those were the days - nice, straight, reasonably priced (as I recall) home center stuff. Next weekend I'll have to check out the lumber yards (farther away and quite a bit more expensive). Well, guess I'll just veg-out instead with some final 4 B-ball.
By your description of 3 Home Improvement super stores within a mile, I presume you live in 2nd generation suburbia of a major city.
I live near Detroit, and had the same problem as you described. Just on a chance, I went to four lumber yards located in the 1st generation suburban cities in close to Detroit. I finally found a counter salesman willing to go the extra distance to help me find Baltic Birch plywood for me. (Baltic Birch is considered a special order product.)
It turns out there is a plywood wholesaler located in one of the economic distressed areas of Detroit that had very good quality Baltic Birch plywood and lots of other quality hardwood veneer plywood at good prices. But you need to be either a Kitchen remodeling counter top / cabinet shop of have a Purchase Order from a lumber yard to even drive into their parking lot (security gate.)
As I relayed this story to another, but older person, I received a hearty belly laugh from him. I quote: "you don't really think kitchen remodeling business would put up with the crap from Home Depot do you?"
Call around, you may find a real lumber yard that will special order for the home hobbyist some plywood or hardwoods. Don't get discouraged, many lumber yards ONLY deal with builders and customers that order pine and spruce building products in quantity.
Obviously, these resources (willing salesman, wholesaler) are more likely to be open during weekday normal business hours which may not be convenient to you. Also, you need to have your own car / truck to handle full sheets of plywood, no cutting in parking lot.
If your near Toledo Ohio, Toledo Plywood stocks a large selection of hardwood plywood and is open on Saturdays untill 1 PM. Also sells to the general public. Check out
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for a stock list and prices. I stoped by this Saturday and picked up 5 sheets of 3/4" birch for some new cabinets. And no, I don't work for them. Mike
At our BORG collection, in NM, I see that oak and birch ply will run about $45 + or - depending on day/store/sale, and it is horrible, dings, scratches and never seems to be flat. Cabinet grades can be had for around $75(oak and birch, cherry,walnut $90+/sheet), at hardwood suppliers (no voids, flat, very nice)
I'm curious as to what you are paying for plywood in your area, and the quality that you're getting.
Go to a real lumber yard. These DIY stores like Lowes, Home Depot & such just don't have it & never will. It's a shame, but those stores are running a lot of the good hardware stores & lumber yards out of business. I don't mind paying a little extra for the quality & the knowlegable, courteous staff.
I've been able to fins some decent birch at the HD store, but most anything else is a crapshoot at best. I wanted some 1/4" ply for drawer bottoms. You had to see the crap they had for sale. If you put it flat, the waves would vary from one to three inches over the 48" span. I used hardboard instead.
About a week ago I had 10 sheets of HD "oak plywood" delivered (amongst other stuff). It was all wrapped in big plastic bundle. About $850 total order. Remember, I'm just a hobbyist, so this is a once a year event for me - if that.
When I finally unrapped it and hauled it sheet by sheet into my shop (a PITA), I was disgusted at the quality of this crap. $42.50/sheet - should I expect anything better?
I complained, but did not want replacement (not that they offered) because none of the sides would be visible for the corner AV cabinet I'm setting up to build. Only face frames and doors/drawers will be visible. For those few visible ply areas, I can pick and choose from the crap I got.
I will *NEVER* buy cabinet grade plywood from HD again. Melamine - maybe.
I was/am disgusted.
Then I thought that about 10 years ago, I bought some oak ply from a "real" local lumberyard. They are now out of business. Cost me about $60/sheet back then, but it was really nice stuff.
Regardless of where you buy, even the best of ply's will warp due to humidity changes, especially is you order one sheet and it's been on top of the pile for a few weeks.
I looked at some 1/4" birch in HD last week and it was horrible. So I bought a sheet from Windsor Plywood. Yesterday I was in Loews and their
1/4" birch was as good as the Windsor Plywood sheet. A little cheaper, but not much.
I bought a half sheet just for insurance and because I was right there. Found out that Loews charges $5.00 extra for a half sheet compared to half of the whole sheet price. Windsor Plywood only charges $1 extra.
No they aren't. They are running a lot of not-so-good hardware stores and lumber yards out of business. Good for them. Those guys have done nothing but rip people off for years before the big stores moved into town. The real good hardware and lumber stores have not been affected by Lowes or Home Depot, or any other others. Nor will they be. They serve a different customer and they provide a different service.
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