That guy at the lumber yard gave me bad advice on plywood

Last week some old timer at Home Depot told me to use regular birch ply for a wet bar cabinet. Said it would hold up fine with a good sealant. After 4 days the edges swelled up like crazy and warped the whole thing. Cost me $120 in material down the drain. Anyone else had bad advice from a random stranger at the store?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakotacraig25d ago

Man that plywood story hurts to read. I once had a guy at the paint counter tell me that water based polyurethane was just as good as oil based for a bar top. After three coats my bar looked like someone spilled milk on it and it peeled off in sheets within a month. My wife still brings it up every time we have people over. I swear these store guys just say whatever gets you out of the aisle fastest. Now I only take advice from the old guys who look like they actually built something that didn't fall apart. My own projects have gotten way better since I started being picky about who I ask.

skyler_adams26d ago

...and that's why I always take anything anyone at the big box stores says with a grain of salt. There's this one guy at my local lumber yard who's been there twenty years and he's never steered me wrong, but I got burned bad once by a part-timer telling me regular pine was fine for a deck project. You really gotta ask for the dude with the stained apron and the permanent sawdust in his beard, those are the ones who actually know their stuff.

lilycraig25d ago

Oh man, I feel you on that. I had a guy at a local hardware spot once tell me pressure treated was overkill for some fence posts that were going straight into wet clay soil. Three years later I was digging out rotted posts and doing it all over again. Now I always ask the old-timer behind the counter to see his personal projects in the back of his truck or something, that's the real resume. It's those grizzled guys who'll also tell you exactly which screws to buy so you don't strip the heads before you even get started.