Home Depot gives away free tropical hardwood! After a couple of years of this, I guess I should pass my secret on –
Home Depot gets their 4X8′ sheets of Masonite/Hardboard/Pegboard (6 SKUs) from Brazil. The full size pallets are, you guessed it, invariably Jatoba. I have verified this from Berkley, CA to Atlanta, GA to Arlington, VA.
The trick of course, is to get there just as the last sheets are purchased – the hardboard is too flimsy to straddle the rack stanchions, so it has to stay on the pallet on the rack till the end. HD has no interest, but the guys on the floor are glad for you to haul them away (they’re sometimes 80-90 lbs). At my local store, I can sometimes get a call from a guy or have the pallets held a day or so before they’re broken up and crushed.
I have literally gotten hundreds of pounds of the stuff! Usually a pallet consists of (5) 1 X 6 X 8′, (2) 1 X 2 X 8′, and (4) 3 X 4 X 4′ pieces. They seem to be nailed green, and the nails will not reliably come out.
But, I get small boxes, turning blanks, inlay and accents, mirror and picture frames, medicine cabinets, anything that’s about 2′ or less in clear length.
FOR FREE!
Also, some HDs carry or carried “Golden Virola” cabinet plywood that comes on a pallet of very hard, pinkish wood – use carbide planer blades if you find it.
Forrest McCanless
Replies
I appreciate the input. I was at lowes last night and picked up a plywood pallet that I was told was from Mexico. It had hi-lo lift runners under it that are 5"x6"x4'6" cedar. It's nice carving stock. I was told when it was given to me though that they don't ever remember seeing one come out of there in such good condition so this is apparntly unusual. Right place, right time and I never would have thought to look or pay attention to them without your input here. Thanks.
Don
Where do you folks live that you have HD & Lowes with pallets like this? Up here in the exotic wood wasteland of Seattle, etc., all the stores I checked have their masonite and other thin stock palletized on what looks like hem-fir rejects from a paper factory.
Anyone local (to me) have luck finding this stuff?
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis,
I'm in the Detroit area. The pallet I picked up also had what appears to be the first cut off the bandsaw of debarked cedar logs as the stringer boards of the pallet. They're 9 ft. long, only about a half inch thick and now full of nail holes, but still interesting stuff none the less. I'm sure I'll find some use for them in some bar or restaurant. Luan came on this pallet. At least that's what's in the spot where I picked this pallet up at.
Don
Thanks for the reply, Don. Actually any time we can put this kind of "scrap" stuff to use is better than having it go to a land fill.
On the project where I'm working we got some granite shipped from Italy. It came on pallets made out of what looked like pine or Alaska yellow cedar. Several of the pieces were very nice straight grain with no knots or nail holes. It made some nice lumber if for nothing else but practice.
I'll check around at some other stores to see about the other. Here in the PNW I suspect we get a lot of stuff from more local mills. Doug-fir/hemlock isn't considered an exotic around here (grin).
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled