00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house is cabinetry. Now this is a big one and I don't have a problem with the cabinetry suppliers in many of the home centers. Now, one thing that I don't like about them is they're all typically national companies and that's okay. But many of the companies in the home centers have done some things recently to lower prices, to be more competitive in the home centers.

[00:00:27] Eric Goranson: Cause the home centers want to get more margins, which means making more money. Now let's sing, yeah. Is what a lot of these companies have done are taking plywood and things like that They're shipping it overseas and then they're having those parts machined when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home There is a lot to know though.

[00:00:48] Eric Goranson: We've got you covered This is around the house around the house shows brought to you by pyramid heating and cooling Serving in Oregon the Portland metro area and Bend, Oregon They're your one stop shop [00:01:00] for heating and cooling and indoor air quality To find out more, head to pyramid heating.com, Oregon CCB 5 9 3 8 2.

[00:01:08] Eric Goranson: Welcome to The Round The House Show, the Next Generation of Home Improvement. I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today for this first hour of the show. Hey, if you wanna find out more about us, head over to around the house online.com. You can give us a call in the studio at (833) 239-4144. That number again is 8 3 3.

[00:01:29] Eric Goranson: 239 4144 and make sure that you're a member. Cause we have our insider exclusive content, which is really cool. It's the around the house insider. If you want to find out more information about that, just head over to the website around the house, online. com instead of waiting until the weekend to get the show, you get it two days early on Thursday, and then of course, we have a ton of insider content where we've got extended versions of these shows where we get into extra information where we're not constrained by time.

[00:01:59] Eric Goranson: So [00:02:00] we've got a lot going on over there. And today I thought we'd talk about. My top 10 things to not purchase at your local big box home improvement retailer. And these are interesting ones. If you were following me on social media this last week, I was down at my local Lowe's store and I'm just, I call it as I see it guys, and I don't care if I make some people mad or not, it's just what it is and I walked in there and you can take a look on social media on my Facebook and of course, Instagram, I walked in and there were moldy.

[00:02:33] Eric Goranson: Like black mold. Now, I don't know if it's officially black mold. I didn't test it to be fair, but it was all moldy and black and had tons of different colors of mold on it, as well as this white fungus. And to be honest, it is like the material we pulled out of the water damaged beach house that we had.

[00:02:50] Eric Goranson: It was worse than a lot of the stuff we tore out of there. And it was in the lumber rack. And as I started looking around, I found three or four more bunks of lumber that was covered in the same [00:03:00] stuff. And of course it was anything from two by fours to two by tens or whatever else. So it was absolutely disgusting.

[00:03:06] Eric Goranson: So I thought, let's talk about the top 10 things to not purchase at your local big box home center. And the first one there is going to be moldy lumber. Now this is one store that obviously has a huge problem of how they stored it, where they got it or whatever. And I will say many times that the lumber you get at the big box retailers is not that much different than you get.

[00:03:29] Eric Goranson: From the different wholesale lumber companies or your typical lumber yard. The difference being is you have to pay attention to the grade of the lumber. Make sure you know what you're getting. Sometimes it's green. It's not killing dried, depending on your location. And it could be a lower grade. Now that's the first thing.

[00:03:47] Eric Goranson: But the second thing is, is that lumber traditionally stored outside is in better condition than inside. Many, and I guess it comes down to your climate as well, but in my area here, lumber [00:04:00] that's stored outside tends to stay a little bit more moist than stuff inside an air conditioned building like that.

[00:04:07] Eric Goranson: And you don't have the homeowners digging through in a lumber yard traditionally like you have at a big box retailer. So. If you get in there and it's halfway pick through, they've already picked out the great stuff. So now you have the lower portion of the grade. So that's a big one right there. So I don't blame the retailers, the big box retailers for having low quality lumber as much as it's really the homeowners going through there.

[00:04:31] Eric Goranson: They're picking through that are trying to find perfectly clear boards and the home centers, of course, not picking out and get ready and calling out basically the stuff that is, uh, well. Warped twisted or is just dried out because it's been sitting there in the in the store so long So these are things that they could be doing a lot better Of calling that stuff out getting it gone and cleaning it up, but that's stuff they have to write down So if they can sell it, they're better off So i'm going to say number 10 is going to be moldy lumber [00:05:00] Just be careful with what you purchase out there.

[00:05:02] Eric Goranson: And if you're looking at lumber like that, just make sure that you're getting something that's clean. You don't need to be bringing mold into the building. That's for sure. All right. The next one here is probably one of the biggest mistakes people make, especially with rentals, buying toilets at the home center.

[00:05:17] Eric Goranson: I do not. Recommend buying your toilets at the home center for a couple reasons. One, many times in the big box retailer home centers, they are making special units at a lower price point to be competitive in their realm. So these big box retailers are good to the large toilet manufacturers and say, Hey, we'll put this on the shelf and I'll.

[00:05:39] Eric Goranson: Thousands of our stores, but you need to get us at this price point. So they'll use B grade or they'll put a cheaper plastic parts in it. And it won't be as nice as the one that you get from your plumbing store. And I'm talking about your local plumbing, wholesaler plumbing showroom. Traditionally, that is going to be higher quality stuff there.

[00:05:58] Eric Goranson: And really, if you think about [00:06:00] it, if you're paying for water. That's where it gets expensive. Cause if you put in a lower quality toilet, guess what? That's where the issues arise. Cause at best you're flushing it more often. It's getting plugged up. It's causing other problems. So these are things that I want you to be really careful with out there.

[00:06:16] Eric Goranson: Cheap toilets cost you money. And if you're a landlord, that's the biggest mistake you can make on that next to putting somebody bad in one of your units is putting in a cheap toilet. Cause if you have to call a plumber, When you're out of town to take care of it, you could have just bought the right toilet and probably eliminated that problem and toilets have gotten so much better.

[00:06:33] Eric Goranson: You've, you've heard of talks about talk about on the show before, because I tell you what, now we've gotten down to the 1. 2 and the 1 gallon flush and brands like Toto that I really enjoy. And I tell you what, that is where you can really save some water and. Save some cleaning. Cause a lot of those toilets made by Toto and such, those guys have a special nano coat layer on top of it that fills in the pores of the porcelain, which means things don't [00:07:00] stick to it as much.

[00:07:01] Eric Goranson: They have actually designed they're expensive, but you can get them. Self cleaning toilets. You really don't even have to wipe down. Maybe get some dust off the lid on top But everything underneath pretty much self cleaning these days So that's cool with their e water And of course with that nanotechnology on the coating that is something to take a look at if you're out there shopping for toilets Especially if you got a lot of people in a household spend a little bit more you could take a look at the toto drake It's going to be probably similar price maybe a hundred bucks more than we get the home center for their upper stuff You And that's the thing to take a look at there.

[00:07:34] Eric Goranson: Now, if you think about it, when you look at plumbing fixtures as a whole, when you're looking at the home centers, that home center is probably your bottom 25 to 30 percent of the price bracket. For materials out there. And I'm not talking the Amazon stuff where you're getting it just directly from China and it's shown up and it's, it's a no name, no repair parts kind of thing, but usually the home centers, when it comes to the plumbing department, it's the [00:08:00] entry level stuff.

[00:08:01] Eric Goranson: So if you're going to do something that you want to last a little bit longer, or if you want to have a little bit more style, you're probably not going to find it at your local big box retailer, but that's okay. I love doing business locally with our local companies out there. And it's also great to give them work as well.

[00:08:18] Eric Goranson: So you might as well go buy it from one of those places and get a higher quality product and probably going to last longer as well. And if you're spending money, you might as well get it on something good. So there's two of them right there. Moldy lumber and cheap toilets. Now. We were talking about this here.

[00:08:35] Eric Goranson: We're going to go back to plumbing fixtures here in a minute, but the next one here is an amazing one as well. And this is where people get taken advantage of and I get low price things because it's all you can afford. But the problem is, is when you go into these home centers and buy the two 99, one 99 sale barbecue, I tell you what, those will last you a couple of years, they rot out, you throw it [00:09:00] away.

[00:09:00] Eric Goranson: And so every two or three years you spend 199 to 299 on a barbecue. Then you have to pay to get rid of it. And you're in this death cycle of barbecues. And you could have just turned around and bought up 800 to 1, 200 barbecue once and had it last so much longer and save you so much more money and make for a more enjoyable cooking experience.

[00:09:25] Eric Goranson: So when in doubt, I like to buy barbecues. If you're going to buy the cheap one. Go into the home center. But if you're really going to get the good stuff, you're either going to order it online from those guys, because usually they don't have the nicest stuff in the store. Like I said, they're that. Kind of bottom 30%.

[00:09:42] Eric Goranson: So you're either going to get it from a local retailer, buy it online, or get it from one of the home centers on their online marketplace, where you can get the nicer stuff that they're not going to keep in the store. And that's how you can save some money around the house. We'll be right back after these important messages.

[00:09:57] Eric Goranson: Don't go anywhere.[00:10:00]

[00:10:11] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. Thanks for. Joining me today, I'm Eric G, if you're catching us on the radio, we do appreciate you tuning in there. You can find out more about us at around the house, online. com and make sure you check out our videos and stuff that we have over on the website there.

[00:10:26] Eric Goranson: We have coming up on 900 videos. We're at 800 now coming up on that getting close to 900 after the end of the month here where you just keep growing on that stuff. And we've got some exciting stuff, new stuff coming out that I can't wait to show you when it's all ready to go. And you can give us a call here in the studio at 833 239 4144.

[00:10:47] Eric Goranson: We've been talking today about my top 10 things to not purchase at your local big box home center. And these are the things that maybe you shouldn't pick up because it's not a great deal Or you're paying too much for it, [00:11:00] or you just probably ought to rethink that purchase So last time we were talking about cheap toilets moldy lumber And then we were just going out to break talking about budget barbecues and how those cost you so much money when you're in that one ninety nine to two ninety nine range and you end up throwing them away.

[00:11:16] Eric Goranson: They rot out super quick and then you have to pay to get rid of it and then do it again about every third year. That just gets expensive. Now we were talking about this earlier in the cheap toilets, but I'm going to bring it up again because it is a separate subject name brand plumbing fixtures. That's not where I get them.

[00:11:33] Eric Goranson: I don't buy any plumbing fixtures. I haven't for years at the home center for a couple different reasons. One is we were talking about with toilets is that many times the stuff sold in the home centers is not the grade of things that you get at your local plumbing retailer or showroom. And so a lot of times what they've done is they've taken those faucets and instead of having metal parts, they're all plastic instead of they basically make a retail [00:12:00] version of it.

[00:12:01] Eric Goranson: It is built cheaper and put in the home centers. And so you're better off to go to your plumbing retailer, get the ones there. It's probably going to be a little bit more, however it's going to be more durable and you'll have better quality parts. And it's not bad for everything, but trust me over the years, I have bought.

[00:12:18] Eric Goranson: Model numbers of things from a home center model numbers of things from my local plumbing retailer different boxes different packages You take apart The home center one is jam packed full of plastic and the one from my local plumbing retailer is all brass and metal parts on The inside and it's not just because they did it for California.

[00:12:37] Eric Goranson: So that's where the big thing is. So be careful doing that It's not the place I would get it And that's where you have to have to be a little bit careful. Now, number five here on the list is cabinetry. Now, this is a big one and I don't have a problem with the cabinetry suppliers in many of the home centers.

[00:12:56] Eric Goranson: Now one thing that I don't like about them is they're all typically [00:13:00] national companies and that's okay. But many of the companies in the home centers have done some things recently. To lower prices to be more competitive in the home centers because the home centers want to get more margins, which means making more money.

[00:13:14] Eric Goranson: Now, the thing is, is what a lot of these companies have done are taking plywood and things like that. They're shipping it overseas and then they're having those parts machined and sent back and assembled here in the United States. And there's been a big battle over that over the last few years, because.

[00:13:35] Eric Goranson: The kitchen cabinet manufacturers association was trying to keep the United States on a fair playing field with cabinetry and we had a big problem with China dumping cabinets here in the U S and they were selling them below cost and it was really hurting the cabin industry. They went out and fought it and won.

[00:13:55] Eric Goranson: And there were tariffs that were put on that, that cheap cabinetry. But here's what happened is a [00:14:00] group of large manufacturers bailed out of there. Because they were making things overseas and we're moving more production overseas and the kitchen cabinet manufacturers association and their fight to make sure that to that production state in the United States and to make sure that they're on a level playing field.

[00:14:20] Eric Goranson: These guys left. And so that's been a huge problem in the industry because all of a sudden you're thinking you're buying that American cabinet brand, and you don't know where these materials came from. You hope they shipped the plywood over there, but all of a sudden do you have plywood coming in?

[00:14:35] Eric Goranson: That's got, uh, More urea formaldehyde in it from the glues. Is it stuff that meets building code? You just don't know. And we had a lot of problems with that back in the hardwood flooring days with other, other companies that got nailed on that stuff. So you just don't know where those materials are coming from.

[00:14:53] Eric Goranson: Now those companies are pretty name brand people, and it's something that's interesting when you look at it. And so this was [00:15:00] back in 2022. So this is a, a something that's been going on for a long time. So this is not a new story. American Woodmark, Masterbrand Cabinets and Cabinet Works Group, three major pillars of the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturing Association resigned over that policy.

[00:15:16] Eric Goranson: And so what's interesting is if you start to look at what brands these are, there's some big ones. Yorktown, Medallion, Mastercraft Cabinets, Marillat, Cardell, Schuller, and you're looking at that Aristocraft, Homecrest, Midcontinent, Omega, Decora, Kitchencraft, Schrock. And so you've also got Timberlake, Waypoint are another one there, another brand.

[00:15:44] Eric Goranson: So these are all interesting stuff. So this is stuff that you have to be very careful with out there. And the KCMA and the American Kitchen Cabin Alliance have been really making sure to address [00:16:00] tariff evasion and all those things, and it's been a really big deal and these guys got mad and bailed. Is basically what happened.

[00:16:08] Eric Goranson: So those are the brands that I'm not a fan of inside the home centers, because I'm trying not to support that. I want to support American manufacturers. And here's the thing. That's one little piece of this pie. Second of all. Many times you can go in if you were to go into a craft made dealer versus a home center and buy craft made.

[00:16:30] Eric Goranson: Great example, probably one of the best known names in cabinetry out there. If you walk into a home center and get a design for the cabinetry and then go to your retailer that sells it. You'll probably get a very similar price and I have seen it many times be cheaper at the dealer. And here's why, and this is something with displays and stuff in home centers.

[00:16:53] Eric Goranson: There's a big negotiation. And I've been in these negotiations when I work for cabinet manufacturers. So what [00:17:00] happens is, is they start out by saying, all right, we want your displays. You're going to put four displays in a thousand stores and we're not going to pay for them. So the cabinet manufacturer has to put those in.

[00:17:11] Eric Goranson: They also have to have reps in each territory across the United States that have to visit every so often to meet with their sales staff for training and that kind of stuff. So there's a huge amount of overhead when you go into this. And so that overhead really has to get dealt down to the consumer because they're going to mark that up more.

[00:17:33] Eric Goranson: To sell those at the home centers. So you're paying a little bit more there. Now, home centers have to capture their margin because they're a business. They traditionally make more mistakes or have more returns than any other retailer in the cabinetry marketplace. And so what happens here is, is that they just have a big loss there.

[00:17:53] Eric Goranson: So many times what the local cabinet shop is paying for is paying [00:18:00] for. Cabinets cheaper than what the cost is for that big box retailer. So these are things that you have to be careful with. The only time that big box retailer will get you a better deal typically is when they have promotions, like a 90 days, same as cash.

[00:18:15] Eric Goranson: If you put it on their credit card or six months or a year, no payments, no interest kind of thing. That's the only time that that works out well on the financing side of things. But really, if you go apples to apples, that retailer is going to probably Probably be better at a price point than that big box store around the house.

[00:18:34] Eric Goranson: We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go away. We're only halfway through this list. The top 10 things to not purchase at your local big box home improvement center. We'll be right back.[00:19:00]

[00:19:11] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round, the house show, the next generation of home improvement. Thanks for joining me today. If you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house. So. Online. com. A little bit of my background for all the people that are just joining us or are new to the show out there.

[00:19:25] Eric Goranson: Appreciate you. I spent over 30 years in my kitchen, a bath design field, designing kitchens and bathrooms and remodels. And so I have done everything from running a cabinet shop to managing remodeling companies. To working all around the construction site. So I have spent all that time. And now I've got, of course, this national radio show podcast, and of course, TV show as well over on the great television network called around the house Northwest.

[00:19:55] Eric Goranson: So we've got a lot going on out there and I'm trying to help you with my knowledge to help you [00:20:00] save some money. And be able to fix that home up right and make it yours. We've been talking about the top 10 things to not purchase at your local big box retailer. And going backwards, we talked about cabinetry name brand plumbing fixtures.

[00:20:14] Eric Goranson: I can say that budget barbecues, moldy lumber, and cheap toilets. The next one here is controversial. And I'm going to bring this up because it is a, there's a little bit of myth here and there's a little bit of truth in the middle of this. And we got to figure out where that middle line is. And this is power tools.

[00:20:33] Eric Goranson: Now here's what's been happening on power tools. And it's something that, uh, I've heard some myths busting on. I've seen this go both ways, but is widely believed out there that the power tools that show up in the home centers. Might be cheap, really built compared to other retail locations. And so they have basically put together some kits, [00:21:00] some things that are maybe missing accessories that you would see in other places.

[00:21:05] Eric Goranson: So reports of having lower quality switches and materials inside of those. And hopefully not something that's going to get worn out and get covered under warranty. So there have been some really big issues with that. Now for most homeowners, are you going to see the difference there? Maybe not. Maybe you're going to be using that tool.

[00:21:23] Eric Goranson: It's going to last just fine. And so you'll get the new model five or 10 years down the road. It'll be great. But I have heard some serious things from builders who have gone out and bought the, the kits there, and then went on to an online retailer that had the more standard stuff or went into their local tool store, got them home and started looking at them, go, wait a minute, same model, different thing altogether.

[00:21:48] Eric Goranson: Within the different brands. So be careful, do your research. There's a lot of great brands out there that you can buy stuff through and whether it's your local tool store, your local smaller hardware store [00:22:00] versus the stuff that's on your big box retailer. But it's getting harder and harder on power tools only for a couple of reasons.

[00:22:05] Eric Goranson: One, they've got everything locked down so much that it's hard to find a sales associate to come get it out for you. And that's just due to their retail theft problems. But The other issue is that they've been trying to serve the contractors, but they've got multiple brands, but I tell you what, trying to find someone to help you and to make sure that even got it in stock can be pretty troublesome at these locations.

[00:22:29] Eric Goranson: So power tools, be careful. Do your research, take a look, maybe someplace like Acme tool, or even your local ACE hardware might have a special deal or a special buy that could save you and I know that during the holidays and during special sales, they do have those combo kits, which can be a killer deal, but to do your research, to make sure that combo kit is getting you what you want.

[00:22:52] Eric Goranson: And if that's going to be. The best deal for you, because really when it comes down to it, there's a chance that might not, and you [00:23:00] could be getting a lower quality tool. So be careful with that. Do your research. There's a lot of mixed reviews on this subject out there. And if I have time, one of these days, I will go out and try to see if I can do some myth busting on this and take a look at it and see if, if you buy a tool from the local place to the big box retailer, take them apart and see what's inside and see if there is a difference.

[00:23:21] Eric Goranson: Because sometimes it could be using B grade stuff and it's really hard to tell when you take a look at it. So that's number six. Number seven is a big one here and that's roofing. And they're starting to get a little bit better with this, but roofing at the home centers can be tough because they are really not set up to give you a rooftop delivery.

[00:23:44] Eric Goranson: Some stores are starting to do this now that you're starting to see more of a pro delivery. But I would be going to my local lumber yard if you're going to be doing a DIY roof. And that way you can have a rooftop delivery on it. And of course, sometimes it's not available. [00:24:00] Sometimes those power lines are just in the wrong spot.

[00:24:02] Eric Goranson: And it's a bigger problem than what you think it is. They can't get that boom truck next to it. Now, of course you've got a problem. So many times you'll see guys carrying up the ladders. You're going to see that kind of stuff, but you really want to see if you can get rooftop delivery and you'll probably find a better price at your local retailer.

[00:24:19] Eric Goranson: Then your big box retailer for that stuff. Anyway, so do your shopping around, find the best price, but make sure you've got that delivery in there. And sometimes it's that stuff that you see in the home center is there on price. It's not the highest quality. It might be the lowest quality, but it's there for price and availability.

[00:24:37] Eric Goranson: So it's one of those things that maybe take a look at your other wholesale places around town. You might be surprised how cheap that is and comparing to what the home center is. So don't just assume that's the cheapest place to get it. Get some numbers, call around during the week and see what you can find.

[00:24:54] Eric Goranson: Now, my next one here on the list is interesting. This one here. Is one [00:25:00] that if you're doing a small project, you're okay. But if you are taking on a major house project, this is where you can save some money. And I have found in many cases it is cheaper to have that attic space or the walls insulated by a company that actually going into your big box retailer and buying that insulation.

[00:25:24] Eric Goranson: There is an incredible markup in insulation. There is with lighting, plumbing, and some of that stuff like that. I tell you what, that is one of the things that in many cases I have found it's next to a wash to have it installed for the price of what the materials are. And if I can have it done professionally without having to do it myself.

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: And they come in and knock it out. I'm happy about that. Free labor on the, on the spreadsheet for me when I'm trying to tackle a project is awesome. So there's no reason to really spend the time and the money to do it. [00:26:00] I would go take a look. If you're taking out a big insulation project, take a peek at that because there are some things there that you look at and go, man, I am better off to call a company up and they're going to come in and do it.

[00:26:12] Eric Goranson: And if it's within a couple hundred bucks, guess what? I'm on it. Let them handle it. It's just like we had some, and this isn't on the list here, but I had this happen recently on a drywall project. Where I was a thousand, 1500 bucks more to have it installed than what the material cost was for 75 sheets of drywall.

[00:26:32] Eric Goranson: And it was like, wait a minute, you can install it, tape, texture, and all that. Cool. I'm out. You handle it. Cause to me that's saving time, which is money. And of course, bringing those pros in and having them do it like that. What's your time worth. And with the installation thing, many times it's cheaper to have somebody do it.

[00:26:50] Eric Goranson: So be careful with that one. That's one that could really get you. Now I've got two more here. We're going to talk about here, but I wanted to give you a little bit of positive here for the [00:27:00] next couple of minutes of things that you might want to buy there, which could save you a ton of money. First off is going to be electrical wire.

[00:27:10] Eric Goranson: There are things inside the home centers, and usually it's what in the ads or what they call their lost leaders. These are things that are traditionally higher markup, but they're going to come in and they're going to do this to bring in the trades and you as a consumer. Electrical wire like Romex in the past has been very inexpensive there compared to other places.

[00:27:30] Eric Goranson: So take a look at that and it bounces between that. Sometimes you'll see it. Sometimes I'll jump on Amazon and go, wow, it's half the price on Amazon for the exact same stuff compared to what's at the home center. And it's depending on what their theft rates are in the store, that it seems the higher theft rate stuff that's locked up if they're eating a lot of that stuff and it's not, they've marked it up and it's not the last leader anymore, but do some research.

[00:27:54] Eric Goranson: Sometimes it's in the store. It's better. Sometimes I've jumped on Amazon during COVID. I could get her on Amazon [00:28:00] way cheaper than what I could get at the home center. It was a third of the price. And so these are things that can really save you a ton of money. When you're looking to tackle a project and the same goes for things like mulch and stuff like that that you see that are really those things that they're trying to get you in the, in the door that so many bags for 20 bucks or one of those kind of things.

[00:28:22] Eric Goranson: Take a look. Some of those last leaders like that, when you see that word special by that's usually a special by that they bring in seasonally. To help save you money, and that could be something that's really cool and, uh, help you on that project. Now, when we come back, I'm gonna give you the last two here and I'll even give you a few more things that you should be buying at the home Center just as soon as around the house.

[00:28:43] Eric Goranson: Returns don't go anywhere.[00:29:00]

[00:29:07] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the around the house show. The next generation of home improvement. Thanks for joining me today. We have been talking about the top 10 things not to purchase at your local big box center. Now, there are a lot of things you should purchase, and there's a lot of things you probably shouldn't because there's a better deal elsewhere.

[00:29:25] Eric Goranson: And that's what we've been talking about today. Now, one of the things that I wanted to talk about here is a lot of the things that you see on their sales or special buys is where you find a lot of great deals. Now you have to be careful with some of those, like we talked about in the earlier on in the episode, but I tell you what, you can find some great deals that can save you a ton of money.

[00:29:45] Eric Goranson: Just like when you take a peek at things. There's a lot of different things on the closeouts. That's where the biggest savings in the entire store is. And as I've said before, in the show, there's a lot of great social media groups out there, like on Facebook, [00:30:00] there's one out there that I really like to follow.

[00:30:03] Eric Goranson: And what's cool about these Facebook groups is they're like a crowdsourced. It's like the ways or maps where they give you the input of where the police and the roadblocks and all the other stuff are all that stuff. This is this for home improvement. And that's the fun stuff here is that you can find deals when they're closing stuff out.

[00:30:25] Eric Goranson: And so. My favorite group that I follow is Lowe's slash Home Depot clearance deals, and there are some killer sales. Now, this could be regional, this could be national, but some of the stuff that I see on there, Is absolutely insane. Like right now you're probably going to see patio furniture on close out like that, but sometimes what you'll see is they'll have a product being discontinued.

[00:30:54] Eric Goranson: They'll have something there that they're just blowing out the door. And it's absolutely amazing. So [00:31:00] like I've seen where they've got 120 or 130 to five hours power shop vac type thing, clearance 32 bucks. Until it's gone. And a lot of this stuff, you need to go find it. You got to get there quick because they're, they price it to blow it out.

[00:31:15] Eric Goranson: And so I've seen damaged stuff. The best is like windows and doors or appliances that were misordered. You can get killer deals there. I can't tell you how many times that I've seen power tools there that are like. Off the shelf stuff like lawnmowers and that stuff like that where they've literally dropped it down to next to nothing I've seen some amazing sales where it's 75 off on that kind of stuff So always check those and if you've got a loads that has the aisle That's good.

[00:31:42] Eric Goranson: But just go check and see what's on the shelf to see what's going on there I bought some killer deals there that you can get stuff and you're like wow That was a steal. We i've bought thousand dollar windows for a hundred dollars there for projects So just keep an eye out for that. It can really be Super cool to check out and [00:32:00] that's where you can save some of this stuff and make make that project much more affordable Which is awesome.

[00:32:06] Eric Goranson: So keep an eye out for those kind of things. That's where the savings are at your home centers now the next one here is this is not the place to get it because here's the thing when you walk into a home center and you're looking at maybe plastic tarps or Some of the, your, your canvas tarps for painting.

[00:32:24] Eric Goranson: That's not the place to get those. To me, I go to Harbor freight for that. It's the same quality. It's the same stuff, but more than half the price you're going to save. And that's really, when you're looking at the, the more affordable things that you would get at Harbor freight, that's going to be a much better deal traditionally than the big box stores.

[00:32:46] Eric Goranson: So you can go into those places and get. You know a floor jack or some of that other stuff. It's going to be a big savings compared to Especially like clamps and stuff like that that are pretty basic That you don't have to worry about that with that is a [00:33:00] cool place to get that stuff and you get a lot more of them Usually it's even cheaper than jumping on amazon and buying that stuff there So give that a thought and and check their sales as well You can be a member there and do that kind of stuff.

[00:33:11] Eric Goranson: It can save you a ton of money on those products so all those tarps Get them either online or get them over there at that says accessories for painting that they just nail you on at the home centers and Harbor Freight's a much better deal and you can probably get something for less money, but twice the thickness at Harbor Freight.

[00:33:29] Eric Goranson: So that's a good place to be for that. So that'll save you a ton of money. Now, the last one. Here's a big one. And this is one of those ones that I want to talk to you about the concept of this. And this is installed services. This is your kitchen granite countertops or your bathroom countertops or the, the roofing or the siding or the HVAC that you see with those people standing around in there and their own stalled services.

[00:33:53] Eric Goranson: Most of the time, this is going to be one of the more expensive places because here's what happens [00:34:00] when you've got a middleman in it, it raises the price. And so what they do is they'll have a roofing company that goes out and gives a quote, which is going to be a little bit better, but they're not marking it down that much for those guys.

[00:34:13] Eric Goranson: And they're going to do that. And they're probably going to pad it a little bit because of the salespeople in the store that could cost them money. So they're going to give a full meal deal price to the home center. The home center takes it as a wholesale number and then turns around and marks it up 30 or 40%.

[00:34:30] Eric Goranson: So those numbers can be absolutely crazy. And it can be pretty tough navigating that as well, because when you've got a middleman in there, you're now dealing with a store with a store manager, you've got a construction company, you've got all these different things going on, and there are just way too many cooks in the kitchen.

[00:34:50] Eric Goranson: So those installed services, many times, if you go out and get a competitive bid, it's not going to be anywhere near what the, what the good quality people are going to be doing out there. [00:35:00] It's not going to be your lowest bid. And if it is, they misquoted it. Because those guys traditionally have are up 20 to 30 percent over what most competitive bids would be.

[00:35:10] Eric Goranson: So take a look at that. The HVAC, all those things, there's just, I have not seen any savings of that. The only thing that you will see sometimes is that you will see that they have their financing plans that they've done. But to be honest, you can probably go down to your local bank, talk to your contractor and see there's probably somebody out there that can get you some kind of financing program might not be as big as what they do on their Home Depot or Lowe's or whatever credit cards, but there's probably a way to do it out there for you to work around that.

[00:35:40] Eric Goranson: And that's one of the things too, if you're working with financing, some of these little side note here with this, when you're remodeling sometimes working with these refinance loans, where you're, we're doing a construction loan and there's benchmarks and there's inspections, that's going to cost you more money with that contractor.

[00:35:59] Eric Goranson: Cause they're going to have to [00:36:00] do. A whole new paperwork structure for that. They've got to follow the bank's rules. They've got to get paid differently that they normally would be. So take a, take a bit of time and that's going to cost you a lot of money. So if you have a contract with a contractor, that's going to be remodeling your house and you come into the, one of those loans, don't be surprised to see them, uh, Tack another five to 10, 000 on it just because of the time and paperwork and the inspections of how they have to play that game.

[00:36:29] Eric Goranson: And I've seen this over the last 30 years of doing remodeling myself. Those hoops can be pretty significant and you want to make sure that the contractor is getting paid for that stuff because it can really mess with their business practices as well. So that's a little side note. If you do go get financing on it from a bank, make sure that you understand how it's going to work and you talk to your contractor about it because maybe.

[00:36:51] Eric Goranson: That Lowe's way or the Home Depot way or whatever other big box retailer you're working with could be less money only because [00:37:00] of the paperwork required to get through that process. So a little side note on that. Now, the other thing too, is, is that I really think that is a good deal when you're buying appliances.

[00:37:11] Eric Goranson: And this is 1 of those things that the reason why I don't have appliances on this list generally. Is that there's map pricing for almost every appliance out there. That is a minimum advertised price. So what that means is, is that that retailer, all retailers of appliances with most brands have a minimum advertised price.

[00:37:32] Eric Goranson: And I've seen this with a company that was selling Mila below the minimum advertised price to a builder. And they lost the ability to sell Mila for 60 days because they caught them and they suspended their account. So they couldn't sell those appliances for a while. So that is the minimum advertised price.

[00:37:50] Eric Goranson: So that's why when you see some appliance for eight 99 and everybody's eight 99, it's at the, they're saying, Hey, so our dealers can make [00:38:00] margin and make this profitable. We're going to guarantee a minimum sale price for them so that that's where that ends up being. So that's why really the home centers don't, aren't that competitive on the appliance side of things.

[00:38:15] Eric Goranson: The other thing though that can be competitive is if they get those special deals. So they'll, they'll order. 15, 000 of these appliances from a manufacturer, the slightly different model number, maybe take a hundred bucks off of it or 150 bucks off of it and put it out there for sale. Maybe they took a feature to offer whatever, and then all of a sudden you'll get this similar model that will be cheaper.

[00:38:35] Eric Goranson: So pay attention to that. You'll see those as special buys. And that's where you can really save some money and see those go pretty well that way. So that's another one there on the appliance side of things that can be good. Now, of course, when in doubt, I think delivery is a great thing with the big box stores.

[00:38:50] Eric Goranson: They charge you for that, but many times for big lumber appliances, things like that. It's just easier for them to mess with it. And so I would sure take a look at [00:39:00] that. Now, the other thing that I think is not as good as when you get into the carpet and flooring with installed products out there, it's okay.

[00:39:07] Eric Goranson: But again, you could probably talk to a carpet and flooring store that an independent retailer that'll probably be able to get you that material, or even off a remnant that they have that to get it in there cheaper, that could save you some money. Thanks for tuning in to around the house.