So Cathan's sig (43 HD runs so far) got me wondering...how many DIYs here have a truck?

I have an SUV and have been thinking it will be a serious thorn in my side when compared to having a truck. As a result I'll end up paying for more deliveries and/or renting a truck on some occasions.

So, a show of hands. Who has a truck? Big truck, medium truck, small truck? who has an SUV? A car?

No truck? What challenges have you run into? Did you budget for the added expense?

Order everything from local lumberyard and commercial suppliers rather than the big box home improvement stores. In my area I've found them to have better inventory, better prices, better customer service, and they all deliver for very reasonable charges.

Plus you save the time of picking through goods and loading/unloading your vehicle.

I have an SUV (actully 2) for misc goods.

I have a small truck, that thing is a workhorse. Luckily it is a V6 so not much I cant do with as long as I cant get it to fit. It's helped me move, fridge for my buddy, various events and moving for my church etc...

Thankfully my local Lowes is about 5 minutes away now (opened this past summer) so even oversized items are mostly manageable.

So Cathan's sig (43 HD runs so far) got me wondering...how many DIYs here have a truck?

I have an SUV and have been thinking it will be a serious thorn in my side when compared to having a truck. As a result I'll end up paying for more deliveries and/or renting a truck on some occasions.

So, a show of hands. Who has a truck? Big truck, medium truck, small truck? who has an SUV? A car?

No truck? What challenges have you run into? Did you budget for the added expense?
I gotta 94 Ford Explorer.
It handled about 95% of my supplies. The only times I used a delivery were
the first drywall shipment, and my Berklines :)
I DID rent the HD truck for subsequent drywall-it was the $19 special, and I needed it 2 times. No prob!

All my lumber was hauled in the SUV, all the conduit, you name it.
Don't buy a truck just for the HT experience!
Best,
Tom
Chinaclipper

My wife has a smallish truck-- Mazda B2500 (Ford Ranger). Really comes in handy. Whether it's a pallette of Dricore, a couple of sheets of plywood, an extra piece of 10' conduit, or even a yard of mulch for the plant beds-- it hauls it all.

I don't have a truck, but I do have a 6' x 10' trailer that I find very useful.

William - my neighbor uses the same method (trailer). Something about not wanting his Hummer to get any scratches :)

One truck and one SUV here. Truck is a lease, but will buy it at the end. Still need a commute vehicle for work, the fill ups every 4 business days is killing me.

Bud

I have a 1991 full 8 ft bed semi retired 4x4 GMC pickup. AC is out, Can't tell what channel the radio is tuned to, Dash is cracked, Right rear well is rusting out. Side mirrors don't match (damn tree).

But the thing can find it's way to HD by it's self. And the only thing I want to drive both before they plow the roads and after they salt the roads.

Best DIY home improvement tool I own. I don't care what I throw in the back. Just take a hose and blast it out.

I'm always lending it out to my neighbors.

Have a mini-van. It handled the 2x4's and more minor stuff. Took advantage of the HD truck for $19 to get all the drywall home. I had planned on the cost and will have to do it again when I go to finish the playroom.

I have a caruck, it's a Subaru Baja, and so far I haven't had the need for a bigger vehicle but then again I didn't need to buy drywall. I've gotten 8ft 2X4s, 8ft 1x6s, and doors without anything hang more than 3 inches past the tailgate.

I have a 2005 GMC 4x4 extended cab pickup. I live one mile from a Home Depot and Lowe's (yes, they are right next to each other!):) I can't imagine not having a pickup during my theater build.

Use the van and truck. Getting a new a truck as well. They are not mine (get the old truck later) but we use them. We also have an SUV we use to move allot of stuff as well.

I own an SUV (Merc Mountaineer..same as Ford Explorer). So far, I've only had the 200 panles of dricore delivered. ALL lumber I've carried in the SUV, the one piece shower pan, the three piece shower surround, the commode, etc. And so far, I haven't needed anything 4X8. I've had 4X8 plywood cut down at the store to fit. I will proably have drywall delivered and pay someone to haul it to the basement. 50-some trips for the dircore was enough for me.

Tom

And oh yeah, Big -

What about the parking brake on that truck? Can you park on a hill yet?

Tom

Just in case you've never seen this Pic. It always brings a smile.

http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Lumber-Car-A.jpg

And another:

http://www.warriorwomen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/overloaded-car.jpg

And another:

http://www.hooptylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/overload.jpg

DIY isn't new to me for the theater. I have fixed up duplexes and houses that my father has rented out in the past. One thing important to add. Using the extended size van while bigger than our small truck we currently have, really has worn out the shocks on it. It is pretty much worthless and I think we are getting rid of it. The new truck will be big.

SUV - Nissan Murano. Handled most everything so far. Pretty much maxed it out with the 100 pcs of dri-core though. It can handle up to 35 10-foot 2x4s comforatbly at one time. Any more than that and I'd better wear a helmet.

The big orders, 110 pcs of drywall and initial 250 pc 2x4 buy, I had delivered. A local building supply place even delivered the drywall into my basement. That was a back saver for sure. HD and Lowes wouldn't do that.

My wife's subaru outback is a wagon with a roof-rack. It caries a lot of our loads. For the truly irregular items, my car is a solara convertible. I have dropped the top in below freezing weather to haul some odd thing from HD/Lowes. Its actually a really fun way to go. You get lots of looks.

Gets bigger option A or option B, delivery please.

I gotta 94 Ford Explorer.
It handled about 95% of my supplies.

+1, except mine's a 91! Hauled so much lumber over the past while, my floormats look like they're covered in pale bark mulch :D

I've also got a 4x8x4 crappy trailer I throw on the back of it for massive loads (up to 2 yards of soil fits just nice).

I did have the big drywall order delivered, and paid the extra $25 for the swampers to drag it down to my basement for me. Best $$$ ever spent!!!

Not only could I not live without a truck for my HT build, I find it hard to do without, being a homeowner. There is always some project I am working on that seems to require some bed space. Not to mention the boat would look kind of funny behind my wifes Impala SS (even though it wouldn't lack the power :)).

I have a Nissan Titan and I used it a lot during my HT builds I don't want to think what a pain in the butt it would have been with out it.

Truck here.

One piece of advice - have them deliver the drywall and pay the extra $50 to have it delivered inside the house. WELL worth the money.

Bryan

really has worn out the shocks on it. It is pretty much worthless and I think we are getting rid of it.

My car ran out of gas today, so I think I'm getting rid of it.

Seriously though, a set of 4 shocks runs under $200 and installation is simple.

Minivan here, if I take all the seats out I can fit full sheets of plywood. And if I remember to lay down blankets first, the wife is never the wiser =).

My wife's subaru outback is a wagon with a roof-rack. It caries a lot of our loads. For the truly irregular items, my car is a solara convertible. I have dropped the top in below freezing weather to haul some odd thing from HD/Lowes. Its actually a really fun way to go. You get lots of looks.

Gets bigger option A or option B, delivery please.


Figured I should way in since my sig seemed to be the cause for the the question. Like Dave, I have an Outback that carried 99% of all of the junk I've needed from HD. I'll have the drywall delivered when I get to that point. I've also used my convertible to bring home some odd sized stuff (amazing what you can fit with the roof down, even in a two seater).

I just like going to HD and looking at various bits to figure out how to solve problems. No way could I have ordered all of the junk I've used so far as half the time I don't know exactly what I'm looking for until I see it on a shelf. And even then I still end up having to go back because I either didn't get enough, or got the slightly wrong part/tool for the job. One in eight of my trips also involve some sort of return. :)

Truck, supercab with 8' bed, diesel. I couldn't see being without one. I just got back from picking up 600 sf. of 2" JM 814 for acoustic treatment. After that's unloaded, it's time for a lumber run, and more sand tomorrow. It never ends.....

No matter what you are doing having the right tool for the job is a must..... I have a truck and SUV.

5x8 trailer handles most of my needs....but it is a bit of a fuss getting the lawn tractor out, hooking the trailer to it, pulling it to the driveway, uncoupling it and then coupling it up to the cherokee......would much rather have a pick-em-up truck.

Agreed, you have to have a truck. I have an 02 Toyota Tundra and it's paid for :)

A few years back I sold a Chevy S10 to go with a sedan. I regreted every minute of it. It was nice to have more passenger room, but most of the time it is just me, maybe one other. No matter what I'll always have a truck in my possesion even if it isn't my normal driver. At least every other week I am hauling something.

One piece of advice - have them deliver the drywall and pay the extra $50 to have it delivered inside the house. WELL worth the money.

Bryan

Definitely part of the plan - all deliveries will go directly to the basement via someone else's back. And since most folks here who install their own drywall also say they wouldn't do it again, I'm planning on paying a crew for that piece.

Seems pretty balanced so far between trucks and some form of SUV/Van/Wagon...

I need to get one, but as it stands, I don't have one yet.

I have a mini van and a company provided vehicle (Taurus). I do have a father-in-law and brother-in-law that both have full sized pickups so in a pinch I use their vehicles. The mini van has handled 95% of what I have needed so far. I just have to remember to take it instead of the Taurus. Got to Lowe's one Saturday morning and realized I drove the wrong vehicle to the store. I hadn't had my morning coffee yet! DOH!!:eek:

Several years ago I owned a 88 Toyota pick up and helped a friend pick up some deck lumber and had the lumber yard load it up for us. The guy asked us if we were sure we wanted all of the lumber at once. We said yes and he loaded it up. Well I pulled out of the lot went up a small incline to the highway and the front wheels came up off the ground! What a weird feeling. We sheepishly returned to the loading area off loaded half of the lumber and made two trips.:o

Would really like to have a truck but waf is not there. Can't argue though because she wants a convertible Mustang next so that's cool with me.

Regards,

RTROSE

I have a 2002 GMC Diesel crewcab. I had one with an 8 ft bed but the wife wanted the next version to be a 6 + bed. I realized that if I ordered a Dualie she would take out most of the mailboxes in the neighorhood. :) She has a 2007 caddie STS and a 2004 Corvette convertible...I can't haul a damn thing in them.....Lucky for us, our son is the GM for the local Cad/GMC/Pontiac dealership.

2003 Dodge 3/4 ton diesel with an 8ft. bed. Too many trips to H.D. to not have a truck to haul stuff. We live on several acres so it helps with wood and stuff. Need to finish the basement before starting the H.T....what a drag.

I have a 2004 F-150 Crew Cab and I will tell you that I cannot live without a truck. The amount of materials this thing has hauled and pulled has been worth every cent I paid for it. Since I have the short bed I used our 18' trailer to haul all of the drywall. I used our John Deere tractor with the fork lift attachment to bring all the drywall into the garage. :D

Cheers,
JJ

The wife and I found out that when we got a house, a truck was almost mandatory. we both had small cars before (Honda Civic and Saturn Ion). Needless to say, the ION got traded in and got a Honda Ridgeline. and We LOVE it.

Or you can get an SUV that you really don't want to put anything in (Porsche Cayenne) - but golf clubs. I use my wife's Honda Pilot to haul.

Here's a pic of my work horse :cool: My problem is I could really use a car for the times I don't need to haul stuff filling this pig every 5-6 days is vary costly :eek:

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/W00lly/my06truck.jpg

The Big Box retailers do have some advantages over the local guys.

1. I have found that the drywall was of better quality out of Home Depot as it was "handled" less. The big guys tend to ship drywall to job sites and take returns which is good and bad.

2. Home Depot requires a lot more time to find good straight lumber but you can at least pick through the pile until you do. The guys in the lumber yard are less tolerant in this regard.

2. Home Depot requires a lot more time to find good straight lumber but you can at least pick through the pile until you do. The guys in the lumber yard are less tolerant in this regard.

I have had exactly the opposite experience. I ordered some lumber from Menards for a deck and found that where possible if an entire bundle of lumber was called for then they brought me the whole bundle with out regard to the quality of boards in that bundle. I would not expect them to break the bundle to inspect however the "hand selected" pieces they brought with the rest of the order had many more defective or undesirable pieces than the bundle did.

I made some additional purchases for material at a local lumber yard and they took much greater care to select good quality pieces for me. My experience was much better customer service with the local guys although at somewhat higher price.

I know the only way to get what you truly want is to select the lumber you want and pick through it yourself. Most jobs I can do that however the deck was a very big project that I ordered the lumber all at once to take advantage of the sale and the reduced delivery charge. The inconvenience of having to return some of the boards at a later date was worth it at the time. Menards was great regarding the returns though no questions asked. I still had my receipt so I am sure that helped.

Regards,

RTROSE

Well I drive an Accord, but my wife has a Yukon for all our hauling needs. I've gotten nearly everything (minus drywall like most folks) that way. The doors were also delivered by the local company I used. I wouldn't have been able to fit the 60" wide double door in the truck.

-Ryan

Most local yards around here do not allow you to pick through their lumber - They don't want it 'picked through' like at the big box stores. My experience has always been better on average with the local lumber yard, calling in the order for delivery. On average, much better lumber. This is particularly true for moldings - pristine from local yard - junk from big box.

db

We used the 1993 Toyota camry, and I am still amazed how much stuff we can fit in there - doors, 20-30 2x4s, etc.

For the big stuff - like drywall, we rented a Home Depot truck for $20 an hour or so. We had to rent the HD truck twice for the Basement job, and twice for the attic job. We also got drywall and fiberglass (for the basement delivered).

But the Toyota held up really well with all the stuff we carried for this job...

2007 Siverado Z-71. I love it and use it for everything. The only pic I have of it is in the background when I was taking pics of my sub build. It's a great truck.

Here you go, trucks and woofers. What could be better:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/9209/dscn0685pv8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)