12 Tips for a Faster Home Center Trip

Some home centers like Home Depot have an app for your phone available. Download it before you go because it can provide helpful information like where to find items. Take your app game a step further and discover the best home improvement apps.

If you need to buy a bunch of lumber and have to shuffle it around at checkout, it’s going to make for a long day for you, the clerk and the people behind you in line. Don’t be that guy and straighten the lumber before you get in line. Learn the tips to buy rough sawn lumber at the home center before you venture out.

Something can be said of a little civility and friendliness at the home center store. Sure, you might be in a rush or it might be your third trip of the day to the store but ultimately the employees are there to help you. Get to know an employee or two so you have a familiar face there who can help you with deals and get you out of there quickly. Home Depot employees can give up to $50 off every day without supervisor permission. If you need a new home feature, friendly employees can point you in the right direction of discounted items like if you need to buy a toilet.

A little research will go a long way in planning out a trip to the home center. It’s a good idea to go online beforehand to check for deals to make sure you’ll get the savings at the store. There’s nothing worse than thinking you saw something at a lower price and then not remembering where you saw it while your at the register. Alleviate that by printing something off at home or taking a picture of the deal with your smart phone, especially if it’s a deal a competitor offered and the home center you’re at matches competitor prices. Find out how to save on appliances on your next purchase.

You may not want to have more email in your inbox but it’s worth getting on an email subscription to your local home center. You’ll see additional deals that could help if you’ve been planning a big purchase. It can help you narrow your shopping list as well if something isn’t on sale.

You likely have a calculator on your cellphone but can you do fractional math on it. There’s an app for that. Get one before you go to the home center when you need to make a purchase that requires you to do some math. Instead of counting your fingers, you can punch it in on your screen to save time and save face. Check out the other handy DIY apps.

Remember how we said to download an app for your local home center, well, you can make sure it’s not going to be a three-hour tour when you discover there’s a store layout with the app. There won’t be that wandering around anymore and making impulse purchases when you just take a glance at the app to find the aisle you want. Discover affordable home improvement ideas with the money you’ll save by avoiding impulse buys.

If you didn’t make it to the store early and you noticed long lines at the checkout counter on the way into the store, save yourself a headache and try finding a different register. Sometimes you can check out at the garden center quicker or the tool rental register. Sometimes going against the flow is the right move. If you do wind up checking out at the garden center, find out ways to save on garden supplies.

If you are planning on getting a large quantity of lumber, bring your own loaders. There may not be enough staff to help you and besides you probably want someone you trust helping you load heavy items into your vehicle. Having somebody around to help will naturally make things go quicker. Be sure you transport those materials properly as you leave the home center.

Sure, some day you’re going to build that playground in the backyard for the kids, just don’t get a wild idea that you’re going to kill two birds with one stone while you’re trying to get a project done. Create a list and stick to it. If you follow the list and get in and get out with everything you need and nothing more, then maybe reward yourself with a soda at the checkout counter. Keep a list of things to do around the house, especially when you first purchase a home.

Ever wonder if you’re in the right line as you get ready to check out? It’s a question researchers have tried to answer. According to the research, outlined in a New York Times article, you should get behind someone who has a full cart. One person with 100 items will take six minutes to get through a line while it will take four people who each have 20 items seven minutes on average, according to the research. Discover other time-saving techniques like how to cut down on paint clean up.