Quality of supplies-Home Depot?
 

I have a plumber coming to do work at my house and I'm doing some apprenticing along the way. I am going to buy a list of supplies and was curious if Home Depot's stuff is inferior to others?
PVC, Copper, Valves, Elbows?

Should I be worried or is it ok?
Or should I just go to the plumbing supply house to buy it all?

Anything any store sells must meet plumbing code in order to be sold. That said, there are products that exceed plumbing code and are better in one way or anther.... its your choice if better is worth the extra cost, or if just "meeting" code is good enough.

To contradict myself a bit - my local plumbing store is actually cheaper for most fittings, etc. The Pipe itself is the other way - its about 20% cheaper at my local home improvement warehouse. If I'm feeling cheap, I'll stop both places - otherwise I'll just buy at the plumbing store, since fittings really add up quick - especially with larger sized pipe.

Codes and standards are just minimums (the worst they can be and still be "acceptable"). there are times to use better products to save labor of increase performance and life.

Dick

I've wondered about that myself, not just about plumbing supplies but about other stuff as well. Never got a satisfactory answer, but if it's a name brand product wouldn't the quality be the same as anywhere else? If I buy, for example, a Lithonia model #XXXX light fixture at my local HD would it not be the same as that model purchased from a lighting store? I know Walmart does in fact have some products -- at least, in clothing -- manufactured specifically for them and the quality can be inferior, but don't know if HD is really big enough to have that much clout.

Teststrips,

I disagree. Up here I tell people to look for a CSA stamp (UL in the States). Not everything HD here sells has a CSA stamps as far a plumbing supplies go. Try telling your home insurer that the product you bought at big box that caused a flood (fire, etc...) it up to code if it has no stamp.

HandyFrank,

As far as fittings go, you should be fine. If you're planning on buying fixtures however, then Delta, Moen, etc... have 2 lines of fixtures, DIY (sold at HD) and contractor grade (sold at plumbing suppliers). The heft of alone of ABC faucet sold at both should tell you the story. One has plastic and chrome and the other has brass and steel.

I think the major difference is the specialty items and various fittings, valves, tools ETC. The Plumbing Supply house has every fitting size, shape, configuration you can think of where the Big Box stores are limited in selection.

Another thing I don't know where everybody lives but where I live if your not a Licensed Plumber or have an account at the supply house don't even try going in there, it's like the house of shame.

First thing is when you walk in the door all the plumber's stare at you like you have three eyes in your head (I'm not paranoid), second thing is when you approach the counter you better know the correct terminology of the item you want, third thing is they ask you who your with(what company) then you look back at them with that look, what do you mean? Then they say sorry I can only sell to Plumber's or people with account's or they do sell to you and charge you double what the Plumber would pay.

When you leave the supply house you feel like your Kindergarten Teacher just yelled at you.
Signed, in the field for over 40 years

Nonsense. How long has it been since bottle traps were legal? Every Lowe's and Home Depot I've ever been in sells them. Same for AAVs, which are illegal in many places.

Just curious, what are bottle traps. I never heard that term before.

Its my understanding that lowes, homedepot and stores alike sale a grade c grade a being the best....what does this mean...delta faucet..must meet certian quality control set by delta...say thickness of brass if it dosen't meet there specs they sale at a cheaper rate..along with other products.most plumbing suppliers will only purchase grade a products which make they a better quality of the same product....purchase manger...

CI,
To them you are an outsider. The wholesale supply houses are just that. They aren't meant for homeowners. They don't want h/o's in there. The supply houses in turn do that to protect the trades. They get better pricing to enable them to make a profit on the materials. They don't want the h/o's to try and undercut the trades. Sometimes it's a liability issue. One of the garage door wholesalers I buy from will not sell to a h/o. There is a big sign right where you walk in the door stating so. The other thing people sometimes don't understand is the trades rely on the wholesale supply house to make a living. Time is money. They don't want to be waiting while someone tries to explain what they need because they don't know the terminology. Just my .02.
Mike Hawkins:)

I like them accordion tailpieces! :whistling2:

I needed a special Elkay sink the other day. Supplier didn't have it but the Elkay distributor 4 blocks away did. But as a plumbing contractor I can't purchase from the distributor. The supply house wrote the ticket up, I signed it and drove back down the street and picked up the sink from the distributor- along with the supply house markup.
Also- used to be a supply house wouldn't sell to G.C. either but that's changed.

EP,
I 've done the same thing with some millwork items that had to be purchased through my lumberyard salesman and hour away, and the distributor was in my back yard about 5 minutes away. But that's the way the hierarchy works.
Mike Hawkins:)

Eplumber, I have done the same thing you reference many times, Supply house has to get it's middleman fee. That's OK got me out of a jamb many times.

I prefer it this way. I actually wish the wholesale supply houses would not sell to the general public. If the consumer can't by it at the box store- I'll sell and install it for him :thumbup: