apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sid's Hardware on Jay Street in downtown Brooklyn. I had shelves cut there and they were exactly right. They do sell ply, and also MDF.

You can buy a circular saw cheap and cut it yourself.

Yeah, go with Sid's. It's a Brooklyn institution for a reason.

dykes lumber, of course. but i've had great success with home depot, you're not doing anything complicated here, really, this is not brain surgery, you can certainly trust home depot to make straight cuts. BTW, I highly doubt anyone would cut wood for you if you did not buy it from them.

If you can make a straight cut, mark out a line and go for it with a jigsaw. They are fairly inexpensive and worth the it compared to the hassle of hauling plywood boards to hardware shops.

Put the cut side into the wall.

I really don't have space, even for a circular saw, but I'll try Sid's. Thanks!

And Colleen, thanks for the feedback on home depot...an aquaintance told me she had trouble with them, but as you say, how hard can a bunch of straight cuts be?

I've had really bad luck with Home Depot. I needed 3 pcs. of wood cut to 12" each. When I got home and tried to install them, I realized they had all been cut to 11". It may not be rocket science, but they still manage to screw it up.

i've used home depot many times without a problem. maybe you should look at/confirm where the cut is being made.
if they cut it wrong you don't have to pay for it.........but if you leave the store without making sure its correct they probably won't take it back.

There's a reason those folks work at hom depot- they can't cut a straight line with a ... well, with a straight line! Nor can they measure accuratly.

Don't bother with a jigsaw- go straight for a cheap circular saw with a good blade

If you're cutting Plywood or MDF use a dustmask and if poss cut it outside. The glues used to join plywood together are cancerous if you breathe the dust particles in. MDF is far worse.

If you go for a hand-saw a good quality one will do a much much better job than a cheap one. The saw will do all the work and will keep to a straight line too.

Make the marks on the plywood yourself, then you can confirm that the are cutting the exact lengths you want. The people may measure poorly, but the machine is set up to cut straight across.

I had wood for shelves cut at Lowes this weekend. All of my pieces were cut a half inch too short which I did not realize until I got home. If you want precision I would go elsewhere.

I live in Manhattan and need to have several doors cut down in order to accomadate a rug. I cant imagine lugging them (their heavy) down to HD or using a circular saw in my tiny apt. Suggestions?

This probably isn't going to help someone with no tools and no workshop space, but I think the thing to do with doors is to plane them, no? I guess for a big adjustment planing would be too slow, better to make a first, conservative cut and plane into exact position.

In any case, circular saws are small, tiny apartments are no obstacle! Maybe buy a shower curtain at the dollar store and drape it over yourself while you're cutting if that makes you feel better about the sawdust being under control...?

glad to here the additional feedback re: home depot & lowes. I will avoid them...if they are as much as half an inch off, my whole design will fall apart. Also, after some additional research on the web, I came across a few complaints about the quality of the core of their plywood (looks find on the outside, but occasional voids on the inside).

After everyone's advice, I checked out Sid's...they seemed pretty good and I think I'll go with them. I'll post back about the results.

Here's my report:
I used Sid's Hardware. Joel (sounds like Joelle) was very helpful. They deliver, which made my life a lot easier. And, Yay, the cuts were accurate. The only reservation I have is that it looks like they needed to change their table saw blade...the edges of the plywood were a bit more chewed up than they would have been with a good blade. So I have some extra sanding to do.

overall, I was pleased and I recommend them. If you want perfect, maybe go to a carpenter? Or ask them to use a new saw blade? (I don't know if they would agree or if that's asking too much of a hardware store.)

Anyway, thx everyone for the recommendations!

Home Depot can't cut lumber in Manhattan, so I called the Brooklyn stores to check if they would. After half an hour on the phone trying to reach somebody I decided to go to 500 Hamilton in Brooklyn. There cutting machine was broken, and they were not very nice. I asked customer service to call the one in Dekalb, and there machine was down too. Wasted three hours in this affair, would definitely not recommend Home Depot in Brooklyn. The Manhattan stores usually offer pleasant business though, too bad they don't provide cutting services.