Building a Pergola: Getting the Lumber Home

To build the pergola, we had a lot of lumber to get home. A lot of looooong 12 foot pieces that could not possibly fit into our small SUV. So we had to rent a truck from Home Depot, one of those hourly numbers that force you to rush home and sweat bullets that you might not have it back in time. While of course managing an adorable (but rather cranky) toddler who might love shopping at the grocery store and Target, but apparently HATES Home Depot.

About 8 pieces of lumber in the driveway, out of 24 pieces we had to pile on

So we picked up huge pieces of lumber, bolts and screws and brackets, saw blades and drill bits, concrete bags and footing tubes, exterior stain, paver patio gravel base and sand. Actually Mike picked out all those things while I drove the stroller around in circles trying to keep the baby from screaming and getting dirty looks from other shoppers. I was there in more a of a consultative capacity for the big decisions than actual shopping help.

However we got all our stuff picked out, paid for, the truck rented and loaded. It was a little nerve wracking to get everything home and unloaded quickly, but we did it. We were practically running and throwing the lumber onto the driveway, but it was fine. The whole thing went smoothly and we got the truck back, during rush hour, filled up with gas, with 2 minutes to spare.

It wasn't fun, but it was practical from a price perspective. The price of the hourly truck was almost 1/3 of the cost of their home delivery. And we were able to get our lumber home the same day so we could start on phase 2 while the baby went to sleep - staining!

(And just to clarify - I followed the truck home and back to Home Depot with our car - the baby was safely strapped into his car seat the whole time. He was never in the truck.)