Where Everybody Knows Your Budget

In a small town where there are no secrets, your home restoration budget as public knowledge is a cost of living.

By Richard Huff

	Illustration Courtesy of Bill Firestone

Not a project goes on in my house without an important decision: Do I buy tools and supplies from my local hardware store, or do I head to one of the many nearby major home supply stores? It's not an easy decision by any means.

The hardware store is close, just blocks from my seemingly always-under-renovation 1889 Queen Anne in a small New Jersey town. It's a family-run operation but tied to a major hardware chain, so it has most of the tools and small parts I need. But going there can be an intimidating experience.

Go ahead and laugh, but I bet we've all been in this situation.

The hometown size of the place almost guarantees personal service from any one of the many folks who work there. Therein lies the rub. There are times when I don't want service, when I don't want someone questioning my choices. This is especially true, for instance, when I'm buying a cheapie tool or a throw-away paint brush. Even though no one is saying it out loud, my own insecurities as a relatively new DIYer make me think the guys behind the counter are looking down their noses at me for taking the low-budget route. When I approach the cash register, I'm instantly back in grade school looking for the right words to explain why I haven't done my homework.

I figure they must be thinking, No wonder he can afford that big house, he's buying Rock Bottom Dollar Brand tools.

There are times I simply crave the anonymity of the large home supply chains, where customers can walk around for hours with nary a soul asking if they need help. One can browse, look through a variety of quality options, and feel no shame in being a neophyte when it comes to a project or product.

Maybe I've headed into a project not fully educated on what I need. Rather than being loath to admit it, I've decided that, frankly, that's okay. Sometimes I want to learn on my own. I can leisurely compare voltage and prices on drill drivers, and ponder the question of whether that new ergonomic design might offer advantages for a long weekend of sanding. Maybe I can even figure out why a double miter has advantages over a single miter, should I ever decide to get a miter saw.

In the big store I'm more likely to find the latest whiz-bang gadget I've seen in my favorite magazine or on TV, or the now-more-powerful-but-more-environmentally friendly wood refinisher. Why, they even have seven models of laser levels to consider.

Yet over time, as I've become more accustomed to my local store, the easier the decision-making process tends to be. In fact, I'm sometimes relieved when I learn they have a limited selection of wood moulding on hand.

And they know me in a way that the big-name box stores never will. They recognize my face; they recognize my kidsÑespecially the younger one who always digs through the large open garbage cans of bird food that they sell by the pound. It's a version of Cheers that I've come to appreciate.

Likewise, once I've cut through the attitude (theirs and mine), I've had to admit that most of my local hardware workers are more informed on a variety of issues then their big-store brethrenÑshould I ever be aggressive enough to wrest one of the latter away from a conversation with a co-worker.

That point was driven home one day when I went in the local store to buy belts for a sander. Instead of selling me more belts than I needed, the owner suggested a $3 rubber belt cleaner. The device worked like a charm.

He didn't realize it, but I had turned a corner. I loved my local hardware store.

Sure, I pay more for the service and the knowledge. I could have saved a few cents on the belt cleaner at the big store, but it's unlikely anyone there would have made the suggestion in the first place. I know that if I need answers they're there in that crammed-to-the-rafters, walking-distance shop with the worn, wooden floors.

While I'm not completely over my insecurities, I'm managing them better. My only regret is that it took so long.

Richard Huff is television editor of the New York Daily News.



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