Appreciation post: That lady at the hardware store saved me 3 hours

I was at Ace Hardware on Tuesday trying to find a specific kind of anchor bolt for a deck job I'm doing up in Oakwood. An older lady who worked there, maybe 60 years old, came over and asked what I was building. She said "You don't need those heavy ones, try these sleeve anchors instead" and she was right. They went in faster and held just as good on the concrete I was working with. Has anyone else had a random store employee give you a tip that actually worked out better than your original plan?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana_scott11d ago

Man that's exactly what I love about the old timers at hardware stores. The lady was probably doing that job back when anchors were made out of whatever they had in a bucket. Sleeve anchors are a game changer for deck work, I switched over a few years back too and never looked at wedge anchors the same. You gotta respect someone who can cut through the product specs and just tell you what actually works on the concrete you got in front of you.

the_hayden11d ago

Can cut through the product specs and just tell you what actually works" lol that's the whole thing right there. Those folks have seen enough projects go sideways to know what shortcuts actually hold up and which ones are just asking for trouble.

river32011d ago

That's how it goes with pros who've been around the block. They can spot a headache waiting to happen from across the store. Kinda makes you wonder how much time we all waste doing things the hard way when someone older and wiser could just point us right in five seconds flat.