1/11    Which store is better in terms of providing help to home improvement
        idiots?  Home Depot vs. Lowe's vs. Ace Hardware.  My home needs a lot
        of small fix-ups: a shower head I bought fits onto the water pipe of
        one bathroom but not the other bathroom; I want to put braces on
        cabinets for earthquake-proofing; the drain pipe from the dishwasher to
        under the kitchen sink is leaking; I want to install motion-sensor on
        the light at the entrance; the kitchen sink faucet is dripping; my
        mailbox needs a lock.  I think it all comes down to buying the correct
        parts and accessories.  Given hundreds of variations of those things,
        I have no idea how.  Thx.
        \_ Avoid Lowe's.   In my experience Lowe's is Home Depot but with
           much less helpful staff.  They won't help you with their saw
           which you are not allowed to use for cutting lumber, they'll take
           forever to help you get a key cut, and they'll give you bogus
           information.
        \_ don't go to ace and expect them to help you with anything.  It's a
           decent store if you already know what you're doing and already know
           what you need to buy.  If you don't know the correct terms and the
           correct names for hardware, but try to explain what you need to the
           floor staff, you will probably walk out of the store with the wrong
           thing.  I've had better luck at Home Depot, but you may have to be
           lucky and find the right person on the floor.  They've gotten worse
           over time, but still tend to hire people who know what they're
           doing.
           \_ I've had the exact opposite experience.  Keep in mind Ace is just
              a branding of local hw stores, so if the store sucked before they
              were an Ace, they probably won't improve much.  At the local
              Ace for us, there's like one helpful guy per (small) aisle, all
              with headsets on.  Someone (with clue!) asks you if you need
              anything like every 5 minutes, and if they don't know, they pull
              up the guy who does know on the headset and get you your answer
              right then.  I have never, ever, ever gotten a useful answer out
              of anyone at Home Depot, and I can only find someone 1 in 3 tries.
              --dbushong
              \_ Anyone with experience at Dale Hardward in Fremont and Hayward
                 Ace Hardware?  These are the two Ace stores closest to my
                 home.  Thx.  --- OP
                 \_ The owners of Dale Hardware are friends of my family.
                    I never had any issues with them, but haven't been there
                    in about 6 years. --scotsman
                 \_ Pete's Ace Hardware in Castro Valley isn't too much futher
                    from the Hayward one, and I've been very happy (but hey,
                    just try the Hayward one.  It could be fine!)  --dbushong
              \_ Same here.  The trick is often to identify the really useful
                 employees at Ace.  Usually 1 or 2 people in a given store are
                 55-65 years old, semi-retired and have a lifetime of
                 experience in construction related fields and often know tons
                 of stuff about plumbing, wiring, etc.  I usually hone in
                 on those types of people.  They might be handymen as well.
                 The super independent stores are neat too, I've walked in
                 asking for some obscure part and have the guy give it to me
                 within 5 seconds where I would have spent an hour looking for
                 it at Home Depot. -eric
                 \_ The little stores *have* those parts. Places like Home
                    Depot, Lowe's, OSH and ACE don't even stock anything
                    but the most common stuff. I have a 1929 house and I
                    find all those stores mostly useless not only for
                    information but also for just plain finding what I
                    need. Of those, ACE and Tru-Value seem better, though,
                    followed by OSH. I avoid Home Depot and Lowe's unless
                    it's the middle of the night (HD is 24 hours) or what
                    I need is very common (e.g. weed killer, hammer). I
                    once needed a special bolt and no one had it. At least
                    the local independent hardware store guy knew the name
                    of a place that stocked only bolts, so this stuff can
                    get very specialized. I've found myself at electrical
                    supplies, plumbing houses, and commercial flooring and
                    tile places. That's where lots of the pros go,
                    although sadly even contractors are using HD and
                    Lowe's these days in order to save a few bucks.
        \_ In general, I've had pretty good luck with OSH (in case you are
           willing to consider stores other than the ones you listed).
           \_ Ah, I forgot that one.  There's one near my work.  Thx.  --- OP
           \_ Yeah, I've found OSH to be somewhere in between.  More selection
              and slightly better prices than Ace, and significantly more
              helpful than HD.  --dbushong