Lowes Home Improvement Stores:

Lowes may not have the name that Home Depot does in terms of home improvement, but their overall reputation for customer service is award winning. Many homeowners actually prefer Lowes over Home Depot. Lowes currently runs over 1450 stores in 49 states. The warehouse style stores are where you can find just about anything you need for your house or yard. They carry appliances (fridges, dishwashers, washer & dryer, etc), flooring, cabinets, paint, kitchen fixtures, lights, outdoor supplies and much more. The housing boom from 2001 to 2006 really catapulted Lowes into the forefront right behind Home Depot in sales and revenue. Homeowners have gone a little crazy with do it yourself project that they hope will increase the value of their homes. Many people are redoing their kitchen countertops with granite or ripping out carpets and putting down hardwoods. If you own a home you certainly know that the list can go on and on for fixing or replacing almost anything. Lowes provides services for landscaping, interior design, installation of doors, fixtures, and countertops. They literally are a 'one stop' shopping experience for the typical homeowner.

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The Internet has helped shape the success of stores like Lowes. I personally prefer the Lowes.com website over their rivals like Home Depot. The Lowes site has some of the best 'buying guides' you will ever come across for products like generators, refrigerators, dishwashers, power washers, drills, saws, sanders, ladders, awnings, etc. They are detailed in types, brands, and specs. The online How-To-Library is a great way to get acquainted with your house. They give you step by step instructions on projects that any homeowner can take on. Things like installing moulding, painting the exterior of your home, insulating your attic, or putting in track lighting. It used to be that an expert had to do all these upgrades to your house but now people are finding out these projects aren't that difficult if given the right information and guidance. Many outdoor yard enhancements can be done in a day or 2 such as placing pavers down or getting that irrigation system you always wanted. You can always ask the store employees for help on a particular project.

Lowes Coupon:

One thing that most homeowners want to do and that is save money when shopping for home improvement and building supplies. Lowes offers coupons that you can print off the Internet if you want. These printable coupons give you valuable discounts on specific items in their stores or online. You can go online to Lowesmoving.com and fill out a quick form to get a 10% off coupon We found dozens of Lowes discount coupons on Ebay, many for $10 or more off and most of the time a standard 10% off a single purchase. We get a weekly mailer in our mailer or the newspaper which usually has coupons for specials. I have bought light bulbs and Christmas lights and saved almost 50% of the retail price. On the actual website of Lowes, you can get free parcel shipping on items $49 and above (similar to that offered by Home Depot). You can also view the weekly ad section to see which products are discounted that week and which have coupons for even more savings. Also, when you open up a Lowes credit card account in the store you are often eligible for same day savings of up to 10%.

Lowes Hardware:

The one thing that homeowners should be able to do and that is switch out or change hardware on doors, cabinets, etc. Cabinet hardware and door hardware are commonly found in most houses and really only require a few screws to be undone and then replaced with something newer or more stylish. I recently undertook the job of replacing all our cabinet knobs in our kitchen area (60 in all). We wanted to go from the old brass look to a more modern nickel finish. I bought all the knobs and simply unscrewed the old and put on the new. I was also able to put on new cabinet pulls in our bathroom with minimal hassle. Kitchen cabinets don't take much to look new and buying new pulls or knobs can make all the difference in the world. The Lowes.com website has an excellent tutorial on buying cabinet hardware and a how to library on replacing hinges or hardware fixtures.

Lowes vs Home Depot:

Home Depot was the leader for home improvement stores for a long time but Lowes has been slowly gaining traction on the competition and overtaken them in many ways. Customers report that Lowes has better customer service than Home Depot. There's no doubt that trying to find the right washer nut or lawn mower can be an intimidating thing in a store the size of Lowes or Home Depot. Parts or pieces can all start looking the same and so having an expert on hand to help guide you is nice to have. I must admit that location the right product in either store is not always easy and I often have questions as to which brand or item is better/worse. Lowes does a better job with customers and Home Depot is not bad, but they are not outstanding. All things considered, Lowes offers similar prices to Home Depot but with the added benefit of consistent customer service. When I'm in Home Depot I feel like the employees don't have an area of expertise and they are trying to answer questions in too many fields. The one thing I do like about Home Depot versus Lowes are the clinics that HD does. They are informative and educational to the point that I can go home and work on a project that would have been beyond my scope of knowledge.

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