How to get large 4' x 8' sheets of plywood home from Lumber Yard with just a car

[Dolmetscher007]

I have a 2016 Volkswagen Jetta. Not even a large car. I am always needing to buy full 4' x 8' sheets of plywood, MDF, and what-have-you from the lumber yard or home depot. For the first time in all my life I do not have a single friend that owns a truck. I know that Home Depot will rent me a truck for $20/hr, and I've done that before. However, I am embarking on a pretty major home renovation that is going to take several trips, I imagine, over a few weeks, and I do not want to blow $20 every time I need a 1/4 sheet of something. I'm almost certain that the answer is "no," but does anyone have a realistic method for getting FULL sheets (not cut down with the Home Depot panel saw) using just a car?

I would have thought that there would be some video on a make-shift car jig that would let me strap the sheet(s) to the roof. Anybody? Anything? 

[Keggers]

I think that if you strap a sheet of plywood to the roof of a car you no longer have a car - you have an airplane.

The truck rental is the way I'd go.

[wtnhighlander]

The HD and Lowes home centers near me offer a delivery service. If you need several sheets, buy them at one time and ask for delivery.

[SawDustB]

It's not impossible to take them home on a roof rack, but there key is to get several at a time so you can clamp them together with a couple of quick clamps and they'll be more rigid than floppy. I wouldn't try it unless you have a decent rack, and you're comfortable tying them on with multiple straps. I've done it a number of times on the roof of my vehicle, but it's never exactly fun.

Don't try buying 1-2 sheets of something really floppy, like 1/8 or 1/4. It'll flop like mad, and could come off your car or disintegrate. And if you can, avoid the highway.

[Jfitz]

How far away is HD? andi is it any highway driving or can you stay on slower roads? as Kent said.....a car can get blown all over if not careful.

A few options pop to mind.  Do you or someone you know own a ski rack? The basic Thule system or something like itm, with crossbars would be a good foundation - you could bolt/fasten a basic frame onto it and use it for holding the sheet goods.

Another option - this would be my choice - would be to get a utility trailer (assuming you have or can install a hitch onto your car).  It'd be easier to load/unload, and always at the ready.  Harbor frieght has a number of them (like this http://www.harborfreight.com/1195-lb-capacity-48-in-x-96-in-heavy-duty-folding-trailer-62648.html) but a scan through your local Craigslist or basic Google searches can turn up all sorts of options.

[wtnhighlander]

You could always use a rope, and consider the bottom sheet 'sacrificial'!

[RichardA]

Those big box stores do deliver, but I'd go the trailer route.  It's safer, and it's reusable for as long as you live, with care!

[Pete Staehling]

I have often carried full sheets of various sheet goods including plywood and sheet rock on a roof rack and never had a problem.  A good tip I can offer is to use some 2x4 studs and c clamps to keep the wind from breaking the sheets up.  A 2x4 down each side and a piece across the front with a few clamps will make it stiff enough to not break up in the wind.  I still typically try to keep the speed down.

It is easy to get too much weight and rack systems vary in their rigidity and capacity so don't go crazy and overload the car/rack.

[wouldwurker]

My proper lumberyard will deliver sheets of proper plywood free as long as you are in so many miles.

Conversely wait till you get a few bucks to buy 10 sheets of whatever you need for the for foreseeable future and bite the bullet for the $20 pick up truck rental at the depot.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[freedhardwoods]

Several good suggestions. I would go the truck rental or delivery route. If you damage your car, you won't be saving money.

Definitely not this way.

[Chestnut]

Ford rangers are cheep you could probably buy a late 80s early 90s 4cyl for $500 and then sell it for $500 after your project is done. It sounds like a joke but I've done it. Find a good deal it'll make it easier to sell or keep it they are super cheap vehicles to own.

Other thoughts, around here U-haul rents trucks for $20 a day. A jetta is big enough look into a hitch and renting/borrowing a trailer. I bought a used 4x6 trailer for $200 thing is dead useful. I don't put stuff in the back of my pickup any more i just hook that thing up for everything.

[Eric.]

Yeah I was gonna say what The Nut said...buy a truck.  I'd get a full-size beater though, any make, who cares.  I don't know how any man who owns a house gets through life without a truck.  But that's me.

[Jim DaddyO]

Truck, trailer, or.....

 

 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Yeah I was gonna say what The Nut said...buy a truck.  I'd get a full-size beater though, any make, who cares.  I don't know how any man who owns a house gets through life without a truck.  But that's me.

Own a house, no truck, but I am north of the mason dixon line

 

[Eric.]

Just now, Mike. said:

I am north of the mason dixon line

 

Does that mean you pay someone to haul your mulch, or...?

I don't know...I find myself using the bed of my truck on a weekly basis.  Life would be a royal PITA without it.  I realize it's not the most fuel-efficient mode of transportation when you're not hauling something, but if you use it only as a utility vehicle, it makes sense to own one.

[TerryMcK]

Get them delivered. Phone the yard and order/pay over the phone. You don't even have to visit and it turns up like an Amazon delivery. You're not tempted by an expensive chunk of tiger maple that way too.

My yard even does free delivery within 10 mile radius as long as you spend over a certain amount (50 GBP in my case - about $62 US)

[Chestnut]

I think the reason the OP isn't having things delivered is because he doesn't know what he needs exactly and doesn't want to pay a ton for multiple deliverys or multiple rentals.

I like the roof rack trick video above and use something similar when buying sheet rock even with a pickup. This is assuming he has a roof rack.

[gee-dub]

Please, read the following with the tongue in cheek humor it is supposed to deliver . . .

People always wanting to use a truck but, unwilling to pay for their own are the bane of truck owners ;-)

Now back to our program . . .

Car top rails or rental.  Dad had a set of car top rails similar to the ones shown in the video.  They worked well for the few blocks he had to drive.  Anything further needs proper equipment to avoid becoming a road hazard yourself.  I would "overbuy" and make the rental occurrence pay off if you go that route.

[Andy Wright]

2 hours ago, Jfitz said:

How far away is HD? andi is it any highway driving or can you stay on slower roads? as Kent said.....a car can get blown all over if not careful.

A few options pop to mind.  Do you or someone you know own a ski rack? The basic Thule system or something like itm, with crossbars would be a good foundation - you could bolt/fasten a basic frame onto it and use it for holding the sheet goods.

Another option - this would be my choice - would be to get a utility trailer (assuming you have or can install a hitch onto your car).  It'd be easier to load/unload, and always at the ready.  Harbor frieght has a number of them (like this http://www.harborfreight.com/1195-lb-capacity-48-in-x-96-in-heavy-duty-folding-trailer-62648.html) but a scan through your local Craigslist or basic Google searches can turn up all sorts of options.

You can put a hitch on a Jetta. That would be my go to option - it will come in handy for hauling all sorts of stuff

http://www.carparts.com/details/Volkswagen/Jetta/Curt/Hitch/2016/CUR110722.html?TID=gglpla&origin=pla&gclid=CIG4wKONztACFRIlgQodkXMHQg&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Pwk5017]

I always go the delivery route. Sometimes it's free, sometimes it's $25, but it doesn't matter to me. Life is too short to be schlepping materials about constantly. Buy what you need once, and have some other guy bring it to you. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Does that mean you pay someone to haul your mulch, or...?

I don't know...I find myself using the bed of my truck on a weekly basis.  Life would be a royal PITA without it.  I realize it's not the most fuel-efficient mode of transportation when you're not hauling something, but if you use it only as a utility vehicle, it makes sense to own one.

Our minivan will hold a full 4x8 sheet, so I use that for things like plywood and lumber.  I also use it for bags of mulch.  

If I need a truck load of mulch, then the landscapers who install it take care of the delivery :).  Landscaping is cheap here. For now.  Until the wall comes. 

 

[..Kev]

Buy a truck

[freedhardwoods]

58 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Yeah I was gonna say what The Nut said...buy a truck.  I'd get a full-size beater though, any make, who cares.  I don't know how any man who owns a house gets through life without a truck.  But that's me.

I've had 2 full size pickups around for the last 20 years. I have 3 now, but I rarely drive the oldest one.

[wdwerker]

When I was a kid my dad used the boat trailer to bring home all the materials to finish the basement. 

[ClassAct]

1 hour ago, freedhardwoods said:

Definitely not this way.

Freedhardwoods, you beat me to it!