: It is amazing how lumber yard employees will help you if you get
: them interested in what you are doing. They understand that you
: are trying to spend as little as possible and will give you
: options you would never find by wandering the yard. The employee
: I worked with actually sorted through the stack with me to find
: the cleanest boards. Sometimes it pays to go the real lumber
: stores.

It also helps to go when they're not busy (weekdays after the contractor rush in the morning and before the after work crowd). Then they have the choice of stocking shelves, pulling orders, or helping you :-) Cleaning up after yourself, not leaving ricks in shambles gets noticed. By the time you've learned their names, stopping by with a box of doughnuts early mornings works wonders. That's when you start hearing, "I found a board you might be able to use".