Home Builders’ Center

This store doesn’t have the biggest selection, as it’s not huge, but I’ve been there often, and generally find what I need at a fair price. I’ve mostly bought things related to painting my house, but have also bought a few other odds and ends. The staff has always been polite and helpful, in my experience, answering questions and giving helpful tips. I like that it feels like a small town hardware store.

We have been going here for 20+ years. It is a hidden gem. If you have a small house or apartment or are working on your boat away from home… know that they have an incredible lumber yard with nice wood trim, even teak, plywood and lots more. Those of us using teak on boats have been using them for years for teak. The secret to reveal is that they actually will cut it to size for you. It costs a little but if you don’t have a table saw or the tools to cut wood (plywood or nice lumber or trim). come in with your measurements and have them cut it for you. Also they clean up the sawdust. And if you aren’t quite sure what type to get the associates there are very knowledgeable.
In addition to wood/​lumber, you can order laminate from them or buy paint or tools (router bits, you name it), plumbing supplies or paper lawn bags which are great for your compost bin. Plus I only get mine there because they are a good price and they don’t break thru the bottom like some other ones I have bought elsewhere. Home Builder’s has just about everything you can imagine for working on your house or jobs. The best part is they have competitive pricing. Sometimes I have gone all the way to Home Depot just to find out that Builder’s Hardware price was comparable, product was good and I could have not wasted the time or had to deal with traffic. They used to even have nails in the bins so you buy them by the weight. They even make keys, etc. At least check them out and check out the lumber collection in the back of the store and down the stairs. That is my favorite part. Their big table saw is foot pedal controlled. Very cool. Peace.

I was in a few months ago; customer service was awful! Employee was very unfriendly; didn’t even acknowledge customers as they entered then acted like we were imposing when we asked for assistance. He was completely clueless (and didn’t seem to care) about some pretty basic questions.
The store was really drab, selection was minimal at best and prices were high.
Decided to give them another try today; same story. I poked around for 5 minutes and was never once acknowledged. Wish it was possible to give less than one star as this business doesn’t even rate that.
If you want to support local small businesses, there is a great hardware store in downtown Magnolia and a couple in Ballard; both worth the extra few miles and minutes to get there.

I drop in for odds and ends like emergency light bulbs and such. This place always has what I need. They had a lovely gray cat on premise but she has since passed away sadly at 19. I love that they are a hardware store that had a cat!

Poor customer service.

I used to go here because they are so close to my house. I went about three or four times and was never impressed once by the service there. A small, locally owned hardware store should be helpful and the kind of place that you enjoy going to. This is not that kind of place. The service is sub-​par and I always felt intimidated going in there. They do have a decent selection of merchandise. And if you know exactly what you need, then you might be fine here. But if you need any sort of advice, I would look elsewhere. I found another hardware store in Queen Anne a little further away from my house that I frequent regularly now.

I’m not the kind of guy that likes to have to ask for help as I prefer to do things myself, yet because I don’t own or have access to the tools I need to do some of the projects I want to do Home Builder’s Center has been a good resource. I’ve had a few projects where I needed some wood and I needed it cut specifically with a shape cut out and the guy’s at Home Builder’s Center looked at my drawing and did it with no problem. The last time I did have to wait a few hours and come back for the finished product, but I had the time and it was fine. The cuts are not free, but it’s still not very much money considering the cost of a saw to do it by ones own self. If you find yourself in need of some wood and need it cut you can do what I did which was walk out in to the lumber yard and wait like an idiot to be told ‘just go up to the counter’ or you can skip that first part and just go up to the counter and tell them what you need.

After discovering that City Hardware (
) does NOT carry lumber, I took the loathed 17 bus (
) back to my old hood to visit Home Builder’s Center. I had a few items on my list but started out with my main goal: get some lumber cut to size so I could make a simple shelf.
The guy that helped me was a little gruff at first but became extremely helpful and assisted me in choosing the material that was both cost effective and appropriate for my project. I really appreciated his expertise and my shelf came together nicely with some additional suggestions from him. I’m adding a Star because of this overall experience and the fact that Home Builder’s actually carries lumber!
FYI — Someone recently sent me a message clarifying the affiliations of our local hardware stores: Home Builder’s has been independent for two years, the store nearby in Queen Ann is a True Value, and City Hardware is an Ace Hardware store. If this info is important to you, now you know!

Home Builder’s Center is located a block away from my office, so it’s quite convenient to swing by and pick up the odd bit of home improvement gear on the way home, but shelves feel like they’re full of brands a little off from what I’ve come to expect elsewhere. For example, they feature Mint Craft locksets instead of Schlage and Cooper switches and outlets rather than Leviton.
The most glaring example is that the polyurethane section has a Varathane display, yet they don’t actually carry the Varathane brand. Rather, they have Cabot and the Ace house brand. But then you turn the corner and find higher end Benjamin Moore paints.
Brand oddities aside, they’ve always had the item I was looking for, including garden tools, lumber, plumbing supplies, or random hardware and fittings. The staff has always been helpful and knowledgeable, and overall layout of the store reminds me a bit of the hardware store my dad used to go to when I was a little kid.
If you live in the in the neighborhood I suspect this is your go-​to hardware shop, and there’s a good chance it’ll save you a trip up to one of the big boxes on Aurora.

We came here about a month ago by recommendation of our local hardware store that could not provide a service we needed: a piece of laminate counter top cut for a home project. This was something as simple as a quick run through a buzzsaw.
Living in a highrise condo, we do not have the set up to just rent a saw and do it ourselves. The job was also too small for any local contractor to bother with. We were quoted over $ 450 when we did find someone who would do it.
When we called Home Builder’s Center, we told them what we wanted done, and they said, «come on in any time.» Dubious at the simplicity of the answer, we hauled our piece of counter top over.
When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised. We were helped right away by a down to earth, friendly employee that didn’t treat us we were wasting his time for such a simple task. From the time we walked in, to the time we left, we were there maybe 15 mins. And the best part? The service, as well as a tube of liquid nails cost us less than $ 6!!!
Thank you HBC for restoring a little faith in humanity by not running us through the ringer! You made my day.