Recently, I installed a clothes dryer vent for a new laundry location (leaving the electrical and plumbing to professionals). Friday night after work, I stopped at my local Lowe’s and I bought everything I might need:

• Exterior Vent
• 90 elbow
• 10′ length of dryer ducting
• 5′ of dryer ducting
• three duct clamps
• silver duct tape
• tin snips

 Although I was fairly certain I only needed 10′ of ducting, and I thought I had a pair of tin snips at home, I bought the extras anyway. Saturday morning, I started my project, which went smoothly. Indeed, I only needed 10′ of ducting and I did have an old pair of tin snips. On top of that, I only ended up using two of the duct clamps. Since I had saved my receipt, returning the unused items was a snap. But had I needed those items, I could have kept on working, having enough extras to avoid a mid-project trip to the hardware store.

I learned this lesson the hard way. Several of my previous projects required the mid-project shopping trip. This is especially bad idea if your work is on the roof, and the cool air of morning is burnt off by the midday sun. The roof is a bad place to be around noon in Arizona.

There’s no absolute guarantee that you can predict all the possible things you may need for a project, but materials overestimation is a real easy way to keep the project rolling. Just be sure to check your hardware store’s return policy. Keeping the receipt is always important, but some shops also have specific items that cannot be returned. Both Home Depot and Lowe’s have great return policies, and I’ve even had some luck returning items without a receipt.

Happy Handyman Saturday.

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