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A Home Depot class action lawsuit alleges the home improvement store chain misleads its customers when it sells lumber according to size.
The complaint states that its “dimensional” lumber products—those sold by height, width, and length—are routinely labeled as being larger than they actually are.
“Defendant regularly advertises for sale dimensional lumber products through in-store shelf tags and signage, labels, and flyers, which contain inaccurate and false product dimensions that do not correspond to the actual dimensions of the products being advertised,” asserts the class action.
The Home Depot class action lawsuit states that the company operates the largest chain of home improvement stores in the U.S., and “dimensional” lumber such as “two-by-fours” are some of its most popular products.
The complaint contends that all of the advertising and labeling on those products is inherently misleading, because “Defendant’s dimensional lumber products all have materially smaller dimensions than those represented in its advertisements and product labeling.”
For example, a 6’ long 4×4 board (meaning it is four inches in both width and height) actually measures 3.5” x 3.5” x 6’, “which is approximately 23 percent smaller than advertised,” the class action notes. Similarly, the most common wooden boards are 2x4s (or two inches by four inches), which the complaint alleges actually measure 1.5” x 3.5”.
The complaint argues that Home Depot does not “state that the advertised dimensions are not the actual dimensions of the products, that the advertised dimensions were ‘nominal’ dimensions, or anything else to indicate that the products’ actual dimensions differ from those explicitly stated on the advertising and product labeling.”
Plaintiff Mikhail Abramov states that he purchased lumber from a Home Depot store in Palatine, Ill. in December of 2016. Abramov says he saw a shelf tag saying that some boards were “4×4-6’ #2 PT GC,” meaning that they were four inches by four inches, by 6 feet pressure treated pine boards. In addition, Abramov says that each board had a tag given this same size information.
However, after he purchased the lumber and measured it at home, he found out that the boards were actually 3.5 inches by 3.5 inches by 6 feet. The class action contends that Abramov was “deceived and/or misled” by Home Depot about the actual dimensions of the lumber that he purchased. Abramov claims that he would not have purchased the dimensional lumber products, or would have only paid much less for them, had he known the truth.
The misleading lumber size lawsuit requests certification of a Class of all persons who purchased dimensional lumber from Home Depot anywhere in the U.S. in the past three years. The complaint also requests a subclass of people who purchase such products in Illinois.
The Home Depot class action seeks actual and compensatory damages under consumer protection laws, as well as an injunction “prohibiting Defendant’s unfair and deceptive advertising practices.”
Abramov is represented by Eugene Y. Turin, Myles McGuire, and Evan M. Meyers of McGuire Law PC.
The Home Depot Misleading Lumber Size Class Action Lawsuit is Mikhail Abramov v. The Home Depot Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-01860, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
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73 thoughts onHome Depot Class Action Alleges Misleading Lumber Sizes
Please note, to join this class action there is a required IQ of less than 80.
You’re giving way too much credit.
Dumbest lawsuit ever brought on by people just wanting to take advantage of the system. Home Depot does not sell 2″ x 4″ lumber. They sell 2X4’s. No where does that say “2 inches by 4 inches,” or ‘2″ x 4″.’ You’d have to assume they were talking about inches. But they don’t sell it that way. So what is the suit even about? (Get rich quick scheme, of course.)
So, I suppose since these plaintiffs were using this lumber for improvement projects around the house they would have really been upset if the actual sizes didn’t match with the actual sizes of lumber already in their home. Since all lumber to build houses comes in the same net sizes that Depot, Lowes and Maynard sells they would not have been able to match anything in their homes if the wood was actually the nominal size, ie. 2×4, 4×4, etc.
Then I guess they would just sue because they were sold “non-standard” material they couldn’t use.
Come on you retailers, don’t you know what your doing???
I have purchased 2×4 from Home Depot for many years. I use it & subflooringvto cover my pond. Last year some broke; this scared me greatly! I feared it may have killed my koi fish. This angers me!
If they advertise 2×4, they should be 2×4 and not 1.5×3.5. If they are selling 1.5×3.5, state it.
Please add me to the class action suit.
Pretty sure I was about 5-6 years old when I learned that lumber is measured by the size before cut and dried at the saw mill. The blades remove about 1/4″ of material for each cut. This guy must have the intelligence of a potato. This also wouldn’t just be a home depot thing as the entire lumber, logging, and milling industries use these measurements.
this is another b.s. lawsuit. Everyone with any intelligence knows that all lumber is not to exact size. If this is the case how come Lowe’s and True Value and every other lumber yard are not added in this law suit? The 2″ x 4″ measurement is cut undried size. For the D.A. and every other idiot the ” symbol means inches. The wood dries up or shrinks a little because of natural causes. This is an Industry Standard measurement. I don’t know what D.A. allowed this lawsuit to progress
A quick google search states “Lumber Dimensions. 2x4s are not actually 2 inches by 4 inches. When the board is first rough sawn from the log, it is a true 2×4, but the drying process and planing of the board reduce it to the finished 1.5×3.5 size” This is some dude looking to score some bucks because he is stupid. A total waste of time on this suit.
I remember buy a piece of flat partial board at Home Depot in 1994, in Troutdale Oregon. It wasn’t a perfect square like it was suppose to be. It slightly veered off to to side. The employee “hide this from me” and the contractor we hired found it when we got it home. He fixed it. But it would have delayed us in time and cost us more in money to “return it” for the correct board.
Count me in, I wasted a lot of money buying the wrong sizes!!! And Steve, referring to your comment, Maybe contractors should be ruled out of this one then!!! The “stores” should post the actual size somewhere us stupid non-contractors in Illinois can easily see it!!!
Please don’t make yourself seem anywhere near as foolish as this person or the firm representing them. Every single contractor as the world knows full well that 2×4’s and 4×4’s don’t measure exactly those dimensions. Those dimensions are used to describe them because it would be a pain in the rear to have to describe them to everyone as 2.5 x 3.5 or 3.5 x 3.5.
My husband has been complaining of this for years! So frustrating to not buy uniform size wood when building something! So deceiving. Count me in!
Dear Barbara, the wood your husband has been buying for years IS the same uniform size, unless he is milling it himself. The industry standards and acceptable national codes for lumber sizing have not changed in 50 or more years!!!