Division Hardware & Paint

My ‘Go-​To’ for all household needs — and very conveniently located.

For the last several weeks I’ve been coming here often. I’m helping my daughter fix up her (30’s era) house nearby, and this place is about 6 blocks from it. Very helpful folks here, and for the last couple months they’ve been upgrading the store and relocating the stock. They did an amazing job of doing essentially remodeling whilst staying open and knowing where the merchandise was on that particular day; it changed all the time. This could have been disastrous, but they managed to keep things going as smoothly as can be.
This is the sort of place where you can go in with a plumbing problem to resolve, and the staffer (if you get the right one) can pick out the parts and show you how to get it done right w/​o it being some costly and questionable assembly of odds and ends which you might select on your own, or at HD for lack of proper assistance. Some of the people there aren’t so clued in on the details or esoteric s, but there’s a core group that knows their stuff.
They have an impressive inventory, and their prices are fair. More than a box store, but not enough to make you want to drive out to one unless you were getting a lot of stuff. There’s something very evocative to me about a full service neighborhood hardware store, and this is a great one. OK, no squeaky floors (concrete) but all the rest, including popcorn. I’ve been talking this place up since I first started coming here.

Division Hardware is the best! The employees are all really sweet and helpful! As a young woman, I usually don’t get taken very seriously at hardware stores but here they are all super helpful and don’t treat me like an idiot. They’re a smaller business though, so the selection isn’t huge but is still pretty good. I suggest this place 100%.

Definitely not as large as a corporate chain, nevertheless, they are well stocked and employees are old school about customer service. It feels good to contribute to the local economy!

After returning to Do It Best/​Division Hardware time after time, I have to say I mostly agree with Naga below. If you know what you are looking for, and you know they will have it, this can be a great local hardware store. I have found them to not be the best resource, and though I often return out of convenience, I find myself going to competing hardware stores most of the time. The problem? Either they simply do not have something I am looking for, or they have a small selection and I need more offerings, or I’m looking for expertise and I simply can’t find it there.
I went in looking for a pretty standard M5 x.8 metric screw the other day and found them to be less-​than-​remarkable. It took a while for me to get help and when someone finally did help, they simply looked for the item in the same places as I, concluding like me that they didn’t have the screw. This, a universal size for screws on vintage bicycles. They’ve not had any screws or washers I’ve needed, actually. Many of the salespeople have a lack of basic shop expertise, requiring customers to explain what they’re looking for to an extent I don’t find at competing shops. Ace Hardware on Woodstock is a great resource, IMHO, with an abundance of salespeople waiting to help you. Better prices also.
For basic items, like mineral spirits or steel wool, Division Hardware/​Do it Best can provide you the ease and convenience you need.

Our bike lock had failed, and couldn’t free our daughters bikes from the clutches of its metal coils. Luckily Do It Best was just down the road, and after explaining our predicament, and assuring them that we weren’t asking them to assist us in bike theft, they graciously walked down and clipped the cable. Now we have new bike locks (3 for $ 19). Fantastic.

Close to home. Friendly, knowledgeable folks working there. Everytime I go in, I am approached to see if I need a hand. Amazing. They might not have everything that a Home Depot or Lowes but they have most things! They actually like to help you, unlike the big box dumps. Great customer service!

Good amount of stuff in a decent sized store for the area. They even have a small parking lot, which is surprising considering it’s on Division. Plentiful helpful and knowledgable staff. Solid place.

Love a good old-​fashioned neighborhood hardware store. They had what I needed and had plenty of staff to answer my questions. Plus, a big thing in this neighborhood, a parking lot!

Being serial project-​ers, we’re regulars here. It’s a hardware store that actually enjoys helping you with your projects. (Not just a big box store with sales people that ask you if you’re a home owner, while you’re looking for things to pimp out your sweet-​ass van.) Brian W was super helpful and stuck with us through the frustration of jerry-​rigging hardware to put up two awnings to our Yakima bars.
He probably got a millions points at Tetris, at a previous point in his life.

I went in with paint samples from a completely different brands than what they have, I was given samples under a light and we are happier now with our color choices than we had originally hoped for. The staff was so kind and the availability of so much garden equipment is great for an urban location. FREE Popcorn! They even had little wagons, wheelbarrows, and garden tools for kids. The paint guy even put the name and code of our paint on the lid. I love this little corner hardware store! and I didn’t mind having my backpack around the counter, this little old school place. Gotta protect yourself from the thieves. Great store, great staff, def worth a stop by if you need something and are in the area.

I don’t understand how they make the decision to be closed on Sundays. When do they think people do home improvement projects?

Mostly impressed when compared to the big box hardware stores. I’m building a lot of furniture and of course, precision is key. The gentleman here was VERY precise and made excellent cuts for me, compared to Home Depot… out of 30 cuts i had done there, 25 were off sometimes by an inch! This place is how hardware stores should be.

Do It Best is small-​business-​America at it its best — super friendly, helpful, knowledgeable workstaff, well-​marked aisles and easy to find houseware all for reasonable prices and a stone-​throw away from my house. Couldn’t have asked for more!

Pretty good selection, just be careful about letting the staff help you. They frequently have no idea what they’re doing! I mean truly, not a clue. It’s okay to go here if you know exactly what you’re looking for, and where to find it. If you don’t know, do your research online before going into the store. Oh, and ask for Shawn. He’s the one person I’ve found to actually be helpful.

Treats customers like thieves!
Liking to support local businesses, I’ve shopped here for years. Probably atleast once a week.
This idiotic policy of not allowing backpacks is ridiculous! Sorry you have a shoplifting problem, but I am not a thief. You cannot have my diaper bag. You cannot have my work laptop. I’m just trying to get in and out quickly with my toddler, and you’re not helping. Besides with the 14 employees standing around you’d think you could keep an eye on the store.
If you can’t even show your customers some basic respect, I’m done being a customer.
Hawthorne and Woodstock Do-​it-​Bests have friendlier and more knowledgable service, and have never once mentioned my bag. Home Depot and Fred Meyer don’t either.

I’d just like to re-​emphasize my original posting. I went there recently to get paint and had the paint guy match a swatch for me. I went home and, after painting a bit, decided the color was totally wrong. I went back to Division Hardware with my barely-​used can and, super apologetically, asked the guy if he could tweak it for me. He cheerfully spent the next twenty or so minutes with me tweaking, mixing, drying, re-​tweaking, mixing drying, etc. until the new shade was perfect. It was WAY above and beyond, and the guy was so nice, and they didn’t charge me anything.
This in contrast to a horrible experience I had at Home Depot where two guys at the paint counter both rolled their eyes, sighed, guilt-​tripped me, shamed me, rolled their eyes again, told me it was my fault, told me they didn’t have to do anything for me but FINE OK I will try to tweak the paint but it’s YOUR FAULT if you hate it, and then they both passed the paint off to another guy so I had to explain myself all over again. It took a solid 40 minutes to get my paint back from those assholes.
Die Home Depot! Viva Division Hardware!

This has been my local bike-​or-​walking close hardware store for 15 backbreaking endless agonizing years of home renovation, God bless ‘em. Early on I learned I could open an account there – how Mayberry is that? So I can even show up sans wallet & take my goodies away, getting handy itemized bills at the end of the month.
They really do have almost anything you need, along with caring employees who know their way around. Sometimes I’ll explain the specifics of my project and end up with a committee of them tossing ideas around – it’s like having 5 dads!
And it’s the perfect place when you don’t want two dozen screws in a blister pack, but just two! Or a hook! Or a foot of chain or a yard of electric wire… you get the idea.
Is it possible they corrupted me years ago and earned my unquestioning loyalty when I WON the $ 500 merchandise prize??? (Yes, I really did !!!) The best part was when an employee told me how glad everyone was that a regular customer won for a change… yeah, I’m a regular! They know me there! Sweet!
And if that’s not enough: FREE POPCORN! Every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday.

Oh, hello independent hardware/​random shit store on Division. I’d rather spend $ 100 here than ten cents at that awful purgatory we all know as Home Depot out at Mall 205.
What’s that, you need a shower curtain liner, some keys made, a case of Duraflame fire logs, a monkey wrench, a light switch cover, AND an ice cream bar? Look no further! Oh, yeah, almost forgot about that gallon of paint, replacement toilet seat, and some vinyl American flags? Jump back in line, you’re all set.
Every time I’ve been to Do It Best, I’ve found exactly what I needed and was approached by more than one employee to see if I needed any help. They operate at a different pace and with a different attitude than the chain stores. Go see those people next time you need a caulking gun, a window insulation kit, and some screws… you won’t walk away anything less than happy.

You mean… I don’t have to drive all the way to Home Depot at Mall 205 for my hardware needs?
Yes, that would be correct.
Don’t be fooled by the hole-​in-​the wall appearance from the outside of Do It Best Hardware. This place is chock full of stuff.
Besides, we went to Home Depot to get copies of a mailbox key and tthey didn’t have our key. But Do It Best did! They have full lock and key service here.
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