# Hardware stores in Spain



## Dionysus

Hello, I am curious to learn how much certain tools will cost in Spain. I'm talking about power tools, drills, compressors, saws, etc.

Are there any large box stores like Home Depot, or Lowes in Spain? Are they also in Germany? I am also going to post in Germany as that is where we will live, but we plan on purchasing a place in Spain, and so I will most likely need tools like this to do work around the house.

Thank you in advance.


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## bob_bob

Have you been outside the USA before? Europe now has cars and electricity and power tools and better beer than your used to drinking


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## Dionysus

*Yes*



bob_bob said:


> Have you been outside the USA before? Europe now has cars and electricity and power tools and better beer than your used to drinking


Thank you, but your reply is not helpful to me. We are moving to Germany this summer and will be renting, but we will buy a vacation home in Sitges. I need to know what power tools I can bring, or just sell and buy new in Europe. I know about the voltages, hertz, and metric sizes, in case someone else posts a like question about that. 

My wife is originally from Spain, and we visit frequently, but I've never had to ask her family for a hardware store in all these years.

As to your question if I have been outside the USA, well, let's see... once, or twice a year since 1997 to Spain, my wife is originally from Barcelona, and her father is from Norway. I've been to all Scandinavian countries, all of Western and most of Eastern Europe, China, Australia, Indonesia, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia (I work for an oil company), Colombia, Argentina (wife's mom is from Buenos Aires), Canada, Bahamas (if that counts) and Mexico of course. I am fluent in reading/writing in Spanish, and speak a little German since we started taking German lessons in January as a family. 

BTW, I don't drink beer I can see right through, that includes all American beer!


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## bob_bob

For crying out loud, yes there are hardware stores, look on Amazon Germany or Amazon Spain for a price guide.


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## Dionysus

*Names...*



bob_bob said:


> For crying out loud, yes there are hardware stores, look on Amazon Germany or Amazon Spain for a price guide.


I apologize, I was not clear, what I want to know are what are those stores called? I want to check out their WEB sites. Interestingly, I was more clear in the German forum. Thanks.


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## VFR

Google ............
Leroy Merlin.es
Bricomart.es
Bricodepot.es
AKI.es

All stock what you need and you can check their prices against the cost of shipping yours over.


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## snikpoh

Just remember that here in Europe, we use 220-240V and not what you're used to in USA (110V).

All machinery that you might consider bringing will either have to be switchable or you will need a transformer.


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## ccm47

2 ferreteria that are common in Spain are Brico-Depot (French) and Leroy Merlin (also in France). We use both in both countiries. The local ferretria are unlikely to have decent websites. We do find the local ones very helpful and if need be we take in to the shop either a picture or a sample of what we are looking for and they disappear out the back for a few minutes and return with what we want;


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## Megsmum

bob_bob said:


> Have you been outside the USA before? Europe now has cars and electricity and power tools and better beer than your used to drinking


That made me laugh 


Google is your friend


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## skip o

The hardware stores in Spain are pretty weak compared the stores in the US. Prices can be horrific on some items and the selection is always pretty bad. Stores in my town in Michigan have 10 times the selection of hardware as the stores in Barcelona. I ended up ordering many of my tools from Germany. Be ware that many products perform differently in Spain too. For example, I tested out a bunch of oil stains here and they were surprisingly water soluble. I never found anything that functioned like latex primer. Couldn't find a place that had a router that I could actually see before I bought it. Good luck!


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## Alcalaina

Leroy Merlin hires out power tools and other heavy stuff if you are only going to use them occasionally.


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## Alcalaina

skip o said:


> Be ware that many products perform differently in Spain too. For example, I tested out a bunch of oil stains here and they were surprisingly water soluble.


Maybe because EU health and safety regulations on chemicals are stronger than US ones?

I'm hunting high and low for a small qualtity of glyphosate weedkiller at the moment, to get rid of some stubborn tap roots on the patio. Seems to have disappeared from the shelves.


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## Dionysus

*Thanks..*



skip o said:


> The hardware stores in Spain are pretty weak compared the stores in the US. Prices can be horrific on some items and the selection is always pretty bad. Stores in my town in Michigan have 10 times the selection of hardware as the stores in Barcelona. I ended up ordering many of my tools from Germany. Be ware that many products perform differently in Spain too. For example, I tested out a bunch of oil stains here and they were surprisingly water soluble. I never found anything that functioned like latex primer. Couldn't find a place that had a router that I could actually see before I bought it. Good luck!


@skip o, thank you, this is the type of information I was looking for. I posted in this Spain forum on a whim, but had more sense to ask in the German forum what I was looking for. I suspect some people have not ever been into a Home Depot, or Lowes... so it is good to hear it from someone who has, and can compare.

My problem is I have pneumatic tools that I want to bring, and I know I have to purchase adapters from imperial to metric since I will most likely have to purchase an air compressor there.

I've been into the small hardware stores in Spain; my wife's uncle had a small patch of ceiling falling off in his bathroom, and I offered to fix it. Big mistake! That small patch turned out to be the entire ceiling in the restroom, and hallway (must have been a leak from a tenant above his place). It would have been nice to switch to drywall, but I had no idea where to get that, so I plastered it all. I ended up making several trips to the hardware store for plaster, paint, tools, etc., so I am familiar with what the small stores have.

On the other hand, I was visiting family in Switzerland and we had to go to the hardware store, and they do have a Home Depot clone there, even with the orange color theme, they may have even been related, I don't know. Not the same size as US stores of course, but the largest I've seen while in Europe.

Thank you again.


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## Dionysus

*Thanks*



Alcalaina said:


> Leroy Merlin hires out power tools and other heavy stuff if you are only going to use them occasionally.


Thanks, I will save this as a reference.


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## baldilocks

Your problem with bringing heavy duty US power tools is not the voltage which is easily converted but the power requirement. The average step-up transformer will not easily handle the current that you might require. There may not be likes of Lowes in Europe (Yes, i have used them, in Florida) but you should be able to find much of what you need or a good substitute. You are unlikely to find the paper-thin, easily fractured dry-wall that is common in the states because dry-lining here is usually carried out using plasterboard which is gypsum based with a surface finish that is easily painted or is plasticised..


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## jimenato

Alcalaina said:


> Maybe because EU health and safety regulations on chemicals are stronger than US ones?
> 
> I'm hunting high and low for a small qualtity of glyphosate weedkiller at the moment, to get rid of some stubborn tap roots on the patio. Seems to have disappeared from the shelves.


Can't be an EU thing - it's readily available here in the UK. Roundup is everywhere and there are loads of generics.


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## snikpoh

jimenato said:


> Can't be an EU thing - it's readily available here in the UK. Roundup is everywhere and there are loads of generics.


It's also very readily available here in Spain but only up to 100cc. To get larger quantities you must be licenced. This is an EU regulation and is also applicable in UK (if they have followed the rules).


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## Pazcat

Lets be clear, it is the Spanish interpretation of an EU regulation, possibly, although the EU state that it is up to member states to do as they wish while it is EU approved. Most other EU countries have either interpreted it more reasonably or are already on some type of hysteria about cancer and such and are banning it outright.
It is readily available online if you are happy to pay shipping.
This reminds me I need to restock.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-2012_en.htm

For ages there was none to be found on the shelves but I have found a product called Resolva, Herbicida Total 24h. It's a weak version of round up but it will do the job. Maybe in 24h on the hottest day of the year, so far about a week for it to show signs of working here. 
It's in a one litre spray bottle.


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