I think the "cheapest possible lumber" approach is overrated for desk builds

I saw a guy in here yesterday say he built his whole desk from a $25 pallet and it collapsed on him after 3 months. I spent $80 on a single piece of birch plywood from Home Depot and my desk has held up through 2 moves and a spilled coffee. Has anyone else found that spending a little more upfront actually saves money long term?

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the_drew15h ago

My buddy Jake dropped $30 on those crappy furring strip 2x3s and some OSB from the clearance rack. He built this whole standing desk setup that looked decent for about two weeks. Then the OSB sagged right in the middle where his monitor sat, and one of the screws just pulled straight out of the soft pine. He tried to brace it with some scrap metal he found in his garage but it kept wobbling. By month four the whole thing was leaning like a tower in Pisa. He finally gave up and bought a solid butcher block countertop for $120 and now it's been sitting rock solid for almost two years. That first desk cost him way more in time and frustration than the extra forty bucks would have.