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One
of the really important things they can do is point you towards
some good subcontractors - the ones who do business with them!
Fortunately,
almost every town has access to one of the big "box" lumber
and building materials suppliers (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) available
either in their town or in a nearby city.
But
when they learn you're going to need a whole house full of materials,
they're apt to to be a whole lot more interested in your business.Cost conscious owner builders will be tempted to buy the least expensive items available. And why not? A 2x4 is a 2x4. Right? Doesn't matter where it comes from. Does it?
Well, actually, wood species and grade marking do come into play when you're talking about 2x4's. But that's another topic. The point I'm trying to make here is that sometimes it's better to stick with one supplier - especially with materials you'll be using throughout the home building process. Like lumber.
Having one building materials supplier means you won't have to remember where a stick of lumber came from - if, for example, you need to return it. In addition if you're dealing with one lumber supplier, you'll get much better service. Believe me, it'll make you life a lot easier.
Working With Lumber and
Building
Materials Suppliers
Your relationship with lumber and building
materials suppliers begins with getting a quote. This process
- getting and recording quotes is a bit much to cover on a general
page on Suppliers like this one. So we've assigned it its own
page. Click here.
Establishing An Account
Once you have decided which suppliers you will use, it's time to get your accounts
set up so you can buy on credit. Talk with the credit managers at each supplier
to find out what they require.
If you have good credit and local references, you probably won’t have any trouble here. On very large purchases, like the framing package, the supplier may want the framing draw made out to you and them jointly. This is OK if your bank doesn’t object.
Many home construction loans are automatically set up to pay that way, or even to pay the supplier or subcontractor directly. You'll discover all these details when you set up your home construction loan.
Some suppliers will take your credit application, but may not finalize approval until your construction loan is approved. Once that happens, no problemo!
With
a construction loan in hand,
everyone will be ready
to do business with you!
Ordering Materials
A good owner builder is always working
not only with today’s
subcontractors and building materials suppliers, but also those
who won’t come into play for two or three weeks.
After you have gone through the process of putting your Cost Estimate together, you will be familiar with your contact at each supplier's office as well as the details of each item you are ordering - model numbers, units of measure, etc. You'll need to give precise information when you place orders.
Measurements
Modern building materials suppliers
should be selling materials in ordinarily understood increments
- like linear feet, square yard, cubic feet, each, etc.
Some however, may try to slip a board foot or worse yet a thousand board feet in on you. Don’t let this throw you. Just ask the building materials supplier to translate these measurements into linear feet.
Translating Board Feet In case you’re interested, it isn’t very difficult to convert one to the other. A board foot is a piece of wood whose unfinished* measurements are 1" x 12" x 12". The rule is to multiply the nominal dimensions together and then divide the answer by 12. Example - for a 2x4: multiply two times four. The answer is eight. Divide eight by twelve. The answer is .67. Each linear foot of 2x4 has .67 board feet. So a 2x4 which is ten feet long has .67 x 10 = 6.7 board feet. Ten 2x4’s which are ten feet long have .67 x 10 x 10 = 67 board feet. To convert board feet to hundred board feet, divide by 100. To convert board feet to thousand board feet, divide by 1,000. In our last example (ten 2x4’s, each ten feet long), you would have 67÷100 = .67 hundred board feet. Easy, huh? Lumber dealers like to price their lumber this way because that is the way they buy it. * A "2x4" is actually 1-1/2"x3-1/2" |
Good News!
In many cases the building materials
supplier's representative (salesman) will need to come
out to your home building project and take a measurement
before the materials are ordered.
In many cases your subcontractors will take these measurements. They want an accurate measurement because they'll be the ones that put them in.
Again, be sure that your supplier will take unused materials back for a refund or credit.
Moving Ahead
That's the last of our "top level" pages (see the navigation buttons on the left). If you follliwed our advise on the Home Page and ignored some or all of the rabit trails (links), now is the time to go back and explore the supporting materials, forms, etc., that will deepen your inderstansing of the Home Buildint Process.
For additional insight into Materials Suppliers,
see Lesson Eleven of our online course
Successful Home Contracting.
Return
to the Home Building Answers' Home Page
from Suppliers
home plans by The COOL house plans company
