Buying Building Materials

If your designer has specified all the fixtures, appliances, and building materials needed for the job, you may not have to do any of the buying. If you have a general contractor on the job, he or she may handle the ordering and delivery of goods. Yet in most jobs, the homeowner, by choice or force of circumstance, ends up going shopping. Perhaps the goal is to save money; maybe it's to make sure one or another product is to your taste. On the other hand, if you are acting as your own general contractor, you'll need to arrange for buying and paying for a wide range of materials.

Whether you're buying one light fixture or truckloads of lumber, you should keep in mind these considerations:

Discounts
When you begin shopping, ask each supplier—the lumberyard, the electrical supply store, the plumbing supply house—whether they give a builder's discount. As a remodeler, you are a de facto builder, so you should act like one and get the benefits. Your suppliers probably won't complain (after all, you are not asking for anything more than many of their other customers get), though if your project is a relatively small renovation, don't be surprised if the answer is no.

Some suppliers have monthly minimums to qualify for builder's discounts (typically, a thousand dollars or more at the lumberyard). Some suppliers have a scale, with deeper discounts for the contractors that do a big volume of business. If the supplier tells you that the preferred builders' terms are not available to you, ask why not and what the required qualifications are. Discounts vary greatly, but a 10 percent discount on lumber and millwork is common, while with lighting fixtures the savings are often much higher. Ask the question.

Delivery
Many suppliers will deliver at no charge. Make sure to establish that they do, and if not what the charges will be. If there is a delivery fee, shop around a bit to see whether other suppliers charge one.

Beware of "sidewalk delivery." A familiar concept to apartment dwellers, it means that your giant new refrigerator will be delivered only as far as the sidewalk—even if your kitchen is on the third floor. That may (or may not) be acceptable to you, but if it is, you'll need to know when the truck is coming and arrange for the manpower to bring the goods inside.