Is it really cheaper to source the building Materials yourself

Bleg

We are in the process of planning a Loft conversion. I am pretty well organised and resourceful and I feel I have enough time on my hands to source out all the necessary building materials that would be needed for the loft conversion. Provided I can find a builder who would not mind quoting me on 'labour cost only' would I really be saving more money if I provide all the materials.

I was thinking of approaching a builders merchant, tell them what I wanted built, open an account with them and negotiate a discount if I tell them that I intend to purchase all the building materials from them.

Has any one out there done this before? How did it work out?

I want a good and quality build and that I am willing to pay for. What I Do NOT want to pay for is the privelege of someone punching numbers into a calculator on my behalf when I can easily do it myself.

I understand that although most builders purchase materials at trade prices they do not pass on the savings to their customers.

All adivse welcome.

Antispam

I think it depends on if the builder has a mark up on the goods which I suspect they do for many and if they do, how much?

They will obviously get goods at trade prices too which you obviously have to take that into account

olias

I think you may have a problem for two reasons.

If you were project managing things yourself and just hiring seperate subcontractors yourself, then you would be OK. Most builders merchants will set you up an account and allow you to negotiate a discount on prices dependant on the amount you will be buying through them.

The problem with this is that you will have to be clued up on building to be able to know what order things are done in and ensure materials are there at the right time for the subbies (last thing you want is a tradesman on £lots per hour standing idle while they wait for materials). You would also need to know which order the trades work in etc. Do not underestimate how much time this can take to organise.

If you have a builder to do everything and employ their own subbies, they will want control over materials for two reasons. One is that they want to know the materials are on site when needed and the order in which they are needed. If they quote for the job as a whole, then they do not want their subbies waiting around for materials while they are paying them and therefore eating into their profit for the job. Two, part of the profit in a job is their mark up on materials. Thats what they rely on to make their money. If they are not supplying materials, you will find that they will quote higher to take this into account.

If you are wanting a good, proffessional job doing, on time and budget, then get them to quote for the whole job (labour and materials).

The only exception might be, if for example, you are having a bathroom and you want to source your own tiles and suite.

Olias

fluffpot

I agree. Also as an electrician I like to decide which materials I use as some are better than others. Generally the customer buys the cheapest they can find which are often the most expensive to fit. GRR

Watch out on guarantees too - I wouldn't guarantee anything I'd not supplied...

Bleg

Thanks for the comments. I have not yet quite decided on which way I would go yet I am just considering all possiblities of getting a good job without paying over the odds

Midori_2

I think sometimes we are made to feel like we have to hire builders to get the job done properly. This isn't always the case. My cousin has recently converted his loft himself (he is an electrician not a builder). He sourced all the bits himself. The loft is beautiful. A chap up the road from him with identical house hired builders for his loft conversion, it cost £10,000 more and had lots of problems with building regs not being followed properly. I guess it depends on luck with the builders and also maybe how much work you want to do. My cousin had no experience and it turned out lovely. Maybe it depends on how many handy mates you have too! We are planning on converting our loft, and although we will have to get an engineer to do calculations for floor joists etc we are going to buy all the stuff and do as much of it as we can ourselves.

Midori