Rennovating House - Trade Discounts - Which Suppliers

shrub100

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a house that needs some moderate renovations e.g. Sanding walls, repainting, bathrooms, kitchen, sand wood floor, carpet, down lights.

I am planning on doing a lot of the work myself, whilst getting qualified professionals whom I know to sign my work off and ensure that I have done a good and safe job.

My wife is a self employed Dentist and as such I believe she qualifies for trade discounts and trade memberships.

As trade prices are often hidden, I am wondering if anyone know which companies I should sign-up with for the best discounts on building supplies, kitchen and bathroom units?

Ones that come to mind are:
Travis Perkins
Howdens
Magnet
Bathroom store

and probably others that I do not know about.

Thanks for your help,

Jon

keystone

jonwestuk wrote: »

I am planning on doing a lot of the work myself, whilst getting qualified professionals whom I know to sign my work off and ensure that I have done a good and safe job.

:eek:. You are, of course, kidding. You seriously expect people to sign off on and take legal responsibility for (gas, electric?) work that you have done that you should have employed them to do?

My wife is a self employed Dentist and as such I believe she qualifies for trade discounts and trade memberships.

On amalgam, mouthwash and BDA subs inevitably.

As trade prices are often hidden, I am wondering if anyone know which companies I should sign-up with for the best discounts on building supplies, kitchen and bathroom units?

Yes thanks. I am sure you will find out for youself though.

Frankly the way you have written this post you sound like a chancer and I'm surprised nobody else has yet said it. Sorry if that offends.

Cheers

rustyboy21

It may be worthwhile signing up for trade accounts with the likes of TP. However, take into account that, whilst you may be able to buy at 'trade price', the price you will get , will be no where near what a Proper builder/RGI/Plumber will get.

The Reason? You are buying a fraction of what these guys buy each year. You would most likely be getting a better price buying from the sheds and timber yards, than thinking you will save big bucks. The money the trade make is not on the materials, it is on the installation. They are making less and less on materials now, since people are hitting them with silly prices they have found on the Internet.

Good Luck with getting Qualified people signing off your work, I cannot see it happening, unless they are willing to fudge the certificates !

southcoastrgi

sorry KS you got in first.

you are joking of course, in what way do you think your wife being a dentist entitles to you to trade discount in the building industry ? unless you think her being able to build a bridge counts

how do you think your wife would feel if i sat in her chair & said i've just opened up an account at kent express or bh mulholland, & said here's all the gear so i'm only paying for the 1/2 hr it's gonna take you to do my filling, I think i would be out the door quicker than i came in.

most trade accounts will req you to provide a letterhead & other paperwork to prove you are trade.

no one in their right mind is going to sign off someone elses work, trades people spend thousands getting qualified & keeping up with the currant rules & regs & you expect them to wander in & give you a piece of paper for a job they havent done, tell your wife to leave the gas & air at work cause it's doing your brain no good sitting at home with that mask on

shrub100

keystone wrote: »

:eek:. You are, of course, kidding. You seriously expect people to sign off on and take legal responsibility for (gas, electric?) work that you have done that you should have employed them to do?

On amalgam, mouthwash and BDA subs inevitably.

Yes thanks. I am sure you will find out for youself though.

Frankly the way you have written this post you sound like a chancer and I'm surprised nobody else has yet said it. Sorry if that offends.

Cheers

Ok - thanks for the response I guess. I don't want to get into some kind of flame war, but why are you so aggressive?

I am honestly not a chancer or some kind of idiot. I have undertaken some very serious electrical and plumbing renovations in the past and have good experience. In terms of the project, we are talking about adding a few additional plugs and some additional down lights - hardly rocket science.

With the regulations as the are I want to do everything above board and most importantly safely.

With my father in law being a plumber and one of my best mates being an electrician, they have agreed to run through all the renovations and standards with me prior to the work being undertaken. On the plumbing side my father in law is going to assist with all the renovations. On the electric side I will be leaving all junction boxes, and any type of electrical connections open for a inspection by my friend. I will also be paying both of them for their time.

With regard to my wife - I feel your pain regarding the average Dentist being unethical. However there is an exception that proves every rule. My wife had to turn down more than 10 jobs to find a practice that was not going to push her to work in a manner that put patients needs behind profit.

I appreciate any input I get when asking on forums, but I would advise you to be a bit more cautious and don't make rash judgments on people that you do not know.

Apologies if my post came across as money grabbing or in poor taste.

shrub100

rustyboy21 wrote: »

It may be worthwhile signing up for trade accounts with the likes of TP. However, take into account that, whilst you may be able to buy at 'trade price', the price you will get , will be no where near what a Proper builder/RGI/Plumber will get.

The Reason? You are buying a fraction of what these guys buy each year. You would most likely be getting a better price buying from the sheds and timber yards, than thinking you will save big bucks. The money the trade make is not on the materials, it is on the installation. They are making less and less on materials now, since people are hitting them with silly prices they have found on the Internet.!

Interesting point. I was planning on doing this to minimize the amount of time I needed from my father in law and friend as they are already going to be helping me out loads. Maybe I can work a different route out.

Thanks for the responses.

teneighty

Most builders merchants have "trade cash accounts" that anyone can open but the discounts are very small. I wouldn't bother with Magnet and Howdens.

My advice would be to get together a list of the material you need and PHONE the builders merchants to get prices. Never deal with the guys on the counter. The guys in the back office who deal with phone enquiries only deal with trade accounts and are used to giving 50-75% discounts. So as long as you are polite, friendly and persuassive I've found they will often give a generous discount even those where I dont have an account. (I think it may also help if you sound like you know what you are talking about so they think you are in the trade so dont come across like a DIY'er in B&Q). The guys on the counter will only give you 10% if you are lucky. For instance I was recently getting 75% for drainage fittings at my local plumbers merchants with no account. My friend who has a very large account with them was only getting 65%, I think I was lucky and caught the chap in a good mood. I'm just getting prices for windows and I'm getting better discounts at the builders merchant where I don't have an account, its crazy.

Dont worry about the other posts. It seems to be the norm now on this forum to just attack posters rather than give advice.

Good Luck

southcoastrgi

teneighty wrote: »

Dont worry about the other posts. It seems to be the norm now on this forum to just attack posters rather than give advice.

no it's not at all what really gets up my nose is people doing DIY that for some reason think they are entitled to get a trade discount at the merchants.

IT'S CALLED TRADE DISCOUNT FOR A REASON.

Why is it that the building trade is always seen as ripping off the general public, do you go to your solicitor & say i've read a book so that makes me as knowledgeable as you so i want you to only charge me £15 p/h.

If you want trade prices go to college, go on training courses, pay out the thousands of pounds it costs, then you are entitled to trade prices, if not then DIY save the professional labour costs & pay the normal prices for materials.

jcb208

Think you will find either B&Q tradepoint, screwfix or toolsation are cheaper for most things then a builders merchant

teneighty

Looks like I hit a raw nerve.

I wonder if some of the people on here are pulling that old scam of getting big discounts but charging their customers full retail price? Naughty naughty. Magnets and Howdens account holders speciality.

If so I think they missed the name of this web site. Its not called "how to get fleeced by dodgy tradesmen dot com"

Toothsmith

jonwestuk wrote: »

With regard to my wife - I feel your pain regarding the average Dentist being unethical. However there is an exception that proves every rule. My wife had to turn down more than 10 jobs to find a practice that was not going to push her to work in a manner that put patients needs behind profit.

I think YOU are the only person on this thread to make such a comment.

In the grand scheme of complaints made - dentists are way down the list of professions/industries/products complained about. With a recent OFT investigation finding that over 90% of patients were perfectly happy with their dentist.

Way better than - for example - the building trade, but I wouldn't ever suggest that the 'average' builder was unethical, merely that, like any job, a minority will be, and that you should always be wary.

Your wife is a self employed professional - so any job she takes she will have complete control over the decisions she makes with regard to patient care. No one can 'make' her work unethically, and if she feels that is the case ever, she has a duty to report it to either the GDC or the Care Quality Commission.

She rejected the jobs she did because when the surgery owners took off what they considered to be the running costs - your wife felt that without working much too quickly she could not earn the income she wanted to. That is fair enough. What we earn is an important consideration in what job we choose.

But don't dress it up as the rejected places being 'bad' and your wife being an angel. I'm sure she's a great dentist and she chose a job where she felt she could do good work. But she would also have chosen a job where she can earn a decent living whilst doing the good work.

jonwestuk wrote: »

Apologies if my post came across as money grabbing or in poor taste.

Your initial one didn't - but calling the 'average' member of any profession, job or trade 'unethical' is rather ignorant.