What is the cheapest place to purchase building materials (Drywall, Tiles, etc…)?
AreLowes and Home Depot the best options? Is one any cheaper than the other? Can materials be purchased on the web for cheaper?
Building material suppliers that cater to builders have the best prices. Places like Hope Lumber, CalPly, etc… usually beat Lowes and Home Depot prices. I’ve heard that 84 Lumber is trying to get into the builder’s market and is offering some deals. BMC always seems more expensive.
If they don’t beat borg prices they match them, but they deliver for free. EG, I got my drywall from CalPly, the price per sheet was a little less than HD, but, they delivered, stocked and scattered it for that price. And that’s huge when you’re talking about 450 sheets of drywall being stocked in a two story house. I’m getting interior doors from Hope Lumber’s Millworks, it’s about $10/door cheaper and again, they deliver for free.
The catch is, most suppliers require that you apply for an account. So they run a credit check, etc. and it can take a while to get approved. I know Hope requires an account. CalPly will sell to anyone with a credit card.
I have heard that Habitat for Humanity has some outlet stores with overstock items at great prices. Great prices…great program 
Hey,
Mark is on to a good thing. You get decent materials at great prices plus you are helping a great cause. Habitat also uses volunteers for their building projects and can be a great place to learn building techniques you may be unfamiliar with and they can always use the help.
Peace,
Richard
7/16 4’ X 8’ OSB $19.95 at local lumber yard - $11.98 at Menards (Similar to Lowes / Home Depot).
Also, if you form a good working relationship with a contractor, you may be able to work out a deal where he / she buys materials with his / her discounts and sells them back to you. If you’ve treated the contractor well, he /she may ask for little extra to do this - and may even do it for a couple of cases of “thirst quenching beverages”. This is a great way for you both to win.
Jeff
i almost buy all my rehab suppplies at Menards. They are a lot cheaper than lowes.
As far as sheet rock goes, when I renovated my primary residence, I went to HD and asked the guy for the (I forget the technical name) sheetrock that was slightly damaged. Maybe the corners were damaged or broken off or maybe a small bit of the paper was torn. It was an area that could easily have been cut away. Anyway he sold me all the “damaged” sheets that he had for the grand total of $22.00. Yep! It was enough to redo five rooms in my house with new sheet rock.
I don’t know if he did it because I’m a girl or if that was the going rate for “damaged goods”.
I kept some of the excess for future use but whatever I did not need I just threw out or gave away.
Missy
yeah, you can get the damaged stuff for about $1 a sheet and most of the time it is just cosmetics that you can just put joint compound over and is good as new.
Most towns have a salvage type place. One here in Wichita Falls operates for charity and you can find remarkable bargains. Look around.
I am looking for a place like calply or menard’s in st louis, mo anyone know of a place like that here?
thanks
olie