Supplying Materials for Your Home Remodeling Project: Pros & Cons

Remodeling is both exciting and practical. Who doesn't love to love where they live while increasing the value of their home?  But quality remodeling is an investment that can be a bit pricey up front.  Oftentimes, we receive inquiries from clients asking to supply their own materials as a way to cut costs.  So let's break it down so you can decide--is it worth it?  We'll break it down by category to keep things simple.

Quality

Big Box stores can be hit or miss.  Depending on the material, what they offer can be equal to what your contractor has available to them.  Other times, they carry a lower, DIY-grade version of contractor-grade materials.  For example, windows and doors from a big box store are supplied at fixed dimensions.  If they don't fit your openings exactly, you will experience leaks and drafts that can later cause more damage.  And sometimes, even the brands the stores carry have DIY-grade products that appear almost identical to what the contractors offer, only lesser quality to appeal to the masses.  Remember: these stores make money if you keep coming back. 

We'll put "Quality" in the "Cons" category for supplying your own materials.  Without the years of experience in dealing with these materials, it's unlikely a layman would recognize the difference until further down the line.  If a contractor is willing to provide a warranty, and they should, they're less likely to warrant materials purchased by their clients since they do not have imput over the material selection.

Product Options

Contractors spend years developing relationships with different vendors and determining the products that work best in different projects.  You'll probably find that they often have a preferred supplier, designer, or brand for the materials your project requires--and this is an effect of years of experience.  However, homeowners can find it to be limiting if the brand(s) their contractor prefers doesn't offer the style or product they're looking for.  Supplying your own materials gives you the option to look at several sources and choose products that you like.

While we can consider that a "Pro" for supplying your own materials, it is also more coordination on the behalf of the homeowner.  (See "Coordination" below!). However, we will say that if you have your heart set on a certain look or design, an experienced contractor will have multiple suppliers and will be able to match you up with a suppliers and designer who meets your needs. 

Reusing Extra Materials

If you end up purchasing more of a product than you need, you can reuse that material at another time.  While an experienced contractor will always leave you with a box of tile or flooring or extra paint just in case, it's not always guaranteed the rest of the extras will be left with you.  So this is a "Pro" for supplying your own materials.

Coordination

A remodeling project requires a great level of coordination.  When you supply your own materials, you are responsible for coordinating with each different vendor you purchase from, so you'll need to keep track of separate payments, invoices, delivery dates, warranty information, and customer service lines.  If you're just purchasing your floors, this isn't that big of a deal.  But a larger remodel, like a kitchen or bathroom, requires a very nuanced and practiced coordination schedule that is best streamlined by a general contractor.  If not, instead of going through your one contractor with any issues, you'll need to track down your vendors separately.  We consider that a "Con."

Even more so, different materials have different lead times.  Sometimes you may fall in love with something that is backordered or special order.  If it doesn't arrive in time to be installed on schedule, your project will inevitably become majorly delayed.  This cost will likely be passed on to whoever purchased the materials.  If it's the contractor, that's one thing.  But when homeowners supply the materials, it's on them.  A delay can cost over a thousand dollars each day a crew is delayed.

Here's an example: we purchased the materials for a client's bathroom.  The delivery was delayed--not due to an error we made, but an error made by the company.  Because we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with them each year, and we've formed relationships with them over the past twenty years, they were quick to respond to the error and made it right immediately.   However, we've seen it go the opposite way with a client who supplied his own oven hood.  The company basically told him, "we'll get it out whenever we're in your area next."  It caused a significant delay, and even showed up damaged when it did, so our client had a lot of things to deal with on top of the added cost of the delays.  We hate to see that happen!

Expertise

It's not only about the coordination of the materials that can get messy.  It takes years of experience to get the quantities needed dialed in so that the work runs smoothly.  If a homeowner supplies the materials, and the crew is left waiting for them to get more, those costly delays can add up.  A crew is a well-oiled machine that runs smoothly when they have everything they need, but without the right materials things can stop moving--and those delays snowball.  Oftentimes, we have multiple trades scheduled in one day, and each of their jobs depends on the others being finished.  When you purchase your own materials, you are circumnavigating the expertise of the contractor.  We consider this a "Con."

For example: we could have an electrician, our drywall crew, and our painter scheduled for your project back to back.  The drywall crew cannot do their work until the electrician is done, and the painters can't paint until the drywall is ready.  If a homeowner purchased the wrong material for the drywall, or even the wrong amount, then the painter will charge for their lost day of work in addition to the rescheduled day.  Or if the materials the electrician is installing are delayed or incorrect, then the same goes for the electrician and drywallers as well.  It really does snowball.

Accuracy

Not all materials are installed the same.  A vanity may seem like it is installed the same as all other vanities, but there are so many factors that can impact the project.  A seemingly small change can have a large impact on the overall project.   Remodeling is a custom process, and so there is no "plug and play" way to choose materials.  For example, purchasing a vanity  that has a different top or layout than the previous one can have a snowball effect if we now need to consider how it affects the floor, baseboards, or even the wall behind the backsplash.  These are things a trained eye knows to look for and account for in their pricing.  However, you may find that your remodel needs a hefty change order because the materials you chose didn't account for certain things.  This also causes delays.  We're putting this in the "Cons" category.

Measuring

Taking measurements seems like a piece of cake, but there are so many small nuances to account for.  If you are even a little bit off in your measurements, there can be big consequences that cause major delays or hiccups in the design.  We consider it a "Con" for the burden of accurate measurements.

Pricing

A reason why it is recommended for homeowners to supply their materials to cut costs is because the pricing of the materials is more transparent ("Pro").  Contractors often put a markup on materials, but it is not for the reasons that you may think.  We often hear that contractors markup materials because "that's where they make their money." But the truth is that a general contractor's job is to coordinate your project and make money doing it.  The costs of doing business today are high, and in order to stay in business a contractor will charge accordingly.  If they're marking up your materials, it's because they are providing a service that includes:

• Coordinating deliveries, addressing missing or incorrect items
• Spending time researching, ordering, and selecting materials that work best for the project with the client
• Providing expertise based on years of experience
• Providing warranties
• (Sometimes) storage or moving of materials
• Time spent measuring

While at first it can seem like a money grab, if you are hiring a general contractor, then having them supply the materials is part of the job.  A company that stays in business is a company that charges for their time.  Time spent on the materials--the second-most important aspect of your project (after the quality of installation)--is definitely worth charging for.  And our clients tend to agree! (So, in the end, buying your own materials lands you a "Con" in the pricing category due to the high chances for change orders & delays.)

Our Recommendation

If you want your project to go smoothly, purchasing your own materials will likely lead to regret down the line.  If you do your research and find a reputable contractor with extensive experience and an eye for detail, you'll get what you pay for.  The savings on materials is minimal, if not non-existent, when considering change orders, delays, and mistakes that can come from purchasing materials on your own. 

At Kraus Remodeling, we have a sterling reputation for making sure any problems that arise along the course of the project are not passed on to the client.  As general contractors, our strong relationships with our suppliers and designers provides seamless experiences for our clients.  We never "put our stamp" on anything less than the quality we're reputed for, and so our business model requires that we supply the materials for our projects.  While certain things can be purchased by the client, we always ensure there is coordination and transparency throughout the process to ensure a smooth remodel.  Our contracts with our clients are based on the actual materials selected by our clients to avoid any surprises, and so our pricing is accurate from the beginning.  Trust, transparency, mutual respect, and professionalism are the keys to a successful remodel!