Buying all the materials myself for the construction??

[husen]

Planning to build a house in the fall.

Have received a few quotes.
They are quite close to each other in price.

Considering whether I should search around for materials that are cheaper than those in the quotes.
It must be possible to save quite a bit of money by looking around a little.
The carpenters who submitted the quotes have basically calculated on buying all the materials from the same building supply store.

The carpenters probably get quite a good discount at the lumber yard, but they likely keep that part for themselves, I would think?

What should I do??

Best regards

 

[pbengtsson]

Go to a lumber yard and negotiate a discount, around 10-20% should not be a problem, agree with them that unused material can be returned. This way, you don't have to account for all your time and can buy materials to keep the construction going.

If you are building something yourself, this is the easiest option; if the carpenters are doing everything, I'm not sure, it's their time that is the most expensive, and then it might be easier to let them handle the logistics. I don't think carpenters earn much from timber, but I could be wrong.

 

[andersmc]

Are you going to build or have it built? Are you buying the materials from the carpenters, or will you buy them yourself? What type of quote is it, a fixed price or time and materials?

 

[Ironman]

The custom in the industry is that the builder adds 10-15% to the material cost, which becomes their profit. It is usually openly reported to the customer. There is a high risk that the customer who chooses to buy the material themselves still ends up paying what the builder loses in material profit, though in the form of extended labor time or equivalent cost.

 

[oskis 123]

These surcharges sometimes feel quite arbitrary. Why not just a straightforward hourly rate plus the actual material cost?? I know it's justified with "that's how it's done" in many industries, but I can't help but be annoyed by it. It's rare that it's only about 10%.

 

[Glufsglufs]

The markups are not made up. In most cases, they are part of the company's income. If they're not going to be able to sell materials to you, you should expect a higher hourly rate, so if you decide to buy yourself, the current quotes won't apply, and you'll have to start from scratch, and the labor time will become more expensive, plus some might not even be interested in taking the job since they might make all their profit from material sales, so take that into account as well.

If you're going to buy yourself, you must be absolutely sure that you're buying the right items in good quality and the right amounts. Keep in mind that incorrect items are something you'll have to deal with exchanging or getting compensation for, which can cost both time and money.

There are some threads that discuss the markups in detail; some are more serious than others, where it's just bickering. Understand that selling materials according to their own price list is part of the process. If you can buy cheaper than the craftsmen's prices to you, then great, buy yourself. But if you have to pay the same or more as a private person at a wholesaler, let the craftsman buy. The company's purchase prices are not something you, as an individual customer, are really involved with; your price is according to the company's price list, just like in any store you shop at, just like you might get some kind of volume discount at ICA, you can get discounts on the craftsman's price list, but you wouldn't go to ICA store owners and demand to buy at their wholesale prices, would you?

Running a business as a craftsman means providing customers with both labor and materials, i.e., dealing with both services and sales, and there are requirements from authorities to be profit-driven too.

 

[oskis 123]

Sigh. I already wrote that I know "that's how it's done." Whatever is presented as an argument in that way, where arbitrary markups are added to materials or "in that case have to raise the hourly wage," just makes one even more irritated with the whole way of thinking. Since the topic has been brought up in other threads, I see no point in continuing here.

 

[petersson79]

Keeping the craftsmen with the right materials at the right time and in the right quantity is almost a full-time job... Have done this for our extension and it is important to constantly know what is coming up next...

 

[Glufsglufs]

Sigh. I wrote that I know "that's what they do." Whatever is presented as an argument in that way, where arbitrary markups are made on material or "in that case must raise the hourly rate" just makes one even more annoyed with the entire mindset. Since the topic has been brought up in other threads, I see no point in continuing here.

But it’s not about "that's what they do," it’s not about "arbitrary markups." It’s about companies needing to make money to pay wages and other expenses and to make a profit, just like ALL companies aim to do. Ask anyone running a business selling services and/or goods, you'll get the same answer, their own price lists based on a certain percentage markup on the purchase price.

 

[pbengtsson]

Keeping the tradesmen supplied with the right materials at the right time and in the right amounts is almost a full-time job... I've done this for our extension and it's important to always know what's coming up next...

True, the most important thing is for the construction to flow. Even though material is real money, time and completion are more important. If I were to stick my neck out, I'd say that as a private person, you can save a maximum of 150,000 on these invoices in a build by buying the materials yourself, but then you have to consider how much personal time, talking with tradesmen, etc. that doesn't appear on other bills.

Regarding price markups, this has been discussed, leading to closed threads, but GG is basically right, although his post should be read from the entrepreneur's perspective.

 

[blackadder]

Then you might have to consider what happens if you have brought home the wrong/too little material with waiting craftsmen as a result.

 

[SBH]

Buying materials yourself for a construction can create more costs for you as the client, and you cannot set as strict demands on your contractor.

 

[mr_bygg]

But it's not about "that's how it's done," it's not about "arbitrary markups." It's about companies needing to make money to pay salaries and other expenses and to make a profit, just like ALL companies aim to do. Ask anyone who runs a business that sells services and/or goods, you'll get the same answer, own price lists based on a certain percentage markup on purchase prices.

I completely agree with your reasoning that as a business owner, you're interested in making money. It's the model with more or less large markups that has TS even considering whether it's worth getting the materials themselves, with all the potential hassle that naturally entails.

It feels quite unnecessary to delve into the discussion about markups that's been covered in numerous threads, but consumers clearly don't like the setup with large markups (now we're not talking about 10% on the craftsman's purchase price, which I think is completely OK) because it makes it difficult to get an idea of the real hourly cost for a craftsman. Craftsmen have confirmed many times that they can't charge the actual labor cost per hour because then they become too expensive, and consumers choose someone with a cheaper hourly rate because consumers don't understand the extra hourly markup paid via the material markup. It's clearly a hidden cost for most, and it's probably what also bothers oskis 123.

Then it must be said that many craftsmen seem to dislike the current model and would like to get away from it because it would benefit both customers and craftsmen. Therefore, it feels a bit unnecessary that some strained efforts try to defend the setup every time it's brought up in one form or another when it's not fundamentally about a craftsman not getting paid, but the payment model itself that is not appreciated by many customers.

 

[mr_bygg]

purchasing items yourself for construction can create more costs for you as the client and you cannot impose the same strict requirements on your contractor.

I absolutely agree. If you're going to purchase all the materials for a construction, it requires tremendous knowledge and a lot of time for it to work properly, but you can definitely choose to buy certain things yourself and save money.

When we built new, we saved 5000:- by purchasing the sink through sigro instead of the kitchen manufacturer. We looked at a fireplace and it would have cost about 10,000:- more to install it when the house was being built than for a company to come in afterward to demolish, fix, and install, so there was no fireplace then.

I definitely think you can make easy money on certain parts if you are attentive, but getting all the material yourself probably requires some skill

 

[pbengtsson]

buying it yourself to build can create more costs for you as the client, and you can't impose as strict demands on your contractor.

I assume you mean something like, "If the timber is rubbish, then it becomes rubbish," I know a few who operate like this, but most craftsmen I know would be very clear about pointing out problems with the material and then leave the decision to the client on whether to proceed.