Ordering your materials
Mike Hardwick shares his top tips for this important part of any major building project
It’s crucial to get your materials right, both in terms of quality and quantity. Mike Hardwick shares his advice to ensure a smooth-sailing build
Embarking on a self build or renovation project will be one of the biggest shopping trips you’ll ever make. The options available for materials are quite simply eyewatering and the decision-making process can be one of the hardest parts of the build, not least because of the number of choices you will be expected to make in a relatively short space of time.
While many of the structural materials involved will be determined by your architect or designer, your choice of finishing materials will have a massive effect on how your new home looks, feels and operates. So it’s worth taking the time to get it right. Let’s take a look at how to approach buying your materials.
Who can help?
The simplest way of approaching what materials to use is to leave the decision up to your builder – after all, that’s the way that most speculatively built housing is managed in the
UK. However, as a self builder I’m assuming you will be looking at getting something better in terms of both quality and performance.
Your architect or designer will have many suggestions and access to product guides listing the available options and suppliers for materials that will meet your specifications. A good professional will be up-to-speed with new materials on the market and if they’re suited to your project. This becomes particularly important when building a high-performance home, such as a Passivhaus, where the suitability of materials is critical to achieving certification. You can also employ the services of a quantity surveyor (QS) to assess all of the materials required, how much they will cost and the likely cost to fit them.
Builders’ merchants
These establishments would love to get your business. You are likely to be spending £10,000s and which retailer wouldn’t like to make sure that sort of money came their way? These shops may not look as chic as some high street retailers, but the principles are the same – the more you spend, the better the service and potential discounts are likely to be. To attract
your business, many merchants will offer a take-off service whereby you give them your plans and their own QS team will calculate the materials you need, what they will cost and, of course, offer to provide them for you. They may also throw in sweeteners such as paying for elements like airtightness checks to tempt you in.
Quality
Many of the materials that you need will be decided by your architect or designer and could be determined by the specification rather than the aesthetics. For example, roof trusses, joists, blocks, structural panels, timber frames and the like will be what is required to do the job most effectively within budget. However, you will have a big input in choosing many of the visible materials that will have a direct impact on the perception of quality and style you are trying to achieve.
While the planners will have the final say on many external materials like windows, doors, outside wall finishes and roof coverings, you can argue for what you wish to have. Assuming your choices are in keeping with any planning conditions and the local vernacular, the planners will usually look to support your preference. These big ticket items, along with staircases, are materials that you would only expect to buy once because they should last the lifetime of the property. So spend wisely and get the best you can afford within your budget because they will have the biggest impact on how your property will look and feel.
Of course, if your budget can stand it, you can buy what you want, but in my experience, most of us are trying to make a modest budget work very hard, so some compromises are inevitable. Recognise that kitchens and bathrooms always look good when new, no matter what they cost and are relatively simple to replace as they wear out or as fashion changes. So my advice is always to spend what you can on the major items and resist the urge to splash out on the designer kitchen and bathrooms if you are on a tight budget. You can always upgrade a few years later on when your finances have recovered.
How much to order
Getting the quantities right can be an issue. I always advocate using supply and fix terms when hiring electricians and plumbers. This is because they will be able to fit and charge solely for what’s needed and will have all the essentials in the back of the van. Sure, they may be making a mark-up on materials they provide, but you get the security of knowing if it needs fixing under warranty, the trade will sort it out. If you bought the materials yourself, you will be responsible for any failures in them and you will undoubtedly end up with a garage full of surplus materials because you
weren’t sure how much you needed to purchase in the first place.
When it comes to buying bricks and tiles, don’t be tempted to scale from the plans and buy exactly the right amount for the job. Tiles, blocks and bricks can break in transit, some will need to be cut and others will be spoiled or damaged on site, so make sure you over-order by at least 10% to allow for wastage. Allow more for reclaimed materials, say 15%, as they tend to be more fragile and finding suitable matches to what’s already been purchased can be challenging if you run short.
Beware additional costs
It’s so easy to get carried away with your material choices. Falling in love with a designer bathroom suite can add literally thousands of pounds to your budget, but you could buy a contemporary unbranded suite that will look and function just as well for a few hundred pounds in any of the major DIY outlets. Remember that increased complexity of design will mean an uplift in material costs because you will need more of the expensive details and junctions for items like guttering and roofing.
You also need to be aware of the cost of bespoke items. Modern manufacturing companies are geared up for computerised design and manufacture, so all the products in their catalogue can be chosen and produced by selecting a programme and pushing a button. But if you want something outside of this, then the additional cost of human intervention in the design and manufacturing process can significantly add to the cost, particularly with expensive items like windows and doors.
Online purchasing
Of course, the internet is changing how we buy stuff, and for self builders and renovators, shopping online has revolutionised how we get materials. One area where the internet has made things better is by making the pricing of materials much clearer. In the past, builders’ merchants were mysterious places where you only knew what you would be paying once the docket was printed out and any discounts applied. But now webbased companies, such as Roofing Superstore (www.roofingsuperstore. co.uk) and the like, have opened up the market and you can find just about everything you need in one place, along with an accurate idea of what it’s going to cost.
There are downsides, of course. There’s still no substitute for seeing and feeling materials in the flesh. Having to send back a truck load of roof tiles because they are not what you thought you’d ordered is expensive and time consuming.
While construction has been slow to move to online retail models, as with the high street in general, the savings in overheads will make this method irresistible to suppliers. So you can expect to be buying a lot more this way in the future.