In step 7: shopping for sub-contractors we talked about the people you would need, now it’s time to talk about the materials you will need and how to shop for them.
It is easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of materials you need to build a house, especially if you don’t know what most of them are … that would be me.
A house is a HUGE thing! Even if it’s a small house, the variety of materials you will need is in the hundreds or thousands. There are so many different materials that go into a house that often times they give the item a number code instead of a name. You can’t just ask for a 2×4, you have to know what kind of wood, whether or not it needs to be treated, what length, what strength, what number of smoothness …. yes I am being serious, there are different numbers for how smooth or rough or dented or pretty it is ……. sigh.
Look at this number and tell me what you think of it:
sp124# sthd14rj
You know what that is right?
Ya, neither did I. It turns out it’s actually a really common metal piece that attaches walls to the foundation. And now that you understand that I too was completely overwhelmed with the materials and what they were, let me tell you how to handle it.
You are going to get a “take-off”.
A take-off is a list of materials and their quantities, sizes, and prices that you will need for your specific house.
So instead of you having to go through your blueprints and figure out how many J bolts you need, what size I joists, how many rolls of roofing felt, etc etc you can actually have that done for you …….. for free.
This is especially nice for all of us who have no idea what a J bolt is or where an I joist goes.
So the first thing you will want to do when you are ready to start shopping for materials (which should be 2-4 months before ground breaking) is to find a few companies who will give you a take-off for free. Not all companies will do it for free. The first two companies I talked to about it were charging 9 cents per square foot and 4 cents per square foot. On our 4,000 square foot home, that comes out to $360 and $160. I also talked to a few companies who would do it for free but only if you agreed to do business with them. Well how can it be a smart thing to agree to do business with someone before you know what they charge?
Shop around and call every lumber/ home building company you can find until you talk to someone who will do it for free. Better yet, find three companies who will do it for free so you can compare prices.
If you live in Washinton State or anywhere near it, I will give you three right now who will do it for free.
Ziggy’s Lumber Company– based out of Spokane WA, but they have 5 other stores in Washington State and Idaho. 509-922-1800
Marson and Marson Lumber– 4 lumberyards serving north central Washington. 509-548-5829
Pro-build– 430 locations across 40 states (I can’t promise they all give free take-offs, but the one in Othello, WA does) 509-488-6601 (Othello store)
Before you make the phone call there are a few things you need to know.
- You need to at least have your building plans accepted by your permit office. If they haven’t been accepted yet for review, you may still make some changes on them that would affect the take-off. If your building plans are accepted for review for permits, then at least you know you won’t be moving rooms around or changing anything major because you have submitted them for permits.
- Ideally you should have a PDF version of your blueprints on your computer. Every company you call will need to see your blueprints. It is infinitely easier to send them a copy in an email than it is to take or mail them a paper copy, especially since most of them will want the huge copies that cost $30 to make. Be sure to ask your house designer to send you a PDF version so you can forward it to potential suppliers and contractors.
- One of these companies will probably be your primary supplier. You want to know as much about their company as you do their materials. Get to know their “take-off” guy, and always always ask to talk to the same person if possible. You will want to know who has the lowest prices, but more importantly you will want to know who is going to treat you the best and take care of you even though you may not be a “big” customer.
So go ahead and get a few take-offs coming your way. They will probably take a few weeks to prepare since it is a big job to plan out an entire house. The take-off expert will probably ask you a few questions about what you want depending on how much their company offers. If they only sell lumber then they won’t need much other than your blueprints. If they sell everything you need down to carpet and paint, well then you have a lot to talk about.
For my take-off, I just asked them to go to “dried in” stage. Because, if you recall, we decided to build our house in two stages, the first of which was just the shell and the roof so the winter weather wouldn’t damage it. So my take-off included all of the lumber, roofing, siding, rock, and windows but no insulation, drywall, or any of the finish materials. Take offs also don’t include electrical, plumbing, or HVAC supplies …. unless, I guess, you know of a company that sells all of these things.
Call them once a week to check on things and to ….ahem …. remind them about you. If you feel like you are badgering them just think of a relevant question to ask before you call them so it doesn’t look like you are just checking up on their work. If you don’t call a few times, sometimes you will get completely forgotten. Remember when I said I was surprised at how hard it would be to work with people? Part of that disappointment came from waiting for people to get back to me with quotes. Many times I got forgotten, many times they put it off for as long as they could, and other times they would tell me several weeks later they just didn’t have time to get to it and they wouldn’t be able to do my job. If you call to talk to them a few times, they are more likely to remember you, or at least to tell you a little earlier that they don’t have time for you. Get used to it, you are the general contractor!
One thing I have had a few people ask about is taking advantage of companies for their free services. Some people don’t feel comfortable asking for quotes or take-offs from a whole bunch of companies because obviously you are only going to hire one. While I certainly understand this concern, I feel like there is a perfectly ethical way to go about it.
First off, I believe these companies offer these services for free for a reason. They are trying to earn your business. Every single company is trying to earn people’s business. So my first point is that the entire purpose of offering free quotes is for this exact situation where people are trying to be smart and shop around for the best option. Give them all a fair chance to earn your business.
And my second thought is regarding the way you go about it. It’s probably not the nicest thing to lead a company to believe that you have chosen them to do your work, only to pull the rug out from under them when someone else is cheaper. However, if you are completely honest with them from the start, there is nothing deceiving at all about this approach. While a few carefully chosen words, you can be polite but also honest in your intentions.
For example, if you start your conversation by telling the company that you are building a new house, so you are “shopping around” for a materials supplier and wondered if they “might be a good fit.” Then you have let them know that you are talking with other companies and that you are wanting to know how badly they want your business. Did it sound mean to you? I thought it sounded pretty nice. You let them know of your intentions and that if they are a good fit then you will purchase through them.
I have given that speech a few times, can you tell? Hopefully I convinced you that it’s just fine to ask for quotes and take-offs.
How to find the best prices on building materials
Once you start getting your take-offs back, you need to look over them. The first time I looked at mine, it was just like everything else in this house building process. It felt like I was reading another language. I could pick out maybe 10% of the stuff on the page as words that I recognized. The rest was just gibberish and I immediately felt overwhelmed …. again.
Now I am not promising that eventually you will understand everything on that stupid paper, but over time you will start to piece things together. One important thing to consider at this point is who you are hiring for the first few jobs: foundation, framing, roofing, etc. If you need to refer back to the sub-contractor list from step 7 you can CLICK HERE. The reason is, if you are hiring a company that is going to take care of everything for you, then you don’t need to know as much about what is on that take-off. If you are hiring someone that will be working with you, like Farmer and I did, then you need to know quite a bit more about what is on that take-off. And finally, if you are doing any or all of those jobs on your own, then you will need to know exactly what is on that take-off.
The best thing to do first, is put two take-offs side by side and try to match up as many items as you can. They won’t match up exactly because every take off is different, but if you can match up some things and get a good idea of who really is cheaper, then you will be on your way to deciding on a materials supplier. The total number, does not reflect who has the best price. You have to match up quantities and prices by the unit. Some lumber companies sell by the linear foot, others sell by the whole piece. One may look cheaper, but when you do the math ends up more expensive. Some companies will even quote you for less material than you need on purpose, in order to look cheaper.
You also must factor in the extras.
- How much do they charge for deliveries?
- How far away from your new house are they for when you need to run and pick something up?
- What is their return policy like?
- What are their hours and when do they deliver?
- What is the quality of their materials? (you will have to do some research on that one and ask around)
- How long does it take if they have to special order something?
Remember also that you don’t have to settle for one company for everything. Your take-off is not a package, it’s a list. You can break it up into bundles, you can remove items or add items, and you do not have to accept the entire thing. Which is another good reason to try to compare items side by side. You can spend as much time or as little time as you want on this. Maybe you just want to pick the cheapest company and be done with it. Or maybe you want to dissect the entire thing and find the best price on each item, that’s fine too. But most importantly, make sure to choose companies that will treat you right. You need a supplier(s) who will help you out when you need it.
Where we got our building materials
Farmer and I chose to hire someone that was in charge but we could work alongside. Because of that choice, I didn’t need to know what every single thing was but I was the one doing the ordering and picking things up. It has been nice to have someone to tell me what we need and answer questions, but I also needed to constantly be educating myself on what things were and why we needed them. In many situations I still needed to make the final call.
After shopping around, this is what we ended up with:
We ordered most of our supplies through Ziggy’s. Their take-off came back the cheapest as a whole, even though a few items were slightly cheaper elsewhere. They also came highly recommended by a friend who had recently built.
We also used Pro-build in Othello quite a bit for when we needed to run and grab things. They were sometimes cheaper and a few times were willing to deliver much quicker than Ziggy’s.
And last, a few times we had to run to the local small town hardware store. They are not cheap, however they are half an hour closer than anyone else so sometimes it was certainly worth it.
What’s important is that you do your homework beforehand so you KNOW what your best options are. Then when you need more of something, you know where you should be going or who you should be calling.
Once you get your take-offs moving along you still have a few other “material” things to arrange. Take-off is the big one, but there are many things a take-off most likely doesn’t cover. You will want to price out materials and labor separately for every job so you can determine if it will save you money to hire someone as a package deal, or to purchase the materials yourself and hire a laborer, or DIY the whole thing.
The other materials that you will want to price shop are:
- cement
- gravel (for underneath the slabs of cement)
- foundation forms (to hold the cement in place)
- windows
- doors- exterior and interior
- roofing supplies
- siding, rock, brick, etc
- electrical supplies
- plumbing supplies
- HVAC supplies
This is not a complete list of everything you will need on your house, it is just an overview of what we needed for the first half of our house (the drying in stage).
Some of the things on this list will probably be included in your take-off but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still shop for them. You may find that companies that specialize in something can give you better information, better prices, and/or better quality.
For example, because of the new energy code that you had to deal with during the permit process, our windows had to be a much lower U-factor (more energy efficient) than the average window. On top of that, we have two 7 foot tall windows that needed to be made with tempered glass. Our order became very complicated and next to impossible to have windows the size that we wanted and also energy efficient enough to pass code. The lumber companies couldn’t see a way to make it work and told us that is was impossible. So I called a window company. After trying everything possible, they finally found a way to let us have our huge tempered glass windows while getting the U-factor down low enough. Yay! I didn’t have to sacrifice my beautiful picture windows.
Make sure to keep your papers, and notes organized. Whenever you talk to anyone, write down their name, the date, and specifics of your conversation. If anyone agrees to a price or a deal write it down, and after the conversation send them a quick email recounting the things you agreed on. What I mean is if someone tells you they will waive the delivery fee, or give you a lower price in the future, get it in writing and send them a copy. Then they won’t forget, and if they try to change their mind then you both have it in writing.
The next few months will be spent getting take-offs and shopping for materials and supplies. Don’t forget to check craigslist and the second hand building material stores like Habitat for Humanity. You never know when someone will have exactly what you need for 1/4 of the price.
Don’t be afraid to ask contractors what you will need and what they suggest. Often times they will have ideas and suggestions that save you money or time that you didn’t know about. Try to explore as many options as you can because the more research you do, the more money you can potentially save.
Now I know you are dying to know the actual numbers on these things so here are a few of our own personal savings.
Cement: The second to the last company that I called about cement prices ended up being the cheapest. If I had stopped after calling the first one, we would have spent an extra $382.50 plus a delivery fee of $75. Cement for our foundation ended up at just over $4,000. This does not include any of our pads of cement we will pour later.
Foundation Forms: I didn’t do as much shopping on these as I should have because I was getting them through a friend. What I do know is that the company they bought their forms through rents them out for $9 per form and he rented his to me for $4. So according to those two numbers we saved over $1,500 because of how many forms we needed.
Windows: We did not save money on windows. We searched high and low for a company that could figure out a way to give us exactly what we wanted. Most of them said it couldn’t be done, but we finally found a window supplier that made it possible. Some things are worth sacrificing for. Since we weren’t willing to make our big picture windows smaller, it ended up costing us an extra $2,000 plus. Windows are looking at around $21,000 right now. I will write a post all about that special company soon because they deserve their own post for figuring it out!
I am working on the complete list of materials, companies, prices, and details and it will be added to the free checklists, schedules, and printables page soon.
Sign up right here for that page, complete FREE.
After you sign up, make sure you print off the pre-building timeline which shows you everything you need to do, and when, before ground breaking day.
Materials will claim a huge percentage of your house budget, it is absolutely worth taking the time to make all of these phone calls. Do it! And you will be ecstatic when you start seeing how much you can save.
CLICK HERE if you need to go back to step 7.
ready to move on to Step 9: Utilities, CLICK HERE
Shop hard, save lots of money!
~Farmer’s Wife
FREE checklists and schedules
Access to the resources I created that helped Farmer and I save over $75,000 building our own custom dream home.
Becca says
Hello There!
Your blog has been incredibly informative and I have really enjoyed reading it so far. My husband and I recently bought land in Chelan County (specifically Leavenworth, WA). We are looking to build our house and I have really appreciated the wealth of information you’ve provided. I read on this page that you are “working on the complete list of materials, companies, prices, and details and it will be added to the free checklists, schedules, and printables page soon.” When do you think you will have that information available?! I am especially interested given that we live in the same state :).
I plan to look into Marson and Marson as well as Ziggy’s to potentially complete a take-off for us. Thank you for the awesome advice and suggestion! It is really appreciated. In addition to the building materials, I would love to learn more about what companies and products you would recommend for finishes such as doors, flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, etc. If you’ve discovered/used any local companies or amazing finds in those regards, I would love to hear more about it!
Thanks so much!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Hi Becca,
It’s so fun to hear from people who live near me!
Yes, I am working on complete lists for everything. Eventually I will try and include lists and money breakdowns of everything you could possibly need for your house. The reason I am not there yet is that we are still in the middle of our build. I am writing things as I go, but it is slow because we aren’t finished with our project. I apologize for the wait, I wish so bad I could just put it all out there at once so no one has to wait for me! As long as you have subscribed to Farmhouse From Scratch you will be notified every time I put anything new up. Next month I will be working on another cost breakdown part 2, and I will up date the “who should I hire” page with more awesome companies that we used.
I wish you the best of luck with your project!
Briana Nasman says
Hi!
This is an AWESOME resource. I am another WA owner-builder- in King county! Definitely looking forward to seeing the material list as well. There is a fantastic salvage yard near me, that I plan to get most of my materials from. But I would love a glass window wall… something that will have to be custom, I think. Anyway, keep up the awesome work!
Meghan says
I remember reading somewhere that it might be cheaper to order lumber from the east side of the state even if it is being delivered to the west side. We’re in pierce county looking for lumber now. Any thoughts?
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Absolutely look on the east side before ordering. Some of the best prices I have found on all different things have been states away (Utah, Idaho, Texas for us) and the price of shipping is worth the savings. In general, the east side has been cheaper for us than the west side of Washington.
Duck Mama says
Thank you for asking that question. I was wondering how would you find so many companies to call and compare. I did figure going out of state would save money. This helps me so much.
Alana says
What window company did you use?
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Perfection Glass in Tri-cities Washington
They are one of my favorite companies so far! Excellent work and service. If you ask for Cesar and tell him that the Farmer’s Wife sent you, he will give you 10% off on your window order. Call them!
Tracy says
Hi! I am really enjoying your blog so far as I am getting ready to buy land to build my husband and my dream home. I have a question about the companies who do not do free take-offs. Is it possible, once you have another company’s take-off, to rewrite it out (the quantity of what you need and what those items are) and then send it to the companies that charge you for take-off to get prices for you? It would seem like most of the labor of writing one up goes into looking at the blueprint and deciding what you need.
Thanks!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
I would sure think they would do that for you. It’s the same as you calling on the phone to ask them how much something is … they wouldn’t charge you for that. And yes, the labor is definitely in looking at the blueprint and deciding what you need.