Where to buy building goods such as tile, wood, etc...

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
8
0
So any really good and cheap places to buy building goods such as tile, hardwood floors, etc... other then the usually Lowes and Home depot answer?

For hardwood I know of lumber liquidators.

For tile I have only bought from Lowes, HD, and recently Costco.


Will be doing a full rip out of our master bedroom/bath. So everything will be new from tub, tile, wood floors, lighting, etc...
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,413
1,570
126
home depot and costco?

hard to beat economies of scale y0
 

Barrak

Guest
Jan 8, 2001
710
0
81
There are places you can get cheaper than Lowes. There are always contractor type stores in your area, you just have to find them. Find a lumberyard, a real one, and what they dont have ask them for some other companies in the area that might.
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
8
0
Well I just moved to N.VA near DC. Springfield VA to be exact.

So looking for internet places and if anybody knows locals even better. Also more options then what the big boxs offer would be nice.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
Many brick companies also sell tile.

There should also be a ton of mom & pop flooring companies around. At least in Houston there are.
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
8
0
Well just got notice that the bank signed the papers so the house is pretty much ours now. Just have to close.


But yea I am going to check out some local places. Just most smaller/local places usually have more higher end stuff not good but cheap kinda deals. But you never know.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,606
166
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
Home depot, Lowes, etc. are more expensive for a lot of their goods than other places. It really pays to shop around. A lot of the big-name things - appliances, etc., they're right in the ball park with everyone else; prices really don't vary that much (as a percentage of the actual price; besides, you can check prices on these things from home.)

However, when it comes to a lot of the things they sell, they're more expensive than even the local mom & pop hardware stores. (At least around here.) Plus, at my local home depot, they're idiots. I don't mean that the way everyone complains about salespeople with poor attitudes. What I mean is that their knowledge of their products is poor. When a friend of mine applied there, they told him he wasn't expert enough in any of the fields. If that's a fact, then all but one person who works there must have lied through his teeth on his application. Example: I had a pressure regulator that I wanted attached to CPVC. All those little fittings, especially brass, can really add up pretty quickly. I asked, "what would be the cheapest way to connect this to this - what fittings would I need so that I don't end up with 7 or 8 fittings?" Answer: "It's impossible to connect that to that, regardless of how many fittings you use. That's got NPT threads, and this has (some other type of threads.)" So, I went to mom & pop hardware store. "Sure." He walked down and aisle and without even pausing his steps, he grabbed 2 fittings. "This is the cheapest way, of course, one piece is galvanized steel, but it shouldn't matter for that contraption. If you wanted all brass, it'd take a few more fittings and cost you quite a bit more."

Back to Home Depot's plumbing section a few months ago. (What's nice is HD is open til 9; the mom & pop store closed at 6.) 5 minutes hunting down the plumbing guy. "Hey, don't you have any caps for 3/4 inch PVC??!" "Sure, they're right here." "Those aren't caps. They're in the spot for caps though. " <checks inventory> "It shows 51 of them in stock." "Yeah, there are 51 of these, but these aren't caps. It even says so on the box!"

So, I left wondering how the fvck the person in charge of the plumbing department (his picture was on the aisle) wouldn't know what a cap is for pvc plumbing. Furthermore, how he had inventoried something else as caps.
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
8
0
^


Yea if I go into Lowes/HD I already know what I need. But smaller shops do generally have people that have done more and seem more helpful.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,335
1
81
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DrPizza
::snip about HD::</end quote></div>

The earlier you go into HD, the more knowledgable the sales people you're going to have. Especially during the weekdays.

Furthermore, the Department Heads are absolutely useless when it comes to anything that requires experience or knowledge in the department. Most of the DHs got where they are because they're ass-kissers and don't mind being bent over by the Store and Assistant Managers. Others took the position hoping they could change things and were simply naive. I work at HD PT and have been asked twice now to be a DH. Between the money and how badly they treat you, I won't do it (that and I'm also finishing up my degree). On top of that, most DHs don't actually work in their departments. They'll be all over the store doing whatever the hell management needs them to do (ringing, pulling orders, etc), along with doing tons of paper work.

If you want help at Home Depot, look for a guy that has suspenders holding his apron on. For the most part, these guys are old timers who have either been in the store for years, or have been involved in a job related to their department for years. Buddy of mine in my department was a licensed electrician for most of his life and makes some extra scratch at HD now that he's retired. Another guy in the Dept. was a journeyman lineman, and did some other work with the electrical unions. And yet another works FT with Cablevision doing cable runs and was originally an installer for residential homes. I've learned a hell of a lot from all of them, and for the most part all of us manage to help customers when they have a semblance of what actually needs to be done.

The problem is that there is absolutely no training for what department they put people in, and they will put anybody anywhere. In the years I've worked at the stores, I've seen masons put in paint, plumbers put in flooring, general contractors in gardening, etc. Human Resources has their heads so far up their asses with hiring it isn't even amusing anymore. Even if there are experienced people in the department, the Part Timers never learn anything because they don't get scheduled hours with them.

<end rant about Home Depot>