Welcome to BuildDirect! We want to make it as easy and as fast as possible to order the building materials that you are looking for. In order to get the products you want quickly, take a look at how to buy building materials from BuildDirect.
1. Select building materials by category.
At BuildDirect, the building materials are organized by category. For instance, if you’re looking for a specific variety of laminate, the next step to do is to find the flooring category from the list found on the left-hand navigation bar. You can also enter your choice into the search bar, particularly if you know a few details about the type of material you want (“oak laminate flooring”, “8mm laminate flooring”, etc.).
2. Select building materials by order size
BuildDirect sells building materials in volume quantities. So, an important aspect for each buyer to establish is how much of a product is required. There are three order sizes at BuildDirect which determine lead times, shipping costs, and product prices:
a) By the pallet (approx. 500 sq.ft. and up) A pallet is a wooden base on which individual boxes of product are arranged and wrapped with clear plastic. A pallet is the basic unit that a warehouse uses to manage and store products. The lead times on a pallet order of building materials tend to be within 5-15 business days, plus shipping, depending on your location.
b) By the container (approx. 5 000 sq.ft. and up) A container is a large, rectangular metal box in which products are loaded for overseas shipment. The container order is shipped directly from the mills, quarries, and manufacturers to the nearest port or distribution point to you. The lead times on building materials by the container load range from one month to four months, depending on product type and availability at the time of the order.
c) By the truckload (approx. 5 000sq.ft. and up) Truckload orders are comparable to container orders in terms of volume, but are sourced from one North American site to another. Not all products are available in truckload quantities. Lead times on truckload quantities are comparable to those of container orders.
3. Select Building Materials by Subcategory
Each flooring, decking, siding, tile, countertops, and landscape product is a choice within a given sub-category. So, laminate flooring is a subcategory of flooring, for instance. You can refine your search once you’ve found the building materials you want by subcategory. Do this by using the navigation in the left-hand column of the subcategory page to find specific products.
So, from the main laminate flooring page for instance, you might refine your search by color, thickness, rating, brand, or other criteria and get filtered results based on that search. From this information, you might decide that 7mm Brasilia Cherry from K-Swiss at $0.83/sq.ft.(possibly found by thickness+price+brand+color) is the right laminate flooring for you as determined by your search choices. If you are buying a container-load of product, you might choose a combination of different products to fill the minimum square footage or pricing requirement for a specific line or lines of products under a certain brand name.
With each product option, there might also be a list of accessories – moldings, underlayment, or adhesives for instance – that go well with your choice. You can find these accessories on the same page which describes the product option of your choice in detail.
4 a) Order free samples of building materials
When you order samples of building materials from BuildDirect, you only cover the cost of shipping them to you. Otherwise, they’re free of charge. Click on the “Order Free Samples” button just under the price of the product option you are interested in. From here, you can find your building materials by brand name and series name. You can click on the corresponding box under the product of your choice, and then click the “add to cart” button. You can view the contents of your cart and change the amount of samples you wish to order by clicking the “View My Cart” button along the top of the page. When you place your order for free samples, there will be a charge for shipping them to you, based upon your zip code or postal code.
“Please call”
This is an invitation to speak to our customer service representative about samples availability, or other factors which are important to the shipping of your chosen sample of building materials.
Buying samples is strongly advised.
No matter how good the pictures on the site are, there is no substitute for the real product in your hand when buying building materials. When you order flooring, decking, siding, and tile, or other samples of building materials, you are taking advantage of the best way to get a sense for what the products will look like and feel like once they have been installed.
4 b) Buy Building Materials
When you’ve decided on the building materials you wish to purchase and in what order size, you may add them to your cart by clicking the “Proceed to Cart & Get Freight Quote” button. When you add product options and accessories to your cart, you’ll notice a message which tells you what is currently in your cart.
You can view the contents of your cart and change the amount of product you wish to purchase, or delete chosen product options in your cart, found along the top right of your screen by clicking on “View My Cart” as found in this message.
Accessories may be added by clicking a secondary button just below the product option description. It says “Add Accessories to Cart”. Once you’ve clicked this button, you can control the number of the specific accessories you’ve added when viewing your cart.
Freight quotes for product and samples
BuildDirect is able to include all costs associated with the shipping of building materials to you upfront, before you buy. When you have confirmed how much of a product you wish to buy in your cart, it is necessary to enter the following information to determine the shipping costs of your order:
- For product orders only, the type of delivery which best describes the pick-up site – residential, commercial, or a terminal pick-up. All of these delivery types are explained once it is selected in a line of text below the drop-down field.
- Your zip/postal code, entered into the given field. Your city will be filled in automatically, based on the zip/postal code you’ve entered.
- Click “Get Shipping Price” button.
The information displayed on your screen will be the costs associated with your order, based on your zip/postal code information. There are different costs associated with two tiers of shipping: 1. FedEx Ground Delivery, 5-7 business days 2. FedEx Overnight 1-2 business days. You may choose which tier is most applicable, and the costs will be adjusted accordingly. From this point, you may “Click Here To Checkout”, and your order is completed.
Your cart reference number
There is a reference number which is associated with every cart found at the top of the screen. It is handy to make a note of it, particularly when you wish to discuss an order with a BuildDirect customer service representative before you buy building materials. Items placed in your cart will remain there until you buy them, or remove them. This will allow you to navigate away from BuildDirect or close a browser session without worrying about finding products and putting your selections into your cart again.
How to continue shopping
When in your cart, you may continue shopping for products at any time by clicking on the “Continue Shopping” icon in the top right corner of your screen. When you continue shopping, the products will remain in your cart until you buy them or remove them. The products will remain in your shopping cart even after you’ve navigated away from the site, provided your cookies are enabled.
Once your order is placed…
You will receive a confirmation email once your order for building materials has been placed. It will provide you with order details which include your designated order number.
Learn more about shipping here.
Use our order tracking function to find out where your building materials are in real time. Submit your order number and the zip/postal code of the delivery address.
Refer to our Claims and Returns Page in the event of product damage, shortages, or related issues.