If you are planning to carry out a construction project in the near future, here are two tips you should keep in mind when the time comes to buy your building materials.  

Don't opt for cheap materials

If you have a limited amount of money to spend on your construction project, you will need to try to keep costs to a minimum. One way to do this is to use 'budget-friendly' building materials. However, it's important to be aware of the fact that opting for cheap building materials could be a false economy, which could actually lead to you going over-budget.

For example, when looking for structural timber for sale, you might be tempted to seek out a non-treated form of timber (that is, timber which has not been coated with protective insecticides and fungicides), as this is usually far less expensive than pre-treated timber.

However, if you choose to use non-treated timber to construct your building's structural framework, there is a very good chance that the house will develop serious structural issues, as non-treated timber is far more likely to develop wet rot (a fungus which erodes timber) or succumb to a termite infestation (insects which, like wet rot, can also erode timber).

These types of problems can be extremely expensive and time-consuming to repair and would most likely result in you having to replace the existing, damaged timber with a pre-treated variety. As such, in this scenario, it would be far more cost effective to buy pre-treated timber in the first place.

Order a wide range of samples

Before you commit to buying a huge number of building materials, it is important to order a wide range of samples.

The colour and texture of things like floorboards, tiles, carpeting and cabinet doors can look quite different on a website or in a catalogue than they do in person.

As such, if you choose to simply purchase these types of items without first ordering samples, you may find yourself stuck with a large collection of materials that are simply not suitable for the building you wish to construct.

This would then lead to you having to return the unsuitable materials to the seller, place a new order and then wait for it to arrive. If this situation occurs after the construction project has already gotten underway, it could cause serious delays which could increase the overall cost of the building process.