When working in the rental industry, you’re going to be doing improvements to your properties from time to time. Sometimes, you’ll hire contractors, and they’ll handle everything from plans to ordering materials to installation.
At other times, you’ll rely on yourself and your own team of contractors to do the installations. Many landlords love this hands-on aspect of the industry, and that leads them to become their own contract team managers throughout renovations and upgrades.
If you’re a landlord who is involved in that way, you will want to take a look at Build Direct reviews to find out if this site can save you money and simplify your work. Build Direct is an online home improvement warehouse that offers many materials in bulk at discounted prices.
They aren’t the only site that offers this, but do they do it better than the other sites out there? Today, we’ll take a deep dive into BuildDirect reviews to find out. Join us in today’s BuildDirect review to see if this online warehouse is a good fit for your business!
A Table Of Contents For BuildDirect.Com Review
- BuildDirect.com Rating
- Complete BuildDirect.com Review
- Build Direct Analysis
- Products Offered At Build Direct
- BuildDirect’s PRO Program
- Conclusion
BuildDirect.com Rating
Build Direct earns a 5/5 star rating for the products, services, and knowledge that they offer to those looking to buy materials for their ongoing home improvement projects.
Complete BuildDirect.com Review
The reason Build Direct gets a 5/5 star rating today is because they offer a specific type of discounted product to a specific audience, and they do it well! While their buying schedule (i.e., large quantities) won’t be for everyone, they provide a valuable service and discount to those looking to buy large amounts of home improvement items for their projects.
Additionally, Build Direct puts a lot of effort into maintaining good knowledge sources for their customers and other home improvement enthusiasts who want to learn more about what they can do at their properties.
Pros:
- Great knowledge center with lots of articles
- Constantly expanding product lines
- Special order options available
- Great support team
- Fast and reliable shipping within the US and Canada
- Better prices than local, physical stores
Cons:
- Customer base limited to those who want to buy a palette or more as this is the only way to buy discounted
- Rewards program only works for certain parties
Build Direct Analysis
Before we get into the specific aspects of Build Direct that have earned it such a high rating, here is a brief introduction to what BuildDirect is and how it can help:
As a landlord, Build Direct can be seen as a potential source for well-priced build materials. The materials need to be bought in relatively large quantities, so it won’t replace your local suppliers but it will save you money in some scenarios.
Size-Based Ordering Creates Discounts
One of the things that landlords should think about right away when considering ordering from Build Direct is whether or not the scale of the required orders is going to fit with your projects. If you are only looking for very small amounts, you likely won’t qualify to order from the site.
However, ordering based on size is actually what gives such great discounts to those that do order from Build Direct! As they sell in almost a wholesale fashion, the discounts come when they are able to provide products with a showroom or distributors add a few percentage points at each step.
Landlords that are doing large renovations to improve their property value or buying products for a few properties will be able to benefit from the discount style that is offered by purchasing through Build Direct. Landlords who don’t need to order much, however, might not find the same beneficial savings when using this online warehouse.
Variety Of Flooring Products And Accessories
One of the categories that landlords find to be most useful to order from on Build Direct is the flooring category. Flooring requires a large number of boxes to cover a room or two, so most landlords can qualify to order from Build Direct when they are working on redoing the flooring at their properties.
From wood to laminate to tile and vinyl, there are lots of different flooring products available on the site. No matter what type of design or style you are going for when working on your properties, you can find it at a price that is up to 80% lower than physical retail suppliers when shopping on Build Direct.
The site also has many different accessories that are needed to finish off the floor such as moldings, end caps, underlay, and adhesives. If you aren’t sure what amounts you will need to complete the project from start to finish, Build Direct is also available through their messaging system to help you figure that out.
Work To Address Problems
When you purchase items from Build Direct, you have up to 30 days from the date of delivery to return the product. The products can be returned (at the company’s cost) as long as it is in the same state it was delivered in (i.e., it has not been installed and then removed).
Should you have any problems with your order, Build Direct will have set you up with a specific order manager for your order. It is very easy to contact this manager, and they should be able to help you to address the problem.
Landlords and others working on builds have reported mixed results from their experiences with Build Direct’s customer support team, but it is clear that in the last few years they have made serious improvements to the way that they address any potential problems.
From start to finish, Build Direct sets you up for success, and their policies and contact points indicate that they will do all they can to make sure you are happy with the quality of your purchases.
Expansive Knowledge Center
One of the best things about Build Direct’s online site is something that doesn’t cost you (or anyone else that wants to see it) anything!
There are big knowledge centers that Build Direct keeps up with on their site, and both of these areas can help you to learn more about what you are working on, what areas are worth working on next, and how to do successful renovation projects.
The Learning Center
The first section that Build Direct maintains is its Learning Center.
This education section of Build Direct is set up in an easily accessible way, and the information gathered here is truly beneficial to landlords, contractors, and home improvement enthusiasts.
The site is organized so that you can get to the information that you need in a few different ways:
- Simple search: enter your query and browse the results
- Featured articles: see what is accessed most frequently
- Search by topic: browse all listed categories and their primary subcategories
- Expert contact: email and phone number listed to contact Build Direct specialist with your questions directly
All of these articles are full of useful information, product recommendations, installation tips, and future points of contact if you should need additional assistance beyond what the article offers. While these articles are not a substitute for real-life experience, they are a great starting point when you are working on something that you have never personally handled before.
The articles are also great just for gaining a better understanding of what you want before you hire a contractor. As a landlord, it isn’t necessary for you to do all the work yourself, but it can be beneficial to know a bit about what to expect so you can make smarter hiring and business decisions.
The Blog
In addition to their learning center, Build Direct also has an extensive blog. The blog topics differ from the Learning Center articles in that they tend to cover more about trends, style, and management as opposed to looking directly at products and their benefits. Of course, there is going to be some crossover!
The blog articles are organized into the following categories:
- Bedroom
- Kitchen
- Living Room
- Office
- Architecture
- Trends
- Organization
- Outdoor Living
- Interior Design
You can also use the blog portal to search the blog for a specific product or topic that you are hoping to learn more about.
Through their blog articles, Build Direct shows how they are keeping up with the modern trends, wants, and needs of the home improvement world while also educating their customers. This shows a commitment to being a truly useful source for landlords and other renovators, and that is a great thing to see!
Free Samples
Though this is not a service that is unique to Build Direct, it is still one worth mentioning!
When you’re choosing products like flooring or tile, it can be hard to know exactly what you want to buy until you see it yourself. Since Build Direct doesn’t have a physical warehouse, this might not seem to be possible.
Thankfully, the online home improvement warehouse offers up to five free samples. They will even ship them overnight to you for free without entering any sort of credit card information!
Should you be unsure about what type of product will work best in your space, don’t hesitate to order up to five free samples and get a good look at the material in your property before you make a final decision.
Build Direct knows how important samples are and have made acquiring them very easy.
Products Offered At Build Direct
As Build Direct is an online home improvement warehouse, the products they offer span a wide variety of categories. There aren’t incredibly specific products that they offer, though many believe they are strictly a flooring warehouse since this used to be their primary focus.
Today, the site hosts products in all of these categories:
- Flooring (wood, tile, vinyl, accessories)
- Decking (tiles, composite, wood, deck accessories)
- Building materials (siding)
- Outdoor furniture
- Kitchen tile
- Bathroom flooring
Within each of these categories and subcategories have many different products; there are hundreds of products overall.
The prices found on BuildDirect are up to 80% less than at other retailers, and that is because they cut out many of the cost-adding middlemen in the buying process. There is no showroom; there are no distributors. That means that you get a lower price.
That being said, BuildDirect.com says that because they offer companies and manufacturers the ability to enter such a huge buyers’ market at minimal cost, as well as completely cutting out the middleman of distributors and showrooms, the products you find on their website should be priced at up to 80% less than what you find at a traditional retailer.
For those that are having difficulty choosing which flooring or items to get, the site has a special section known as Pro Picks. This area can be a great tool to figure out what is working for others so that you can make a decision faster. Fast decisions can be game-changers in the rental world, so use this Pro Picks section to your advantage.
BuildDirect’s PRO Program
Some landlords have come across the Build Direct Pro program and wondered if it was something that they should sign up for. While the program is free to sign up for, it isn’t going to be the right fit for most landlords.
The PRO program is a rebate program that enables professional contractors to receive the absolute lowest possible price on all of their purchases as well as rebates on all purchases made over $5,000 during a calendar year.
This can sound like a sweet deal, especially if you have a lot of renovations on deck, but there are limitations about who can apply to be part of the PRO program.
Per their terms of service, this program is made for an “active commercial business that provides construction services in Canada and/or the continental United States,” meaning that most landlords won’t fit the bill.
However, if you work on many properties each year, manage your own contracting team, or are otherwise fit to join this program, there is no harm in applying or asking Build Direct if you are eligible!
Conclusion
Build Direct can clearly be seen as a potential supply source for landlords that like to do their own renovations or, at the very least, source their own products. If you’ve been purchasing only from big box stores or leaving the purchasing up to your contractors in the past, you may want to reconsider and save some money.
As mentioned, Build Direct isn’t going to be the perfect fit for every landlord, so don’t worry if you can’t see how their services will fit in your current business plans. If you need more home improvement materials in the future, however, keep in mind that they are a reliable source.