Lion Heart

Hi guys

Recently returned from a big reccie of New Brunswick and Nova scotia and making our plans etc. Have permanent residency, selling ourour UK home and will be shipping out when sold.

We want to get into property in Canada, more specifically flipping fixer upoers as both myself and partner are very handy on DIY having done full renovations here in the UK.

My niggle at the back of my mind is the cheap and quick supply of DIY stuff. Here in the UK we have Toolstation and Screwfix which are usually (and considerably) cheaper than most builders merchants on the stuff they sell.

Went into a few Home Depot stores and vey much B&Q pricing. I.e. Great on flooring, tiles etc, but terrible on electrical, plumbing, bathroom stuff (I.e. Expensive).

B&Q is great for flooring, ok for anything else if in an emergency but most plumbing and Electricals can be bought at half the price from tool station and screwfix.

You wouldn't want to renovate an entire house only buying from B&Q as it would cost a fortune.

We saw Home Hardware stores dotted around but didn't get to go in to one. Looked at their website but no pricing as each store in a franchise and sets its own pricing!

Found Fastenal which seem to have a small number of stores in the maritimes, but overall did not seem all that cheap?

Are there DIY supply companies that deliver overnight in Canada or is that a UK only luxury?

Any advice on buying stuff cheap in Canada I.e. On a full renoation scale? Anyone here done it?

R I C H

I built and renovated a number of properties in BC. Rona generally offered the best contractor rates for bulk building materials, around 30% less than retail cost. One Rona in the city I lived wanted a minimum $1500 purchase to qualify for contractor status, the other was more flexible, but there was still an expectation to purchase in quantities not normally associated with a bit of home DIY.

Overnight delivery on items not in stock is highly unlikely - if I needed something that had to come from another store, or a distribution warehouse, a week to 10 days wait was the norm. If I needed lumber or large/bulky items delivered, a couple of days notice was generally enough. The lead time for new windows or doors was 6+ weeks and I sourced from independent suppliers. Bespoke kitchens took around 3 months from initial consultation.

One thing you should note is that flipping houses in more rural provinces or out of major urban areas may be less lucrative than you're used to in the UK. A couple of reasons; the sales process itself is more expensive and housing markets in those type of areas is often far more subdued.

dbd33

We've had great success in buying materials in the US. For example, we bought 90 sheets of drywall in Buffalo and everything for a bathroom build from the studs in Detroit. The cost of the hotel and petrol was easily covered by the saving against the Canadian prices and we had a weekend in each of Buffalo and Detroit. We're currently deciding where to pick up 900 sq ft of hardwood floor, Flint perhaps.

donnydon

We are in Alberta and have found a majority of the things we need, but what stands out the most here is the cost of Electrical 'stuff'.
Cable, breakers etc are pricey compared to the UK!

Plumbing, well, we couldn't get push-fit.....owwww push-fit, we miss you push-fit!!

any we could find was VERY limited style/choice.
Ordering online would have slowed us down for the 5ft we wanted to extend, so used what we could get in Homedepot.

Otherwise we haven't seen a great difference.

Definitely shop around and hit the internet...our main issue is living in what is considered a 'remote' location...but we also have a transfer station/dump 20 mins drive away and the lady who runs it loves anyone who comes and searches for scrap metal, reclaim wood and fencing, so we got pretty lucky on some things!!

BristolUK

They are quite a bit cheaper than HomeDepot and Kent but you can get prices by setting a local store on their site. Use store locator - "find the store nearest you" and set it.

Their stores are smaller but they can order in quickly for anything not in stock.

Couple of things - as with ordinary shopping - Store A might generally be cheaper than Store B, but there will be some things at Store B that are less than Store A. You can also look one week and A is far cheaper for some things than B, but the next week it'll be the other way around.

Atlantic Xpat

Kent is a Building supply / DIY chain in the Maritimes/Atlantic Canada. Sometimes cheaper than Home Depot sometimes not. The contractor renovating my place buys some stuff there ... HD not so much. There will be local lumber stores which are generally the go to source of lumber and other materials. Just need to investigate in your chosen area.

When things need to be shipped in expect 10 days+ for delivery. Canada is a big Country. On your house flip calculations allow 5%+tax for real estate agent fees.

Former Lancastrian

Seems to be a mid west northern states company but as the adverts go

Save big money at Menards

https://www.menards.com/main/home.html

Lion Heart

I found this part fascinating Rich... When you say the sales process is more expensive do you mean more expensive for more rural properties, or more expensive than the UK? Can you give us an example of the associated costs please?

By subdued I assume you just mean far slower? That makes perfect sense. We live in mid Wales currently and houses here usually take 6-12 months to sell. In the middle of Cardiff covert the months to weeks!!

R I C H

As per Atlantic's post....

Factor in costs as illustrated here (specific to BC): Cost of Buying a House in BC - Everything You Need to Know | Bridgewell Real Estate Group


Yes, property turnover can be very slow in more rural areas.

scilly

There may also be notary public or lawyer fees .............. few people buy here without going to one or the other to draw up the offer.