Purchase from online floor covering distributors to save a bundle

Because most of the online distributors of home flooring don't have a showroom with pretty displays, their overhead is much lower and they pass that savings on to you. Yes, you will pay for shipping, but it is usually still a better price than you can find in a local store. If you're lucky enough to live near a distribution point for one of these companies, you can save even more because you may be able to avoid shipping.

I recommend: Lumber Liquidators is a chain of house floor distributors that is well-known for their quality laminate flooring and hardwood flooring. They have more than 100 locations in North America as well, so those close by will save on shipping. ProSource is a chain of showroom wholesalers of home flooring available in many major metropolitan areas. While ProSource does require a membership, it offers the added benefit of allowing you to bring your clients in to look at flooring; your customers will see only the market price of the home floor covering, not the price you pay.

Avoid the pitfalls of buying home floor covering in bulk

Some distributors and wholesalers of home floor covering offer you the best price when you buy the flooring in bulk--enough flooring for several houses. While this can be appealing, you should consider the costs of this as well. Not only will you need to have a place large enough to store all the house floor covering, you may be required to pay inventory tax on it to your state. In addition, you're much more likely to have odd quantities of leftover flooring that you can neither use nor sell, further reducing your savings.

I recommend: Floor Max Factory Outlet offers home floor covering to builders at “Wholesale Mill Direct” prices. These savings are the same regardless of how much flooring you purchase in one transaction. FastFloors.com offers name-brand flooring at discount prices for orders of all sizes.

Buy first-quality flooring every time

When looking at distributors and wholesalers of home floor covering, occasionally you'll find companies that offer substantial discounts on second-quality flooring. While this may seem appealing at first, it's not a good standard of practice. It can be difficult to properly install factory seconds, and the house floor covering may not last as your customers would expect. Either way, you risk your reputation as a quality builder.

I recommend: Carpet Works offers first-quality carpet options from the mills in Dalton, GA. Carpet Express allows builders to request quotes on their most often-used products, which can give you a price comparison list unique to the industry.