Materials and tools restoring and renovating your property in France

Buying Tools and Materials for your Renovation

Materials

There are a few options for buying tools and materials for your renovation project. Most towns and even villages in France will have some kind of builders merchant where you can buy all the materials for your renovation. This is a good starting point - local delivery charges will be less or not apply at all, and if you go in the supplier before you start your project and declare your intention to spend lots of money you will probably be able to negotiate a discount.

The staff in the shop will get to know you, which will make it easier to get free advice when you are stuck. But prices may not always be clearly marked.

See DIY shops in France for a brief introduction to the DIY shopping experience in France.

However, keep an eye also on the free brochures and magazines that come tumbling through your door. Many of the larger stores eg E Leclerc, Auchan, Gamm Vert etc with large 'building' sections have occasional promotions.

These can save large amounts of money. For example, when  I needed to buy 250 square metres of plasterboard for ceiling and walls, a local E Leclerc was offering a promotion that amounted to about 2 euros per square metre of discount. Even with the delivery charge of 40 euros, that saved a great deal of money.

Other high expense items such as insulation are also often available at reduced price at certain times. Even if you don't need them for a month or two, consider buying them in advance and storing them.

Remember that the same materials are not used in all places - plasterboard for a bathroom is not the same as plasterboard for a lounge, for example. It is worth buying materials accredited as Normes Francaises (NF) when possible, since these are certified as being of a certain quality. Just remember when comparing prices between different suppliers to ensure you are comparing like with like.

Tools

Always buy the right tool for the job. It does make a difference to the quality of the final result.

If you are doing a large project then buy good quality tools and electrical equipment. These cost several times as much as the cheapest available, but will actually last for the duration of the job, and make the work much easier to do. If you read the specifications on the boxes in the shop, you might think the two are very similar. Same speed, same pressure, same power and so on. Get home and use them and you will change your mind.

You have to trust me on this one - I don't buy expensive things because I have got too much money, but because there is no alternative if you want to do a professional job.

Typical examples are drills, jigsaws, air compressors, angle grinders, pressure washers etc. All come in cheap versions and expensive versions and you will regret buying the cheaper.