Home Deopt Fencing vs Rocky Mountain Forest Products
Fencing is an important addition to your home, and you want to make sure the materials you’re using are as high quality as possible so your fence lasts long and looks beautiful. When you are shopping at a big box store like Home Depot for example, they don’t necessarily take the time to go through each piece of material to make sure they are in good condition. When you shop from a smaller supplier like us here at Rocky Mountain Forest Products, we hand pick each and every board, picket, rail and post to ensure they are high quality and meet the grade they are sold at.
When it comes to purchasing your next set of fence materials, you can actually save 25% by choosing to shop at a local supplier rather than a big box store. Not all local suppliers can give you those savings, but Rocky Mountain Forest Products sure can! As a locally owned, “Mom and Pop” shop since 1974, we’ve created a business that differs from the big box stores and can give you much better options than say, Home Depot fencing.
But How Exactly Are We Different? Here are 5 Reasons Why Purchasing from Rocky Mountain Forest Products is Better than Home Depot Fencing
1.
True Wholesale vs Big Box Stores
One of the most important differences is that Rocky Mountain Forest Products operates as a wholesaler of fence materials. Being a wholesale supplier means you’ll have access to the best pricing for the best value – hands down.
Plus, working with lumber mills for nearly 45 years has given us the opportunity to buy better materials at a lower cost. Ultimately, this will be reflected on your overall costs as your materials will be at a much lower cost without sacrificing quality.
Home Depot fencing, while competitive in pricing, may not contain the same level of quality. So, take that into consideration when purchasing your fence supplies.
2.
Mill Direct
Not only do our relationships with mills around the world allow us to buy our products at a lower price point, but it also gives us a wider selection of materials to sell. How does that relate to Home Depot fencing? We carry products big box stores can’t!
You might have heard us at RMFP throw around the term “Mill-Direct”, before but might not be clear on what it actually means. Have no fear! We are here to help break it down and explain why it should matter to you. We are different than other lumberyards and building materials suppliers in that we purchase our materials differently to bring more savings to you – the customer!
A typical (non Mill-Direct) lumber distribution chain looks like this:
- Forest to Logger
- Logger to Mill
- Mill to Remanufacturing Facility – (Depending on the product and this is sometimes combined and part of the mill)
- Remanufacturing or Mill to Distributor
- Distributor to Retailer
Let’s Define Some of These Terms:
Forest:
Mill:
Also known as a sawmill or lumber mill, this is the facility where logs are cut into lumber. They use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to make certain length depending on standard or custom sizes they are responsible for providing. Many times, they are able to take specific requests for profiles of siding or decking, but not always.
Distributor:
Mill Direct:
Logger:
A logger is defined as someone who aids in the process of cutting trees, processing them, and moving them to a location for transport. This is the beginning of the supply chain that provides raw material for many products we see in lumberyards across the country.
Remanufacturing Facility:
Retailer:
There are a few idiosyncrasies that happen, despite the traditional supply chain outlined here. There are some hybrid situations where the distributor can act as a wholesaler and may sell direct to contractors, but they may not sell to the public.
They are technically considered a wholesaler, but not in the true interest of the homeowner who wants to be able to purchase in the retail sense. This requires homeowners to purchase materials through their contractor who would purchase it from their distributors. Examples of companies like this are: Master Halco, Builder’s First Choice and ProBuild. The end user can expect an additional markup that their contractor puts on their final price, because they are buying the materials for them.
Did you know that around 65% of our yard stock comes directly from the mill, 15% comes from a remanufacturing facility and around 20% comes from a wholesaler or distributor? Compare that to a typical Big Box store like Home Depot fencing or Lowe’s which purchases on average 90% of their yard stock from a wholesaler or distributor. There are definitely exceptions to this statistic, but in general they are not purchasing their yard stock mill direct. So, what types of materials does RMFP purchase mill direct from a remanufacturing facility or from a distributor?
Why Should You Care About Buying Mill Direct?
Mill-Direct Keeps the Cost Low
By cutting out the middleman, we are able to help keep the cost low without added costs typically associated with every level of the supply chain. We are able to increase our margins and sell the customer a price friendly product, because we’ve taken it back to basics with the products we supply. Going straight to the source helps us in a variety of different ways. With our mill-direct buying relationships, we are able to sell our products at 30% less than Home Depot fencing or Lowe’s because we buy directly from the mill with no markups.
Better Quality Control Without the Games
We are able to offer better quality control with our mill direct products because sometimes wholesalers or distributors will play grading games. For us however, when we buy from mill, we buy the true exact grade as it should be. We know exactly what we are getting, no questions asked. If we pick it up the same material locally from a wholesaler or distributor, some supplier like Home Depot fencing will sell a lower grade claiming it’s a higher grade. This is deceiving to everyone involved, because it’s not the same material.
For example, we have purchased a true reversible cedar deck board directly from the mill and paid less money than if we tried to pick it up locally from a wholesaler. The material from the wholesaler will have one side be appearance grade with the back side only having 80-95% usable material because of the defects on back. At the mill level, this product is graded as a one faced product, but locally, the wholesaler can only get their hands on the lower grade and will sell it claiming it’s a higher grade.
Another example is that a lot of box stores carry a #3 and better picket, which is a rustic grade within the line of Home Depot fencing. They will then sell it at standard price, because the supply chain messes it up with all of the additional markups. So many people have touched it throughout the supply chain that they have to sell it as standard price, even though it’s not standard grade.
Our relationships allow us transparency and honesty at the mill level and we know what the material will look like when it shows up. A lot of lumberyards rely on the mercy of their wholesalers to ensure quality all the way up to the mill level. They sometimes don’t even know what the material looks like until it’s delivered to a job site, which can be stressful for everyone involved.
Our goal at RMFP is to tell consumers exactly what they are getting, with no grading games.
If it’s an off grade or low-grade material, we will still sell it to you, and you can pay a lower price- but we will tell you exactly what to expect with that grade so there are no surprises.
We have the largest selection of not only fencing, but decking as well. You’ll have the widest and most diverse selection of products – right at your fingertips.
3.
Fencing Specialists
At Rocky Mountain Forest Products, you’ll get knowledge you can trust from experienced veterans in the industry. Our specialists carry a wealth of knowledge and experience, so struggling to get accommodations on your project is a thing of the past!
We have become a leading Denver Lumber supplier by utilizing modern marketing techniques, proven sales training, and we really do care about our customers. Our company motto is “Building Relationships”, which is at the core of everything we do. Our customers are looking for an advocate in the industry, which we are more than willing to be. You will always be met with a “can do” attitude. If there isn’t a clear path to solve a problem that our customers come to us with, we will search around for the answer.
The buyer experience at most big box stores is frustrating. Homeowners might enter these stores searching for the product they need, with little to no knowledge of the pros and cons of the material for their project. They run the risk of shopping for Home Depot fencing that may or not be in stock; and then they have to push their material through the store and load in into their vehicle.
At RMFP, we’ll give you the pros and cons and tell you what other people are using for their projects. We’ll have your material ready when you arrive or deliver it to your home or job site if that’s more convenient. We know that people are strapped for time and we want to provide the best buying experience possible. Many contractors think of their sales representative as an extension of their company. They can email materials lists, get a takeoff on a project and get the necessary information to win that next job. Our low prices allow contractors to submit competitive bids and win more jobs.
Due to our time in business, RMFP has the ability to purchase mill direct, thus bypassing many distribution agreements that other companies are bound by. By cutting out the middleman and purchasing our Denver lumber directly from the mill, we cut out unnecessary costs that are passed onto the end user at most home improvement stores, like Home Depot fencing. In addition to already great wholesale pricing, we also offer bulk and contractor pricing to help even more with your project.
Who says that great pricing is only available for the select few? We are truly committed to providing the most competitive price, while sticking to our high-quality standards of the materials we bring in.
4.
Help, Whenever You Need It
Come in whenever to get help and you WILL be helped! We even offer free consultations, so if you’d like to bring in your project’s blueprints or ideas our highly trained specialists will have no issue sitting down and answering your questions.
Maybe you already know your design, but you aren’t sure of how many pickets or posts you’ll need? We can give you estimates as well as product recommendations, for free!
5.
Invested In Your Project!
As our motto states, “We’re not just building projects, but relationships as well.” We’re invested in your project, so we’ll be more than happy to accommodate all of your needs throughout your project – from start to finish.
Our main goal is to provide the best service to our customers not only in terms of materials but in terms of being there when you need us. As a homeowner, contractor, designer, and DIYer you will run into times where you need some assistance on a project. Our specialists are highly trained and educated so they can help you when you have questions. Give our office a call and speak to a specialist, message us on social media, or stop in and come visit us. No matter what time of day we are there to help you! We also have blog pages and extensively built webpages to help give you as much information as possible without even calling! If you need design inspiration – that’s all there too.
We invite you to begin working with us today on your next fencing project and see the difference between us and Home Depot fencing!
