No Building Without Building Materials

It probably seems rather logical to you, as it does to me, but let's get one thing straight from the outset in this post -- without building materials you're not going to be building much of anything.  We've grown rather accustomed to thinking we can run down to our local Home Depot or Loews and pick up whatever building materials we need for our construction project.  However, that's not always the case.

Let me give you an example you're probably familiar with either from personal experience because you live along the coast or you watch television.  Think plywood...big sheets of plywood.  Add approaching hurricane.  Yep, the building materials you're going to need to cover the windows and doors are screws or nails and plywood.  And unless you think ahead and keep these building supplies in storage for you, you might get to your supply store and find that they've had a run on them and are completely out of these building materials.  Remember supply and demand?  Because of the approaching storm these building materials have surged in demand.  They're no longer available.

Now this a case of extremes but it does happen in the building materials field particularly around storms where the demand suddenly surges and the supply chain just cannot keep up.  Some who make a living studying things like this tell of increasing challenges to normal supplies of building materials.  This is not so much due to localized demand as to what's happening globally with the cost of production and heavy government regulation of manufacturers combined with increased construction in developing countries like China.

Right Building Materials

You know, just any old building materials don't always work for every job.  In some municipalities, building codes determine quality and type to be used for certain jobs.  But if you're new in a region, let's say you've moved from Wisconsin down to Louisiana to retire and escape the cold winters, then you need to know things are different.  In Wisconsin you had to take into account the cold and sometimes drastic change in temperatures.  Down south, that's not so much of an issue.  But the heat and humidity and moisture sure is.  And these differences require different building materials than you've been accustomed to using all your life if this is a DIY (Do It Yourself) project you're tackling.

Most guys don't like to admit they don't know something.  It's just not macho if you know what I mean.  This is one area where I recommend throwing all that macho stuff aside.  If you're not sure of the correct and ideal building materials to use on your construction project, ASK!  Doing so could avert a real mess and save you lots of money in the long run.

Finding Building Materials

I've already mentioned two local places where both the public and construction professionals find their building materials.  Another trend that is developing is that people more and more are finding what they need online.  Yes, even building materials can be purchased online and sometimes at quite a savings even with shipping.  Places like eBay have all sorts of products in this category.  The thing you do want to watch out for just like doing business down the street is to make sure you're dealing with a reputable company.  You should do business online with people that give you the ability to return your product if you get it and find that it's not exactly what you wanted.

How to choose a natural building material (ie cob or straw or a mix)

If you haven't tried the Internet yet, simply do a search for exactly what you need in building materials and I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised what comes up.