Carpentry and Woodworking - Online Buying vs Local Lumberyard & Materials

I like to support local businesses when I can, but I am about to re-trim my entire house and we need to get the best prices possible. I already checked the prices at the usual local places and now I would like to compare to some places online.

I did a quick search for trim/moulding and there are sooo many businesses to chose from. Does anyone here have any recommendations (or places to stay away from)?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations/advice on what material(s) I should use? I was planning to use pine or some other wood, but I have seen a lot of other choices like MDF and some type of plastic/wood material. Everything will be painted. What is the cheapest material we can use without sacrificing too much quality?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Well, inputs you asked for, here's mine.

I highly doubt you will find any online resources that will be cheaper than a local yard or Home Center. It's all about buying in bulk and not paying shipping costs directly. All the yards and Box stores have regular deliveries, its pretty much written in to the wholesale price they pay. You will be paying shipping directly.

If you get a large enough order locally, they may throw in a discount or free delivery.

When you talk about cheap, you have to factor in if you want to do it once or again in 20 yrs. You'll pay more for a vinyl composition product, but once its done, thats it.

I've seen an MDF type product ("miritec" I think its called), and it is pretty water resistant, but I don't know how it would stand up to actual weather and seasonal changes.

You'll be getting plenty o other opinions soon, I'm sure.

Thanks for the input.

I've been doing a bit of research since posting (mostly about materials). I decided so far that I will probably use wood over MDF. I read that MDF doesn't take a beating like wood will. I don't plan on abusing the trim/mouldings, but we have a child that we knicknamed "Destructor", so we do have concern about the robustness of the material.

Never really looked online for lumber products. My local lumberyard(NOT big box) can usually beat the price and quality of the big box JUNK. And I can see it as THEY load it onto my truck, and reject it if I don't like it. Try that with online stuff. At big box you can select the best they have to offer, but it will take time, and you have to load it onto the cart and onto your vehicle. I only handle it when I get to the worksite. All of that handling adds to to a lot of time I don't have to waste.

Support your local business. Big box is not local, they don't really care if you shop there. And when the local is gone, who will you deal with???????????

Never really looked online for lumber products. My local lumberyard(NOT big box) can usually beat the price and quality of the big box JUNK. And I can see it as THEY load it onto my truck, and reject it if I don't like it. Try that with online stuff. At big box you can select the best they have to offer, but it will take time, and you have to load it onto the cart and onto your vehicle. I only handle it when I get to the worksite. All of that handling adds to to a lot of time I don't have to waste.

Support your local business. Big box is not local, they don't really care if you shop there. And when the local is gone, who will you deal with???????????

That's why I like buying local. It's the same here - usually the lumberyards beat the big box stores on almost everything. For example, 2X lumber is $1-2 cheaper per piece than the big box prices. Plus, I don't load or unload anything! They deliver for $15. The only time I need to go in person is if I want to visually inspect something before buying (which is almost never).

But, I thought I would check out online prices to see how they compare. I bought my flooring online and got it drastically cheaper than ANY of the local stores and it is a very nice product w/ no problems.