A Builder’s Advice
It can be difficult to find stores near you in a foreign country. This is especially true of builder’s merchants in France. Your common knowledge of simple store names just isn’t there. If you’re renovating a house in France, depending on where you’re located, this is where you’ll find your building materials:
Fun Fact: Robin, in addition to offering project management on renovation sites, offers to take his clients to various antique and repurposed material warehouses depending on your needs. Find him on Facebook, Instagram, or renovationprovence.com.
DIY Stores (equivalent of B&Q or Wickes (England) and Home Depot in North America)
Electrical and plumbing supplies are more expensive in these stores. However, these are open for longer hours and the larger stores don’t close for lunch. Keep in mind that we’re still in France; they aren’t open on Sundays.
These are the stores we’ve found near us in Provence:
Leroy Merlin
Someone told me recently that if you can somehow prove that you’ve just moved Leroy Merlin will give you a 15% discount on your first purchase. Buy everything at once!
Clair Logis (interior decoration, great for paint + large wallpaper selection)
General Builder’s Merchants in France
Professionals who are up to date with the modern technologies. Products are less tampered with as a consequence of less display. Ability to build up relationships and ask for professional advice. Try to buy in bulk; delivery is 50 euros minimum, therefore, make the most of it. There is less choice of products because builder’s merchants carry quality products (such as paint).
What are your experiences with these stores?
Why should everything be more expensive in their “big box” stores? It’s the opposite of the USA, where you get great deals at the places like the Home Depot & Lowes. What I have noticed is Americans are always improving their real estate while overseas it appears that many places are left to rot, especially in rural France. Lots of abandoned farms & outbuildings & even single family homes. Why is that?
Hello! Things are sometimes more expensive in “big box” stores here in France because there is less focus on made in China products and more pride in made in France or European Union products, which are more expensive. Stores can be more expensive here too because the cost of labour is high in France where employees get many benefits and are paid relatively well. But there are all kinds of reasons. As for not improving real estate, that is a complicated issue. Firstly, in European culture, there isn’t a focus on having the latest styles as much as there is in the North America. People spend their money differently. Many houses are left to rot because old stone houses are very expensive to upkeep, and even more expensive to renovate to the modern norms of insulation etc. This is why you can buy château (castles) in northern France for very little money. It’s often cheaper to buy a new build and leave the old. Also, the inheritance laws here follow napoleonic code where property is divided between the children/descendants equally. If everyone isn’t on the same page as to what to do with the house, what to sell it for etc, a resolution can be difficult to come to. The house is then left in limbo. Property here is also considered an important part of heritage and family history. This means that people here in the countryside are not willing to sell houses that belonged to the family, even if they don’t have the money to upkeep them.
From a Content Canadian/U.S. dual-citizen living in Occitanie …excellent response to SDM. Americans may “always” be competitively and improving or “modernizing” their real estate, but in turn they are unquestionably leaving their society to rot. Why is that, SDM?
This doesn’t make sense on your Itineraries and Market Tour page: “Tours are 70€ per person or 200€ for 2 people.” Simple math: 70 + 70 = 140
Haha yes you’re right. However the tours for 2 people are private and I’m taking into consideration the costs. I’ll make that more obvious in my description.
Thanks for the above comments on property in rural France. In 2019 I purchased a small stone cottage with “un petit grange” and intend to slowly improve things although it is quite habitable. This year has been a disaster for me with covid 19 travel restrictions ! My purchase is located in Haute Vienne and I am struggling to find builder’s merchants or hardware stores but I find that is part of the challenge.
Hi Hilary, I wish you the best of luck with your renovations. The area you’re in looks lovely. Unfortunately, this year seems to be a write-off, it has slowed down our renovations as well as we live here! I hope the information in the article is of some help. -Ashley
Curious to know if you needed to be a licensed builder to buy from the builders merchants? We just moved here, and are looking to get quality building materials for cheaper than in the retail stores. But we’ve been told we need a builders license or some professional credentials to make this happen.
yes you do need to be a professional builder to buy from builders merchants