Make Any Project Easier with the Build Project Tool

For home builder Pros or armchair DIY designers, sometimes visualizing the end result can be the hardest part. Communicating those ideas to your clients or to your contractors can be complicated when it comes to buying the exact products you want for the project, too. That’s where the Build.com Project Tool steps in to save the day. (Or at least make shopping for that remodel easier than you thought it could be.)

The Project Tool is a shopping and designing experience that allows you to sort the products you like into specific room placements to view alongside other items before you put them in your shopping cart. Find products to consider and compare and match them to each individual project you’re working on.

The Project Tool allows you to freely brainstorm, browse, and budget before you consider buying. You can assemble an entire bathroom suite in the Project Tool. Just swap in the pieces you like best, trade out those that you aren’t so happy with as you search.

Pull product lists from our Shop by Look pages and edit them to include your favorite finds. For instance, you could draft a Contemporary Bath Project and then switch over to a more Coastal Theme to compare the styles that best suit the room you’re designing.

Add collaborators to the Project List and they can contribute, too. The permissions allow you to decide if a team member can add or edit the products directly, or just leave comments with their thoughts on the choices in the list. You could have the whole family vote for the products they’re excited to see in their spaces, or just share it with your designer or contractor for the more professional touch.

The best part about the Project Tool is that you can organize everything into easy-to-view, easy-to-share ideas, with real products, sizes, types, and final finish choices. Add the items from your project directly to your shopping cart and the Project updates to show when it is purchased. You can even download spec sheets on items in your Project List to refer to.

If you want to use the Project List as a Portfolio or bid sheet for a client, the Project Tool can do the work for you. It is simple and quick to create a PDF of the entire project, complete with custom cover page, personalized names and addresses, product lists, and even final pricing. From there, you can download and send in an email, or share from the Project Tool.

Create as many Project Lists as you want, with no creative or technical limits. Go room by room through your build or remodel project, from the Kitchen to the Bathroom to the Outdoor Patio. We made the Build.com Project Tool with our customers in mind, for your convenience.

How to Use the Project Tool

Now that you know what is, here’s a useful, step-by-step, how-to guide to get you started on your own Project List for your next remodel design.

Getting Started with a Project

The first place to start is by creating a Project, and there are multiple ways to create the Project Group to add products to.

Option 1: Create a Project

1. Click the My Account button from anywhere on Build.com. Log in to your build.com or Pro account.
2. Select the My Projects icon.
3. Select New Project from the My Projects page.
4. A popup will appear. Choose which room you are creating the project for or select the option to create a Blank Project.
5. When you have made your choice, it will then give you the option to name the Project List. Type in your chosen Project title and click on Create Project.

Or

Option 2: Create Your Project from a Product Page

See something you like? Just click Save to Project below the product’s information. From there it will give you the same options as when you create a list from the My Projects page.

Be sure to name each individual Project or group. The names are used to categorize items and help customize your options when using other features of the Project Tool.

Saving to Your Project List

Once you create a project, or multiple projects, you can add items to any of them with just one click from any product page.

Save to Project Using the Drop-Down List

Juggling more than one project? Easily access them all in one place, and even save products by room. 

When you find a product that you want to add to your list, click Save to Project and select the Project Group where you would like to save the item.

A Project List can be divided into room-by-room categories. If you want to add an item to a list in a specific category, such as Living Room, then click on it in the drop-down window.

The product can also go into a new Group within the Project List by typing a new name for the Group and then click Ok.

Accessing Your Projects

After the list is created, you can find it above the header bar by selecting the My Projects icon.

A drop-down list will appear with all available Projects for you to enter and start adding products or editing.

Organizing Your Project Lists

The Project Tool is designed to make your experience easy and helpful, which means keeping your items quick to find and share, exactly when you need to. Sort them by project or by room, or leave a product in a category on its own. Wherever you put it, it will be in the same place next time you need to find it. 

Move Items Between Groups

Refine your project by moving items from one group to another.

You can save products to an uncategorized group, then when you’re ready, create specific groups and simply click-and-drag the product to move it into another group.

Copy Items to additional Project Lists

1. Click the Edit button above the Categories.
2. Select the checkbox next to an item, or select multiple items, to copy from one group to another.
3. Click Copy to add it to another group.
4. Click Copy Here to move the item to the second category group.

Changing Items and Project Lists

Delete Groups and Items

Delete one or more items - even an entire group - from your project. 

1. Select Edit.
2. Select the items individually using the checkboxes.
3. Select Delete.

Change Product Finishes Within a Project

Change your mind about a finish? Choose from available item finishes without leaving the Project Tool.

1. Select the finish listed on the item by clicking on the name of the finish.
2. A variety of available finishes will show up. Find the finish you would like to use for the item.
3. Click the image of the finish you choose.
4. The finish options will disappear from the Project List page when the new finish is set in your Cart.

Adding Items to Your Cart

Ready to buy? It is always a good idea to have all necessary materials for a remodel before you begin the project, and it couldn’t be simpler to add products from your project list directly into your cart to get the work started. 

1. Select Edit above the Project List.
2. Select the checkboxes for the items to be moved into the Cart.
3. When all products are highlighted, select Add to Cart above the list.

Email Project Cart

You can also email the Project as a completed Shopping Cart so that your client or other project coordinator can review, authorize, or complete the purchase.

1. Expand the sidebar section marked Email Project Cart. 
2. Select the Team Member you would like to send the Cart to in the Email To dropdown.
3. You have the option of selecting the prices shown on the Cart items. This may include discount availability if you choose. (For adding margin markup to bids before sharing with a client, see the more detailed options available in the Pro tools.)

Choose which Project you want to send as a Cart. The tool will list all available Projects, so you can just check the box!

If you would like to pass along a note about the items or the project, there’s an option to do so. Otherwise, click “Email Project Cart” to finish adding the Team Member to the Cart and send them the invitation.

Download Spec Sheets

Spec sheets for all your products are stored in the Project Tool. Access them from any device, anywhere! It couldn’t be easier to download multiple Spec Sheets at once. 

1. Select the Project, or multiple Projects, with the items that have the necessary Spec Sheets. 
2. Click Download.
3. One file will then be downloaded that has all available Spec Sheets compressed into a single PDF file that can be saved anywhere.

Link Items from Orders to Project

When you make purchases related to your remodel or new construction projects from Build.com, your order history is stored in the Project Tool. Keep track of past purchases by moving items from orders to any projects they may be related to.

1. While logged in to your build.com account, select Add Orders.
2. A dropdown menu will appear with all of your previous orders listed by order number, date, number of items, and purchase total. Select the orders that are related to the project.
3. Click Add Order. The button will reflect the number of orders being added to the project to help ensure there are no mix-ups in the checkboxes.
4. The items from that order will show up in the product list for the project in an uncategorized group. You can then move them to any specific  groups you have in the project.

Project Details

Keep everyone on your team in the know on the most important details of each project with the Project Details area. Just click the button and follow the 6 steps to Edit Project Details. Whether it’s a firm deadline for the finished project, or just a wish-list item for next year’s planned remodel, keep everyone informed to stay within budget and on time.

Using Pro Tools in the Project List

In addition to the everyday design benefits, whether logged in or just browsing, the Build.com Project Tool includes powerful business management features for the Pro customer.

• Manage multiple clients and projects all in one place.
• Create professional presentations.
• Protect your margins with customizable client-facing invoicing.

Manage Multiple Clients

There is no limit on the number of projects you can create, so every client’s inventory for each project can be planned out using the Project List.

• Create a full home project and separate the items out by location, room by room, to create an easy bid for each part of the potential remodel or build.
• If there are multiple potential design themes to accommodate, create a Project List for each one and present all of them to your client.

One build.com Pro account login gives you access to as many client files as you want to create, whether you share them as part of your bid or use them to organize, plan and visualize ideas.

Create a Portfolio Presentation

The Project Tool allows you to create a PDF format file that you can save, email, or print out and hand directly to a potential client. It allows you to put images of products, complete with color and finish options, in your clients’ hands when you are making your initial bid for prices or finalizing design details.

1. Make sure that your project’s inventory items are in the correct categories, as they will print out group by group. When it prints, one page will have the “Living Room” group of products on it, while the next will have the “Bathroom” group, etc.
2. In the sidebar Punch List, click to expand the Portfolio tab.
3. Click the Portfolio button to open the Create Your Portfolio page.
4. Make your personalization choices on the page and then click Create & Download.

It’s really that easy. From there, mark the buttons next to the options that you want to utilize for the final product. This includes selecting the name and address on the front cover, whether there’s a front cover at all, and even the layout for the products listed on every page. 

There are options to set the specific price to be displayed on each item and group.

• Pro account pricing with build.com will be lower than the cost to a client shopping the site, so the tool includes the option of showing the standard price or the discounted price (if you plan to pass the savings on to your client.)
• You can show the cost to client after your handling, inventory, and installation costs via a custom markup percentage that you set.
• You can also choose not to list any prices in the report at all.

There is an option to include the pricing summary page, which presents the items as a materials list, complete with quantities, unit prices, and total prices, per item and per project category. This is useful when making bids on individual sections of a whole project; simply check off the box near the category group that you want to include. Each category will be subtotaled and the whole project will be totaled up on the last page, complete with the estimated cost for taxes.

You can also include the spec sheets for each group and item in one portfolio presentation, as well as any additional comments or notes about the individual products.

Once created, the report is a shareable file, downloaded to your computer, tablet, or mobile device. You can make an individual report for each group within a project, include the costs in one and then download another with your intended markup prices, or change how the products are presented on the page. You can create and download as many portfolios as you need to, for any project.

The build.com Project Tool was designed with you and your business in mind. Reach out to one of our account experts if you have any questions or for ordering assistance.