Metal Siding Distributor Buying Guide: Sourcing Grating, Stair Systems & Elevator Components

I'll be direct with you: there is no single correct way to source metal building products. I'm a procurement manager for a mid-size construction supply company, and I've managed a $2.3M annual materials budget for seven years. I've ordered steel grating, fiberglass grating, stair systems, metal siding, and elevator components—often multiple times per year. The one thing I've learned is that the best purchasing strategy depends on who you are and what you're buying.

Most buyers make the same mistake at least once: they compare unit prices and call it a day. The question everyone asks is "Who has the best price?" The question they should ask is "What is the total cost of this material over the life of my project?"

This metal siding distributor buying guide actually covers more than siding. The framework applies to grating, stair systems, elevator components—any metal building product. I've broken it into three common buying scenarios. Find the one that matches your situation and use what applies.

Start with total cost, not unit price

Total cost of ownership—TCO—isn't a buzzword. It's the only reliable way to compare suppliers. Here's the formula I use:

TCO = unit price + freight + lead-time cost + quality risk + rework cost + ongoing maintenance cost

I learned this the hard way. In Q2 2024, I compared six vendors for a fiberglass grating order at a chemical plant. The lowest bid came in 18% below the second-lowest quote. Looked great on paper. Then I added freight, which wasn't included, and the vendor's 6-week lead time—while competitors were quoting 3 to 4 weeks. When I weighted the cost of keeping a crew idle on-site, the "cheap" option was actually 12% more expensive than the next bid. Since then, every significant purchase goes through a TCO spreadsheet.

For reference, in our 2024 sourcing for steel bar grating, quotes ranged from $9 to $14 per square foot depending on bar size, spacing, and coating. But the spread between the lowest and highest quote was never the real cost driver. Shipping and delay risk were.

Three buying scenarios, three sourcing strategies

The reason there's no universal answer is that different buyers face different cost drivers. Here are the three scenarios I see most often, with recommendations for each.

Scenario 1: Project buyers—order once, order it right

If you're a contractor, facility owner, or GC buying material for a specific project—fiberglass grating for a walkway, metal siding for a warehouse, steel grating for a mezzanine—your dominant cost drivers are:

• Spec accuracy: Does the material meet the engineering requirements? A wrong spec can stop the job.
• Delivery reliability: Does it arrive when the crew is ready, not two weeks later?
• Installation ease: Are matching accessories, fasteners, and trim available from the same source?

Unit price matters, but it isn't the dominant cost driver for project buyers. A one-time order won't generate enough volume to make marginal material savings outweigh the risk of a delivery delay or a spec mismatch.

My advice: work with a full-line distributor. This is where McNichols' wide product portfolio makes sense for project buyers. The McNichols steel product line covers grating, bar grating, perforated panels, and structural shapes, while their fiberglass grating options handle corrosion environments without the weight of steel. Instead of sourcing carbon steel from one supplier and fiberglass products from another, you consolidate into one order.

Here's the counterintuitive part: I'd rather pay a 5–10% premium on material from a full-line distributor than save money buying from a specialty supplier. The specialty source probably won't have all the matching accessories, and sourcing those separately adds coordination overhead and a second freight bill. Most buyers focus on material price and completely miss the freight and coordination costs that can add 30–50% to the total.

Scenario 2: OEMs and fabricators—consistency is king

If you're manufacturing elevator cabs, fabricating stair systems, or assembling architectural metal components, your cost drivers shift. Unit price matters, but consistency and lead time dominate.

Inconsistent material quality is the biggest hidden cost for OEMs. When a batch of steel arrives with different tolerances than the previous batch, your fabrication line slows down or you produce defective parts. Rework labor and scrap material come straight out of margin.

Over the past six years of tracking every invoice in our procurement system, roughly 15% of our budget overruns came from material-related rework. We implemented a "certify before order" policy—suppliers have to provide material certifications and tolerance data before they're approved—and cut overruns by about a third.

For elevator components specifically, many OEMs choose a distributor over a mill. A distributor carries the range of shapes, sizes, and finishes needed for different cab configurations, which avoids minimum order quantities and multi-mill sourcing complexity. McNichols positions itself as an elevator components distributor with OEM and private-label support, which is relatively unusual in this space. If you go that route, test their consistency against your quality requirements. Ask about their QC process, who signs off on nonconforming material, and how quickly they ship replacements.

I built a cost calculator after getting burned twice on "cheap" strip steel that had inconsistent thickness. The rework added 8% to our real cost. If you ask me, paying a 3–5% premium for consistency is a bargain.

Scenario 3: Architects and specifiers—design it once, build it without surprises

TCO applies differently when you're not the one placing the order. If you're specifying stair systems, railing, metal siding, or grating, your cost exposure comes through change orders and construction-phase surprises.

The worst case I've seen: we specified a stair system from a vendor with a 10-week lead time. The contractor bid the job accordingly, then the lead time stretched to 14 weeks. The delay cost $4,200 in idle crew time. A supplier with standard stock sections would have cost $800 more in material and eliminated the delay risk entirely. That's TCO thinking—and it's often missing at the design stage.

My advice: select suppliers that provide technical specification guidance. McNichols publishes detailed technical data and can review specifications before they go to bid. A supplier that catches a spec problem early is worth more than one that offers the lowest material price.

Ask potential suppliers a direct question: "Can you review our specification and confirm it's accurate and buildable?" The ones that say yes without hesitation are the ones that will save you money downstream.

Which scenario are you in?

Not sure which category fits? Here are three questions that settle it.

1. How many orders will you place in the next 12 months? One to three—you're a project buyer. Four or more—you're an OEM or recurring buyer. Zero—you're specifying for someone else to purchase.
2. What happens if there's a delivery delay? If a crew sits idle, you're a project buyer. If a production line stops, you're an OEM. If a change order is issued, you're a specifier.
3. What happens if material quality is inconsistent? A field adjustment, a defective part, or a liability issue—each points to a different priority in your TCO formula.

Your answers determine what to optimize for. Project buyers should prioritize order consolidation and delivery reliability. OEMs should prioritize material consistency and long-term supplier relationships. Specifiers should prioritize technical support and proven products.

A TCO checklist for your next metal order

Before you place your next order for grating, stair systems, siding, or elevator components, run through this:

• Unit price: Start here, but don't stop here.
• Freight: Is it included? Does it scale with order size?
• Lead time: When exactly will it arrive? Verify "4–6 weeks" actually means 4–6 weeks.
• Minimum order quantities: Can you buy what you actually need, or are you forced into oversupply?
• Accessories: Matching handrail, fasteners, and trim available from the same source?
• Technical support: Can they answer spec questions without transferring you to three departments?
• Returns and rework: What happens if material arrives wrong or damaged? A complicated RMA process is a hidden cost.

That last point matters more than people realize. In Q2 2024, we switched vendors on a large order. The new supplier's returns process was simple and direct, and it saved us about $1,800 on a single damage claim. The previous "cheap" supplier would have made us fight for it.

Bottom line

There is no universal answer to which metal building product supplier you should use. But there is a universal framework: calculate total cost, not just unit price.

If you're a project buyer, consolidate your steel and fiberglass grating, siding, and stair components through a full-line distributor like McNichols. If you're an OEM, demand consistency and verify it against your quality requirements. If you're a specifier, lean on technical support and get your specifications reviewed before they're bid.

This approach worked for us, but I can only speak to our context: a mid-size B2B company with predictable ordering patterns. If you're a seasonal business with demand spikes or a high-volume commodity buyer, the calculus might be different. Prices and lead times change, so verify current rates when you're ready to order. In my experience, managing a seven-figure materials budget comes down to one lesson: the cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest order.