6 Questions About Working with McNichols (Answered by Someone Who Actually Orders This Stuff)

I handle the purchasing for a small office. So when a project needed metal mesh, McNichols came up. Here is what I actually learned.

Look, I am an office administrator, not a metal fabricator. When we needed some decorative panels for a lobby update—and then a surprisingly tricky job for safety grates on a loading dock—I had to figure out who to call. McNichols and Mcnichols metal mesh kept popping up in searches. So I went down that rabbit hole.

If you are in the same boat (procurement for a smaller company with specific needs), here are the FAQs I wish I had. These are based on my actual orders and a few vendor conversations.

Does McNichols work with small orders, or do they only want big contractors?

This was my biggest fear. I manage orders for maybe 400 employees across 3 locations, but our metal mesh needs were small—a few sheets for the lobby, some safety treads. I was fully expecting to be told to go somewhere else or to swallow a massive minimum order quantity (MOQ).

Honestly, I didn't get that vibe at all. My experience, based on about 50 orders over the last year, is that they are set up for a range. I have placed orders for a single sheet of perforated metal for a custom shelving project at one office. The price per unit was fair. It wasn't priced like they were doing me a favor. I have also placed larger, standard orders for industrial safety panels, and the process was the same. The key is just being specific on the Mcnichols metal mesh variety you need. If you are just trying to buy a piece for a side project, their website is surprisingly easy to navigate compared to some other industrial suppliers.

Can I buy just one sheet of perforated metal, or does it need to be a full bundle?

You absolutely can buy just one sheet. This was the answer I needed. The online ordering system lets you buy by the sheet. I bought a single 4x8 sheet of standard steel for a wall cladding test. It showed up on a small truck, well-packed, no issues.

The only caveat I'd add is that certain specialty items or very thick materials might have different rules. But for the standard Mcnichols metal mesh and perforated sheets that most people in an office setting might need for a renovation or a safety rail, buying by the sheet is standard. I wish I had tracked the shipping costs more carefully from the start, but for one sheet, it wasn't prohibitive.

Is the pricing online real, or do I have to call for a 'real' quote?

I am an admin buyer. I hate the dance of requesting a quote and then waiting for a phone call. The pricing on their website is live. That was a massive relief. I could compare a sheet of standard aluminum vs. a heavier gauge steel in real time.

For the safety grates for the loading dock, I needed a specific cut-to-size piece. The online configurator gave me a price immediately. (I should add: it charged a small cutting fee, which is fair.) There was no price change when the order was submitted. Now, if you are buying 10,000 pounds of steel for a factory floor, you probably get a volume discount that isn't listed. But for my 60-80 orders a year? The online price was the price I paid. It saved our accounting team a lot of time on back-and-forth.

We also use Glass Doctor for some building maintenance. Should I expect a similar service model?

That is a great question. We use Glass Doctor for broken windows and mirrors. They are a service company that comes to you. McNichols is a manufacturer/distributor. You buy the product, and it ships to you. It is very different.

Calling McNichols for a simple service like installing a window screen would be like calling a lumberyard to fix your door hinges. They sell the lumber (the metal mesh). You have to install it or find a local fabricator. The frustration point for me was expecting them to help with installation. They don't do that. They are a supplier of Mcnichols metal mesh, not a contractor. This is a 'you need to manage the next step' situation. I had to hire a local handyman to cut the safety grates to a slightly different angle, which I hadn't factored into the timeline.

How do McNichols' prices compare to, say, buying a pre-built white kitchen cabinet door?

That is an apples-to-oranges comparison. When I replaced some kitchenettes, I bought white kitchen cabinets from a big box store. The cost was set, the item was in stock, and the service was mostly self-checkout. You don't price white kitchen cabinets by the cubic inch of particle board versus MDF. You buy the unit.

With McNichols, everything is priced by the square foot based on material, gauge, and hole pattern. It is a raw material. It is actually very straightforward once you get used to it. The cost of a sheet of Mcnichols metal mesh is going to be cheaper per square foot than a finished cabinet door, but you have to do the work. It's like asking how much is a storage unit versus asking the price of the lumber to build the storage unit. The storage unit is a finished product; the lumber is the raw material. It is a different buying mindset entirely.

One tip: if you are thinking about a how much is a storage unit sized project, you are better off just buying the storage unit. McNichols is for when you need the metal itself for a specific, custom purpose.

What's the most frustrating part of ordering from them? (Be honest.)

Okay, the most frustrating part is the same for any large distributor: managing expectations. I don't have hard data on how often this happens industry-wide, but based on my experience, about 15% of my orders had an issue with the estimated ship date shifting by a day or two. A job you know you need for a Thursday install? The metal might show up on Wednesday or Friday. For the safety grates for the loading dock, I was ready to give up on them entirely. What finally helped was building in a 3-day buffer to my schedule. I stopped trusting the system-generated 'expected ship date' completely and started planning for it to arrive at the end of the estimated window. It wasn't a dealbreaker, but it was an adjustment.

Also, their website, while better than most, is still an industrial catalog. It is not an e-commerce site like Amazon. The search bar requires very specific terminology. (I still kick myself for not asking for the 'Flattened Expanded Metal' vs. 'Standard Expanded Metal' for our first order. The difference was huge.)

But overall? They are reliable, the quality is consistent, and they don't treat you like you are wasting their time because you only need $800 worth of steel. I still use them. (Should mention: They also offer samples for pretty cheap, which I didn't know about for the first few orders.)