How to keep installation links working in a dealer marketing program, after 32 of 310 failed on four lumber dealer sites

A contractor who wants install instructions for a skylight or composite deck board can often find them on the lumber dealer’s website, which links out to the manufacturer. On Oct. 28, 2026, we followed every outbound link on four dealers’ installation pages. Of 310 unique links, 22 returned a confirmed 404, four returned a server error and six redirected to a homepage or error page. Another 41 blocked our requests, timed out or would not connect, so we counted them as unknown. If you sell building products through lumber dealers, make fixing those links part of your dealer marketing program before you add co-op money or other incentives.

The first thing that program should give dealers is product assets at addresses that stay the same. That means installation guides, galleries and spec sheets with permanent URLs, plus redirects whenever a site is rebuilt. All but one of the 32 failed links point to a manufacturer’s own pages or documents; the exception is a link to wholesalewoodonline.com, a retailer’s site.

How do Millers, Maki, Kerton and Builders FirstSource NE link to manufacturer installation guides?

The four lumber and building materials (LBM) dealers we checked all run their product pages on MyeShowroom, which describes itself on its About page as “serving the LBM retailer since 1987” and says its eShowroom gives “local, independent dealers” a way to show their in-store products online. Each dealer’s site carries a page titled “Product Installation & Instructions,” organized by product category, from “Adhesives, Caulks, Sealants” to “Windows & Skylights,” with 28 to 34 categories on each page. Under each category, every brand appears with its logo and name and one or more links out to that manufacturer’s installation page or PDF. All four pages carry the same copyright line in their page code, “2002-2026 MyeShowroom - LBM Digital Platforms, Inc.”

The four pages we checked:

• Millers Building Supply’s installation page, 127 unique outbound links
• Maki Building Centers’ installation page, 72
• Kerton Lumber’s installation page, 54
• Builders FirstSource NE’s installation page, 240

Links repeat across the four pages, so the 493 links on the pages reduce to 310 unique URLs on 257 domains. A manufacturer URL that appears on more than one dealer page fails on all of them at once when it stops working, as the VELUX skylight installation link did on all four.

What did the link check find on each dealer’s site?

We downloaded each live installation page on Oct. 28, 2026, pulled every outbound link from it (leaving out the dealer’s own logo, contact and directions links, and social and font services), then requested each unique URL with a HEAD request followed by a GET, following redirects, from a script identifying itself as “PlantToPipeline research.” Every URL that returned 404 got a second GET, and all 22 returned 404 again. We counted a link as redirected to a homepage or error page when it ended on an error page, such as a /404 address, or when a link to a specific page or search redirected to the root or language homepage of the manufacturer’s site or another company’s site. We counted 403 responses (31 links) and requests that timed out or could not complete a connection (10 links) as unknown, because a manufacturer’s firewall or server setup can turn away a script while a person’s browser loads the page normally. The 31 include two Royal Building Products professional resources links on the Millers and Builders FirstSource NE pages. Both returned 403 when we requested them again on Oct. 29, 2026, including the one that had redirected to the Westlake Royal Building Products homepage on Oct. 28, so we count both as unknown. The Millers and Builders FirstSource NE pages also carry a current Westlake Royal resource library link, which loaded.

Dealer site	Links checked	Loaded	Confirmed 404	Server error	Redirected to a homepage or error page	Unknown (403 or no response)
Millers Building Supply	127	100	4	1	1	21
Maki Building Centers	72	55	3	1	2	11
Kerton Lumber	54	42	2	0	0	10
Builders FirstSource NE	240	181	19	3	5	32
All four, unique URLs	310	237	22	4	6	41

Table 1. Outbound installation links on four MyeShowroom dealer sites, checked Oct. 28, 2026. Dealer rows count each link on that page; the bottom row counts each unique URL once. Redirected to a homepage or error page means the link ended on an error page or, for a link to a specific page or search, on a site’s root or language homepage. Two Royal Building Products professional resources links on the Millers and Builders FirstSource NE pages are counted as unknown because both returned 403 on an Oct. 29, 2026 recheck; one of them had redirected to a homepage on Oct. 28. Source: Plant to Pipeline link check of the four installation pages.

Of the 269 links that gave us a definite answer, 32 failed, or 11.9%. Failure rates on definite answers ran from 4.5% at Kerton Lumber (2 of 44) to 13.0% at Builders FirstSource NE, whose page had the most failures, 27 of its 208 definite answers. Millers Building Supply was at 5.7% (6 of 106) and Maki Building Centers at 9.8% (6 of 61). Builders FirstSource NE’s page lists the most brands, including LumbeRock and Veranda, which the smaller pages do not carry. All four dealer pages loaded normally on Oct. 28, 2026, and every failure was at the linked address on another company’s site.

Which manufacturer links were broken on more than one dealer site?

The failures that matter most to a manufacturer are the ones repeated across dealers, because one broken address on the manufacturer’s site breaks the same link on two to four dealer sites at once.

Manufacturer link	Result on Oct. 28, 2026	Dealer sites affected
VELUX skylight installation (veluxusa.com/help/installation-help/skylight-installation)	404	All four
Merillat installation info (merillat.com/customer-support/installation-info.html)	404	Maki, Builders FirstSource NE
Silvermine Stone (silverminestone.com/Installation.aspx)	404	Millers, Builders FirstSource NE
ProBuilt Railings (probuiltrailings.com/InstallationTips.asp)	404	Kerton, Builders FirstSource NE
USG installation guide search (usg.com/content/usgcom/en/search.html, a search URL)	Redirected to the USG homepage	Millers, Maki, Builders FirstSource NE
Aspyre tech docs (aspyredesign.com/techdocs)	522 server error	Millers, Builders FirstSource NE
LumbeRock decking, porch board, railing and getting-started pages (four URLs)	404	Builders FirstSource NE
Veranda (verandadeck.com/how-to-install/)	522 server error	Builders FirstSource NE

Table 2. Failed links that appear on more than one dealer site, plus the LumbeRock and Veranda failures, which appear on Builders FirstSource NE’s page alone. The VELUX link and the four LumbeRock links returned 404 again when we requested them on Oct. 29, 2026. A 522 is an error between a site’s content network and its server and can be temporary. Source: Plant to Pipeline link check, Oct. 28, 2026.

Nine of the 32 failed links redirect to a different site or page from the one the dealer links to, not counting simple changes from http to https or adding or dropping the www prefix. The Clearview Railings instructions link, the EternaBond article link and the Wellborn installation guide link each redirect to a page that returns 404, on kdlenterprises.com, eternabond.hbfuller.com and flippingbook.com respectively. Five land on a homepage instead of an installation guide. The Arndt and Herman, Crown Heritage and Quick-Step links and the USG installation guide search link in Table 2 end on each brand’s own homepage, and the RSL technical page now ends on the groupenovatech.com homepage. A Henry product-finder link ends on Henry’s 404 page.

Eight of the 237 links we counted as loaded also redirect to a different domain from the one the dealer links to, not counting the www prefix. Five of those end on a resource library or installation guide page on the new domain, such as the three Norton Door Controls links that now open a resource library on nortonrixson.com. Two pointed to an installation PDF and now open a web page instead. The Lake States Lumber siding installation PDF link opens bluelinxco.com/bx-pro/, and the PentalQuartz installation manual link opens a PentalQuartz page on arcsurfaces.com. An Appleton Supply installation guides link now opens gibraltarbuildingproducts.com/appletonsupply/.

Links to Foundry siding, Kleer Lumber, TruExterior and Larson storm doors appear on all four dealer pages, and the links for all four brands returned 403 to our script. Those pages may load fine for a person, which each manufacturer can confirm in a minute with a browser, but a dealer’s web vendor running a link checker may see the same 403 we saw.

Dealers and manufacturers update these pages, so any of these results can change after Oct. 28, 2026.

What do the Everlast and Ply Gem pro programs offer?

We read two published pro programs, Everlast’s and Ply Gem’s, and both are built for contractors and put their effort into points, training and leads. Everlast’s Advantage Contractor Program brochure says the program is “only available to contractors in the United States” and offers a members-only portal with product, installation, sales and marketing training, plus Advantage Points “redeemable for Everlast branded promotional items and wearables.” Members start at a Preferred level; Elite adds the chance to receive qualified leads from Everlast and cobranding support, and the top level adds sales tools and invitations to in-person training. Apart from the members-only portal, the one web element the brochure lists is a listing on Everlast’s own online contractor locator. Ply Gem’s Resources for Professionals page lists its Pro Solutions contractor rewards program, which says pros can “make qualifying purchases on Ply Gem, Mastic & Variform products and earn rewards,” along with Pro Academy training and certifications and marketing tools “to promote your business.”

On the four dealer sites we checked, a manufacturer appears on the installation page as its logo, its name and one or more links. Neither contractor program says anything about a dealer’s website or keeping the links on it current. If you already fund dealer marketing through co-op or market development funds, our comparison of six MDF and co-op programs covers the claim side, and an asset kit like the one below is a reasonable thing for that money to support.

What should a dealer marketing program give lumberyards first?

We would start the program with an asset kit that dealers can link to and forget about, made up of four items:

1. One permanent URL per product line for installation documents, such as a short path you commit to keeping through every redesign, with the current PDF behind it, updated as often as needed.
2. A redirect map that ships with every site rebuild, rename or acquisition. Every old installation, gallery and spec URL should 301 to its specific replacement page. A redirect to the homepage counts as a failure from the dealer’s side.
3. A downloadable kit of the installation PDFs, gallery images with permission to use, and spec sheets, so a dealer or its platform can host copies when that suits them better.
4. A named contact and a change notice. When a URL must change, tell your dealers’ platform vendors as well as the dealers. The same VELUX URL failed on all four dealer sites, which suggests the brand links come from a shared list, so a notice to the platform may reach every dealer on it that carries the link.

The same discipline helps your product pages in search and in AI answers, which we covered in what a distributor catalog page needs to rank, and permanent document URLs belong in your specification work too (see how to get specified by architects).

How can a manufacturer check its own dealer links?

You can run this check on your own brand without special tools.

1. Search your top 20 dealers’ websites for your brand name and copy every link that points to your domain. On MyeShowroom sites, the “/resources/installation” page is a good place to begin; look under each product category your brand sells in, because a brand can appear in more than one.
2. Open each one in a browser, or run them through any link checker, and record which land on the right document.
3. In your web analytics or server logs, filter 404 errors by referring domain and look for dealer and platform domains. That shows which dead links real customers are clicking.
4. Fix each failure with a 301 to the exact replacement page, then send the platform vendor your new permanent URLs.
5. Repeat the check after every site launch, and put it in the launch checklist so the redirect map is built before the old site goes dark.