Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices?

[Diggin It]

Summya'll been saying you can't even find PT boards. Big Box stores show they have it, but $16 for a 4 x 4 x 8 post? I bought 4 x 4 x 16s in January for $17.79 that are currently listed for $31.98

4' x 9' OSB that I paid $11 for in May is now showing at $20.25


Somebody's rakin' it in somewhere along the line. Aren't there price gouging laws?

 

[BrokenTrack]

It is not price gouging, it is supply and demand.

There are building booms and busts, and with COVID #19, and so many people at home working on their houses after watching Property Brothers on TLC, they have the inspiration and time to work on projects...

Price gouging too is when there is no alternatives, and you can easily buy rough cut cedar instead, or buy a sawmill from harbor freight and make your own lumber. There are plenty of options out there besides pressure treated lumber from a big box store, it is just not as convenient to get, and that is what you are paying for.

 

[Diggin It]

Right .... everybody's gonna buy a $2200 saw mill and a bunch of 20' tree trunks so they can build a weekend project.

 

[Hay Dude]

I finished up a garage building project in April-May while the virus was really on the increase within the weeks we were doing concrete and framing the walls, I saw lumber prices increase. I think I got done just in time.
Its tough on the bottom line when you are under contract to build for an agreed price and something like this hits.

 

[kthompson]

My project was not large build but prices really jumped from quoting to buying. I deal mostly on lumber with local company. They told me real quick how the prices had jumped when I said I am wanting to buy lumber. When I ask why they thought prices had jumped as they had their main reason was different, shortage of timber. The southeast USA is major timber producer. Also pulpwood producer. We have had above normal annual rainfall for a while and have much timber land that has been too wet to log. At that I have to agree, know my part of the southeast we have seen very little time when rivers have been in normal level for about 3 or 4 years. But we are seeing major logging all around use now no doubt due to timber prices but sadly we are seeing as much due to the housing boom which our area is slowing being destroyed by the last crop for our area. There must be many empty houses in the northeast USA. Building and selling many before ever finished, very few houses sitting vacant.

 

[Frankenkubota]

This is the way it seems to always be.

I own a tree farm, loblolly trees, mature, engineered to grow up to be 2x4,s etc.

I’m so tired of the climate and the constant rain I’ve started to look into an escape plan. Anybody looking for a 55 acre tree farm with 2 foundations, it’s yours!

I called 3 timber brokers. Each one told me timber prices are way down. That was a month ago,

Kinda like when I bought my first house in 1980. Got a 14.5% FHA loan and though I was stealing money!

Now with a couple bucks in the bank, 0.0% interest.

They delivered 3000 sf of lumber Monday, in the middle of a hurricane. The driver was a saint! I had to drop 2 big dead pines and cut them into 10ft logs to build barges to set the lumber on. Around here, if you postpone anything, you get put in the back of the line and keep your mouth shut!

Has the climate changed?. Or is the globe getting warmer?

 

[ruffdog]

I just bought several steel roof panels and the price seemed way high. What is going on....tariffs?.....inflation?.......greed?.....the new normal?

 

[Hay Dude]

I was under the impression that we import quite a bit of construction material from China (drywall, steel, OSB, etc)
Don’t know if any tariffs apply?

 

[Mat4644]

Production costs also went up down the chain because of covid so only part is gouging. Interesting to see if they ever go back down.

 

[fruitcakesa]

Store bought 2x4x8 spruce studs $.82/bf
Sawn by neighbor - $.50/bf

 

[TractorGuy]

Everything will lean back to steel. It's better anyway.

Just had a 31x42 barn built with 3 sides enclosed and 14 ft high center walls for 12 grand.

Growing trees is like any other farming these days. The only way to make money at it is to have thousands of acres. I had 5 acres cut a few years back. Got paid 5 grand and they left a 25 grand mess. Still cleaning up after them.

 

[Hay Dude]

Everything will lean back to steel. It's better anyway.

Just had a 31x42 barn built with 3 sides enclosed and 14 ft high center walls for 12 grand.

Growing trees is like any other farming these days. The only way to make money at it is to have thousands of acres.I had 5 acres cut a few years back. Got paid 5 grand and they left a 25 grand mess. Still cleaning up after them.

Same with hay :confused2:

 

[ovrszd]

Was Droning a house build site yesterday. Builders are the same guys that built my house 18 months ago. They said 25% increase since then. And changing daily. Our house was $225,000. That's an additional $56,000. And no, they don't expect the prices to go back down.

Delays on things such as windows, doors, siding. Expect 45 days from order date to delivery date on windows/doors.

We're very rural, 8,500 County population. We're in a building boom and have been for 2 years now. My builders are 4 houses behind. When they built mine they were only 1 behind.
3 of the 4 already have their concrete poured. Will be last part of 2021 before they get to the last one. That's a year from now. So if you contacted them today about a house build it would be early 2022 before they could start.

They are working 10 hour days, 6 days a week. Not sure how long they can keep that pace up.

 

[nybirdman]

Huge shortage in the North-East;even our Amish saw mills are swamped.Contractors were shut down for a couple of months so now all super busy if they can get material.I lucked out and built my pole barn last year.

 

[ovrszd]

Huge shortage in the North-East;even our Amish saw mills are swamped.Contractors were shut down for a couple of months so now all super busy if they can get material.I lucked out and built my pole barn last year.

I think in our area the issue was the mills being shut down. Contractors continued working. This created the "supply/demand" issue mentioned above.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Anderson 100 series windows

6 weeks and $$$$$$$$

 

[747driver]

Menards was always my go to lumber yard when we lived up near Chicago. Since we moved to Tenn. 5 years ago i found the lumber prices were always higher here. Wanting to replace our old deck and got a surprise on the costs !! I was going to go up to KY at the closest Menards but they don't even have a good supply of any PT lumber. 6x6 8' here at Lowes,HD is $32....Menards was $20 but now they are $32 also. Most of our construction lumber comes from Canada here on the east coast. The trees here are cut for pulp wood to make plywood,osb, and engineered lumber. Knoxville is in a building boom ! Plus the housing market here is booming also, many houses are sold before even being listed. The mass migration from the north to the south is booming !!

 

[LD1]

I called 3 timber brokers. Each one told me timber prices are way down. That was a month ago,

Building boom......lumber shortages......yet timber prices way down? That just doesnt seem right to me?

 

[Diggin It]

I just bought several steel roof panels and the price seemed way high. What is going on....tariffs?.....inflation?.......greed?.....the new normal?

Couple of months ago, I was paying around $2.50/ft. Haven't priced since then, but I'll need a few more once the temperatures fall back into the 60s.

 

[unimog_jason]

I've been following this guy on Youtube recently:

Uneducated Economist - YouTube

He works in a lumber yard and has some interesting views on the current state of the lumber market and the economy as a whole.