Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices?

[bcp]

How anyone can believe that their personal family deserves 19,000 square feet of resources and annual energy consumption is simply beyond me. What a disgusting monument to selfishness in a world that is rapidly reaching the tipping point. That place will be a prime target for the roving bands ready to eat the rich. And then maybe a dozen immigrant families can move in to share it, lol. ::rant over::

Is that like the non-farmer homeowner who has a tractor instead of shovel, wheelbarrow, and push mower?



Bruce

 

[the viking]

Because they worked hard to earn the money to afford it so they DO deserve it. Its their money, why shouldn't they build the house they want? It is not disgusting or selfish.

I agree! I live in a 1200 sq. ft. palace built with used and home milled lumber with only wood heat but I choose to. My bills are small and so is my bank account but I am in the middle of nowhere and happy. I wouldn't want to pay their heating bill or taxes and insurance rates but they probably can afford it. Think maybe they provide jobs for people like me (us)?

 

[bigtiller]

Yup, i've pulled a few old structures down, they were 2"x4" and 2"x6". They looked kinda weird for being so thick.

Our house was built in the spring of '71 with 1 & 5/8 x 3 & 5/8 two by fours. It was the last building ever built with that size lumber in this area from the local lumberyard.

 

[ruffdog]

My dad's old house built in about 1900 had all rough sawed 2" thick studs and joists. They were Black Walnut and had hardened with age. You had to pre-drill before nailing/screwing into them.

 

[jjp8182]

Locally, this giant house is being built by the river. Something like 19k sq ft. What is the green on the walls and floor? I wonder how much extra the high prices are costing this project?

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Do you happen to know if it's a client's house or one for the owners of the construction company? ... in some ways it almost looks like it was laid out to support multiple generations of a family living under a single roof with what looks to be the same floor plan on multiple levels.

Bit hard to really know though without seeing/hearing the all details/plans.....

 

[ruffdog]

I do know who is having it built and they are a younger family with 2 very young kids. They are not part of the construction company. I am friends with some other people that are quite wealthy and very humble. I feel these people have a long ways to go to get to that point.

 

[JethroB]

The wealthy folks are often the frugal ones. That’s how they became wealthy.

 

[MossRoad]

How anyone can believe that their personal family deserves 19,000 square feet of resources and annual energy consumption is simply beyond me. What a disgusting monument to selfishness in a world that is rapidly reaching the tipping point. That place will be a prime target for the roving bands ready to eat the rich. And then maybe a dozen immigrant families can move in to share it, lol. ::rant over::

I've struggled with how someone can come to the justification of consuming so much of anything ever since I worked at the airport. There are people that own private jets. They live about 4 hours away from here.
1- They fly their kid in to college in the fall.
2&3- They pick them up at Thanksgiving and bring them back.
4&5- Christmas break home and back.
6&7- They pick them up and fly them somewhere for spring break back.
8- Fly them home in the fall.

32 hours of flying time.

The jet consumes about 400 gallons per hour. 12,800 gallons of fuel flying their kid around each year. 4 years = over 50,000 gallons, for 1 kid.

At $5.00 per gallon, maintenance costs for airframe and engine, etc., it'll cost about $3200 dollars per hour with no pilot. You're looking at someone spend about $102,000 per year to fly their kid to college. That doesn't include pilots, hangar, insurance or the cost of the airplane itself! YIKES!

Yes, there is the argument that they earned it, so they can spend it. But at some point, there's someone looking for a gallon of petrol to run a pump to get some clean drinking water somewhere and there's someone consuming 12,800 gallons of fuel flying their kid to school each year. Granted, if they didn't use that 12,800 gallons, there's still no way it's gonna get to that person with the well. I understand that. However, just because someone can afford to consume that much, should they?

It's what drives the old haves VS have nots axiom, the feeling like the wealth gap is getting wider, and the I don't have this, so you shouldn't either mentality.

So yeah, in my opinion, a 19,000 square foot house is just ridiculous. I grew up in a 2700 sq foot house that was considered large for its time. People new to the house actually got lost in it. I can't imagine wanting to live in a house more than 6 times that size. You'd need maids to clean it, because you wouldn't have the time to do it yourself. I can't imagine having maids. It would be embarrassing to have so much stuff that you needed to hire people to take care of it for you if you are still physically able.

Anyway, don't begrudge them for spending their money. It's theirs to spend. Wood is a renewable resource. They're employing people. They'll pay taxes (hopefully). It seems silly and wasteful, and to most people, it is. But that's the way it is.

 

[jjp8182]

..... It would be embarrassing to have so much stuff that you needed to hire people to take care of it for you if you are still physically able.

Yet that is done at so many levels. While your post references cleaning staff -- the sentiment can just as easily apply to lawn care, home repairs (that don't require licensed individuals to perform).

Granted if a person is making enough money that the time spent doing those money-making activities could otherwise be spend making more money than it costs to hire the task out ....or would take up the only "free" time they have to be with family (e.g. they're potentially workaholics) then it makes quite a bit of sense. ...and in some ways isn't all that different than the buy vs. rent vs. hire discussions that frequently pop up here.

However, I doubt that's always the case ....particularly given how many people have never learned the basic skills to do some of those tasks.

So don't disagree with anything said, but the same line of thinking can also apply at much smaller scales too (all the way down to fast food vs. home-cooking) .... but I'm not going to judge since all these people hiring out things they don't know how to do just creates a lot of opportunites for everyone else to make some $$$ seeing as knowledge & skills can have every bit as much value as productivity or material goods (and that is by no means limited to book/academic/white-collar knowledge/skills).

 

[mred2]

My boss just build a new hunting cabin, well over $1 MILL. He is over 78, and still works 7 days a week. He started with nothing. Has worked his whole life and always wanted this cabin. He has paid his taxes and employees over 250 people and pays a lot more than $15 an hour. He earned it many times over. And yes, he owns a private jet. But his kids are not allowed to use it. It is for business use.