Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices?

[MossRoad]

Funny, my wife and i had this discussion many years ago and it went almost exactly like your Amish fellow, except it was us asking each other the same questions. We decided to go with a smallish house and try not to be working just to pay for a house payment.

This builder was good. He said he'd build us a custom bannister with a hand-carved newel post that would "look like a dollop of cream floating on coffee" as he slowly swirled his gnarly old hand around in a graceful circle. Man, he had us hooked. But he talked us out of it. Honest guy. A couple years later we had him side and re-roof our new to us used house. Every morning when we were getting ready to leave for work, these guys would show up at 6:55, finish their coffee, and we'd hear hammers at 7:00.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Went to Home Depot last week to check some lumber prices. A 1x12x8' pine board, with knots was $44.

Home Depot near me is selling a 1x12x8 for $31. Or you can get 3 finished edges and 1 rough face for $14. Local saw mill is still selling rough cut pine 1x12 for $0.99 a foot. I'm thinking of using rough cut 1x12's for the interior walls of my new pole barn.

Another local mill is short on wood, so you bring them pine logs and they will cut it all up and you get to keep 1/3 of the boards. I have a few 60' pines behind my house that will be coming down!

 

[jjp8182]

Agreed.
Many yeas ago we thought we wanted a bigger house. My father drew up the plans and we took them to a builder. The builder, an old Amish fellow, sat down with us and went over everything and really liked the plans. It was something like 3000 sq ft. Then he looked around our current house: 720 sq ft, 2 bed, 1 bath.

He asked how long it took us to vacuum the house?
Oh, about 15 minutes.
He said it would take an hour on the new one.
He asked how long it took us to clean the bathroom?
Oh, about 20 minutes.
He said it would now take an hour to clean 3 bathrooms.
He asked what our utilities were?
We told him.
He said to at least double them, maybe more.
He asked how old our child was and if we were planning on any more?
3 and yes.
He said in 20-25 years the last one will leave for college, then you'll be 2 people living in an empty mausoleum.


Well, that kinda talked us out of that.

We purchase a 1300 sq ft used house and it's suited us well for the past 25 years.

Very valid considerations. Personally I appreciate what my mother parents did as after their kids had all moved out, they isolated the upper floor and just lived on the main floor and kept using the basement for food storage.

 

[dfkrug]

I am surprised more builders do not use steel studs. They are in our area priced less than wood. Are more uniform than wood.

A few reasons that I see around here:

Wood studs are used by residential contractors, nearly exclusively. Commercial framers use steel. Steel interior walls transmit sound more than wood, making them less popular for houses, vs. offices. Of course, you can build the steel-studded walls to a better spec, but that would counteract the savings.

Structural steel for beams has almost always cost less than wooden beams, and they stay straighter, too.

I just ordered a sheet of 4'x10' galvanized sheet steel (26 gauge), and it is $41 + tax.

 

[Diggin It]

Rather than start another thread ... the 10' diameter, 30" deep metal frame pools are now priced well over $300 from a discounter. I paid under $100 a few years ago and they were still priced that way in stores last year. They're not being stocked in stores this year so far, at least not that I can find.

 

[MoKelly]

Jealously and envy have always been with humans.

Not everyone is smart enough or able to take risks to make money. Most want someone to employ them and pay them so they can go home to relax.

Others build a business at 100% personal risk, work 24/7 and fail. Start again. Become successful and make great money.

Those relaxing on the couch then get jealous and complain about excess.

Folks need to read Adam Smith and learn a few things about free enterprise.

MoKelly

 

[blee03]

Does anyone have any predictions on when lumber prices will return to normal?

 

[MossRoad]

1984.

 

[tradosaurus]

Jealously and envy have always been with humans.

Not everyone is smart enough or able to take risks to make money. Most want someone to employ them and pay them so they can go home to relax.

Others build a business at 100% personal risk, work 24/7 and fail. Start again. Become successful and make great money.

Those relaxing on the couch then get jealous and complain about excess.

Folks need to read Adam Smith and learn a few things about free enterprise.

MoKelly

This is me without the jealousy. I'm not into working 6-7 days / week to get a business profitable while trying find skilled workers. I can do some work around the house and realize when I have to hire someone.

 

[ruffdog]

Does anyone have any predictions on when lumber prices will return to normal?

I really doubt anything is going back to what many of us think is normal. It will be the new normal and it will change often.