Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices?

[KubotainNH]

Thanks for the update, I was afraid of that but how do you know if this is the new normal? Maybe a few interest hikes will calm the housing market a bit.

 

[5030]

Anybody know if steel buildings are getting hit as hard with material costs as post/stick framed buildings? I know steel has shot up, but I don't know how quickly that flows through to finished product purchasers in that world.

All I know is I'm paying 3 times the price for raw steel for my fab shop. I imagine the cost of pre-paint siding to be up there as well.

 

[rScotty]

Any updates from ya'll who are tracking this? I'm contemplating having a garage built. Thanks!

I doubt that the price of having a garage built will change much because of the cost of lumber.

The reason for that is the same as why the price of steel has little to do with the cost of new cars. You could triple the price of the steel, and there's just not enough steel in a car relative to the new car price to make much difference.
That's the difference between commodity prices and consumer prices.
In the same way, the cost of lumber is only one small part of of the total cost of having any structure built.

If you are building it yourself then yes, of course the cost of materials may be more of a factor. But much less so when having it built.

In my long lifetime I've not yet seen a bad time to be building anything unless it involves debt.
rScotty

 

[rbstern]

Thanks for the update, I was afraid of that but how do you know if this is the new normal? Maybe a few interest hikes will calm the housing market a bit.

Nobody knows. Commodities prices get hit with so many factors, many of which have nothing to do with the actual commodity (tree farmers are entirely left out of this price rally). Predictions in the short term are incredibly unreliable. Early last week, oil was $120/bbl and looked like it was making a beeline for $150, maybe even $175. Today it's $95. Few predicted a fall. A lot of commodity traders probably lost fortunes betting the upside. It felt inevitable, yet it wasn't.

If you have the benefit of a project schedule that isn't fixed to a given start or end date, you can try to wait for more favorable conditions, but again, nobody knows the future. One thing you can certainly do: Shop around for alternatives. Maybe a small, local mill would love to mill your order, allowing you to skip the marketplace altogether. Maybe a local project that went bust and liquidating a load of building supplies.

 

[JasperFrank]

I noticed that near everyone has changed over to length pricing. Not like it use to be where you had a price per unit of the thing you were buying. This can be quite surprising at the check out if you didn't calculate the new way of pricing.
Not that I want to take my house apart, cause there are pieces of wood, one just can't get any more, cause i know i can't replace them at any price. But i know that there are some pieces that, would buy us a new car if, I sold them, and had them replaced by something composite. Feel lucky that we used true clear grain stuff, in the 2000's when this was still available. It wasn't cheap then, but its UN-ubtaininum now.

Just looking for #2 dug fir 2 by 4s is near impossible at the big box lumber yards. They've all ready been sorted through. How they call what is left #2 is a mystery to me. Not needing long ones, I've had some break in half just loading them as the knots were too large. Yet sold as stamped #2.

It make we wonder on some of the trees I've cut down. Cut down an 80 year old maple a few years ago. Made it into fire wood. Should have thought about that more than i did.

 

[KubotainNH]

My original plan was to contract some of the stuff out like framing/foundation and do some of it myself. I have been saving the money to do this for awhile but I don't want to deplete my nest egg to 0 or lower because lumber is uber expensive. Seems like labor would be expensive too right now. These costs may not drop in the foreseeable future though.

 

[3gunr]

I am a remodeling contractor, Everything has gotten crazy , Premium latex enamel trim paint 90 a gallon , roll of 14/2 wire 140 bucks, every copper fitting , pex fitting, Box of screws, you name it has doubled , tripled or more. a small cart of materials at lowes is gonna be 500 dollars.

 

[Jstpssng]

It's not great. Lumber futures are currently trading at about $1160 per 1000 board feet. For perspective, $350 to $500 per $1000 b.f. was typical during the previous decade. In 2021, it peaked at $1500, and recovered to as low as $470 in September. Since then, it's been marching up. Inflation and fuel cost are adding to the problems.

I don't think you'll see favorable lumber pricing again for a while.

Yet a decade ago mills were struggling, and making do with what they had for equipment. Around here at least, several major mills have turned some of that "extra" back into their infrastructure so that they can be more competitive in the future. They aren't the only factor in the supply chain anyways. You may not have noticed but fuel has gone up; required to run the mill, as well as bring raw product in and finished product out. Then it goes to the lumberyard, which makes more off the lumber than anybody further down the supply chain.

 

[Williy]

Now if I was going t;o put up a building I would
make the walls cement block then a metal roof.
Has cement gone up like lumber and steel??
If you want to do any welding thel; cement block
will not burn and you can paint it and its stronger
than wood. Cheaper than wood or metal???

willy

 

[jyoutz]

Timber stumpage prices have increased some, but not anywhere near the increase in lumber prices. The big increases are in the sawmilling and retail sales prices.

 

[LD1]

Now if I was going t;o put up a building I would
make the walls cement block then a metal roof.
Has cement gone up like lumber and steel??
If you want to do any welding thel; cement block
will not burn and you can paint it and its stronger
than wood. Cheaper than wood or metal???

willy

While block has advantages....it has disadvantages too.

Namely it is harder to attach stuff too, still have to wood frame if you want insulated, and it is just more labor intensive.

But that said....I too am planning a small 20x24 and have considered block. But block HAS gotten more expensive too. It's back down a little now. But a few months ago I seen $2 a block for just a plain 8x8x16

 

[mrmikey]

I wish I had used at least one course of block for my garage when I built it. It would have given me another 8" of height, kept the wood from direct contact with water either from my truck or from outside and I wouldn't have to be concerned about sparks rolling under the bottom sill...........Mike

 

[LD1]

I wish I had used at least one course of block for my garage when I built it. It would have given me another 8" of height, kept the wood from direct contact with water either from my truck or from outside and I wouldn't have to be concerned about sparks rolling under the bottom sill...........Mike

Did you build on slab or monolithic pour?

I have had people mention or suggest the same thing and I advise against building on a 1-block base set on a slab. Unless it's planned from the get go and you have rebar or longer J-bolts tying into the concrete itself. I wouldn't trust mortar alone to adhere block to concrete slab....

Preferred method would either be form the monolithic pour with the short knee wall in mind.....or skip the monolithic pour and dig a footer and lay an foundation to your desired level above grade....the pour the floor secondary

 

[mrmikey]

On slab.
It would have to be planned from day one to make sure you get proper tie in to the slab, if not you're asking for problems at a later date once the slab starts cracking. Notice I said when not if.

.......or skip the monolithic pour and dig a footer and lay an foundation to your desired level above grade....the pour the floor secondary

Hindsigte being what it is that would have been the preferred method. At the time, 11 years ago, I was in the midst of a divorce, not knowing how much money I'd have I let $$ rule good building practice. Going bigger than 600 sq ft, you had to have an engineer design it, required different permits yada....yada so I took the easy way out.
Three things I regret in order of regretidness (if that's even a word" LOL) Shoulda went with a minimum 9' wide door, 10' ceiling and either block or cement knee section. Shouldn't complain, it beats being outside doing....stuff .............Mike

 

[thebmrust]

In our town almost no one is building fences with wood. A guy down the street just build a 6ft high block walk around his 1 acre yard. Was cheaper than wood. Done in 2 days. All new fencing leans towards block.

 

[ultrarunner]

Fencing here is going welded steel posts and rails with horizontal boards...

As long as not thin wall the steel should last a lifetime...

 

[MossRoad]

In our town almost no one is building fences with wood. A guy down the street just build a 6ft high block walk around his 1 acre yard. Was cheaper than wood. Done in 2 days. All new fencing leans towards block.

A square acre is about 835'.

835' of block wall 6' high in 2 days?

 

[LD1]

A square acre is about 835'.

835' of block wall 6' high in 2 days?

You forgot that it was also cheaper than wood

 

[lman]

You forgot that it was also cheaper than wood

I'm not sure it would be cheaper if labor of laying block is considered.

 

[LD1]

I'm not sure it would be cheaper if labor of laying block is considered.

I'm not sure it would even be cheaper for material. But don't know what kind of fence either.

Gotta get below frost. Usually that's fence posts at regular spacing.

If someone did a proper job with block, leveling, footer, etc.....no way material is cheaper. As expensive as wood is.....it's still cheaper per face foot of wall than any type of block/stone product