Material costs rising- what would you buy now to hedge inflation

[LS Tractor Owner]

It does pay to shop around.... I needed about 750 metal roofing screws. I went to TSC and they only had one box of 100 for $9.99......
So I then went to the local lumber/hardware store..... they had "bulk" bags of 250 each bag. I grabbed 3 bags and went to the register..... $168.00 +tax !! Needless to say, I left them there.

Looked up the same screws on Home Depots site... $13.99/ per 100.

Then called a metal roofing center.... $8.00 per 100. I went there the next day when I was in town going right past them.

BIG difference in price bet suppliers.

I'm glad I finished building our house 2 months before all this price gouging started!

My advice.... shop around for what you know you will need, order the materials at the best price you can find. I think lumber prices will continue to fall (at least a bit), but other materials are not in the same "commodity" type of price structure.

 

[NoTrespassing]

An article from 6/9/22

Lumber Price Crash Good for Homebuilding Stocks

Falling lumber prices are benefiting homebuilders and those with exposure to the very strong entry-level segment look particularly good.

finance.yahoo.com

Lumber Price Crash Good for Homebuilding Stocks​

From a level of around $1,500 per thousand board feet in March 2022 to about $600 today, this isn’t any ordinary decline, but can be called a crash.

 

[5030]

So lumber is cheaper but the labor to install-erect it is way up. Sort of tit for tat I'd say.

 

[jyoutz]

It does pay to shop around.... I needed about 750 metal roofing screws. I went to TSC and they only had one box of 100 for $9.99......
So I then went to the local lumber/hardware store..... they had "bulk" bags of 250 each bag. I grabbed 3 bags and went to the register..... $168.00 +tax !! Needless to say, I left them there.

Looked up the same screws on Home Depots site... $13.99/ per 100.

Then called a metal roofing center.... $8.00 per 100. I went there the next day when I was in town going right past them.

BIG difference in price bet suppliers.

I'm glad I finished building our house 2 months before all this price gouging started!

My advice.... shop around for what you know you will need, order the materials at the best price you can find. I think lumber prices will continue to fall (at least a bit), but other materials are not in the same "commodity" type of price structure.

Lumber prices are definitely down and falling. The WWPA lumber price index shows a drop in wholesale prices. It will be interesting to see if retailers will pass on these decreases.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lumber prices are definitely down and falling. The WWPA lumber price index shows a drop in wholesale prices. It will be interesting to see if retailers will pass on these decreases.

Exactly and time to shop because expensive cost of goods are often slow to be marked down.

 

[philnsherrylowe]

Be careful if you use the shipping container for storage. Be sure it is raised and force ventilated (solar fans or wind turbines, etc) other wise the humidity will corrode what you store. Also, insulate the inside roof if possible to keep condensation from dripping on what you store.

Hello:
We are in Northwest Georgia and have considered purchasing a 40' shipping container to store our push mower, weed eaters, zero turn mower and Kubota tractor. Have read a couple of articles that advises against storing any type / amount of fuel in a storage container due to the high heat during summer due to risk of explosion. (even the small amount stored in fuel tank only)
Have you had any issues with this at all?
Before we purchase just want to see if this is working out for others and what type of ventilation will keep the temps at a safe level. Shipping container by far is the cheapest storage building we have found from research.

Thank you in advance for any insights, ideas or experience.

 

[Root Cause]

I started this thread about 2 months ago. If I am remembering correctly, the cost of 12/2 and 14/3 has already jumped over 40% more since then. Lowes completely screwed up my online order and gave me a nice discount to boot so I don't have a receipt to show for it but thinking it was around .50/ft.

That isn't much though to hedge a whole house build. I am watching lumber prices. I won't sweat trying to catch it at the bottom but I will buy bulk OSB and 2x4's when I think they are close.

 

[Raul-02]

Right now, I wouldn't buy any commodity as an investment.
Probably the only safe bet is high-end fine arts.
They are recession and inflation-proof, they are proof against supply chain issues. Art outperforms the market.
There is a substantial barrier to investing though.
First, you need the money
Then you need to know the hot artists.
The latter is particularly difficult because the people who make artists hot tend to move in very rarified circles. You have to make a study of it.

 

[Raul-02]

Have read a couple of articles that advises against storing any type / amount of fuel in a storage container due to the high heat during summer due to risk of explosion. (even the small amount stored in fuel tank only)
Have you had any issues with this at all?

There is an awful lot of really ignorant so-called journalism being published these days by idiots who just happen to have something occur to them and instantly they imagine themselves to be experts. So they start misinforming others.

Gasoline has an autoignition point of 474.8 Degrees F.
If you think your container will get that hot inside you shouldn't put anything in there other than the chicken you want to roast for dinner.

Fuels and Chemicals - Autoignition Temperatures

Autoignition points for fuels and chemicals like butane, coke, hydrogen, petroleum and more.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

The other day I read an article by one of these instant experts about farming and why it is a global environmental catastrophe that we use heavy machinery because it's compacting the earth from us running machinery over the surface.

BUT even the real experts can lose their minds
Three SCIENTISTS ( from Yale & Harvard) published a GRAND THESIS on women and their failure to marry in time. They insisted that women who waited too long had only a 5% chance of solving that condition and those who waited till 40 were likely to be killed by Terrorists.
Yes, terrorists.
Don't ask I can't guess but that's what they said
Jeanne Moorman showed them how stupid they were with statistical data showing that of 54% of single women ages 30 to 34 will marry; and of ages 35 to 39, 37% will, & of ages 40 to 44, 24% will tie the knot.
And she was just a US Census Bureau employee

 

[Diggin It]

I was paying around $20/ bag of 250 screws from a local roofing supplier, but that was over a year ago. Don't know what they are now.

As noted on the longer Lumber thread, the market price was up over $1,600, then dropped to around $400 before jumping back up over $1,300. Don't get too confident with $600

One thing that bugs me is when the exact same item, same brand, same style, same quantity varies so much in price between stores. 'Through The Roof' silicone roof sealant in 10 ounce caulking gun tubes is around $10 in many stores, closer to $7 in other stores and under $6 at that same local roofing supplier.