Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices?

   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #1  

Diggin It

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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?
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #2  
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.
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #4  
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.
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #5  
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.
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #6  
6FA39930-0731-49FC-B47D-53BA2BCCA5A6.jpegThis 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?
 
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   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #7  
I just bought several steel roof panels and the price seemed way high. What is going on....tariffs?.....inflation?.......greed?.....the new normal?
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #8  
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?
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #9  
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.
 
   / Y'all Been Checkin' Lumber Prices? #10  
Store bought 2x4x8 spruce studs $.82/bf
Sawn by neighbor - $.50/bf
 
 
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