Lumber and construction prices skyrocking

originally posted by: Mandroid7
a reply to: hangedman13

Good advise, but make sure you research the composite deck materials before you buy.
A lot of the box store stuff is crap and you can't just screw it to the joists.
It's thermal expansion/contraction is big. Especially in the midwest 100--20 degree weather.
It will sear screws right off. Need a hidden fastener type that allows boards to "slide".

My last house had a beautiful composite deck but it was built by idiots. They did not put enough space in-between each board so when it did swell up there was zero opening for rain/dirt/dust. It was like a solid sheet and always looked dirty. Good advice to account for expansion/contraction. I think people think plastic and don't account for that...

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: mtnshredder

I am doing siding and windows soon and the prices seem reasonable but the wait time is much longer.

I was going to build a new shed but I think I'll wait now.

It wasn’t the cost of the windows that shocked me it was the wood we used for replacing the rotted framing around the window, new jambs, trim and siding. It was silly what they were asking. The other odd thing I noticed was some of the wood was marked as being made in another country, forget which one but it wasn’t Mex or Canada. It was some country that logistically didn’t make sense.

a reply to: mtnshredder

I bought some pine boards for a honey doo project last year.
1 x 4 x 8... If I remember correctly it was made in Sweden.
Not sure how the logistics worked on that one.

Last year I was paying roughly 9 bucks for a sheet of 1/2 osb plywood.
Today that same plywood is 37$ so I would say prices are out of control.....

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: mtnshredder

I bought some pine boards for a honey doo project last year.
1 x 4 x 8... If I remember correctly it was made in Sweden.
Not sure how the logistics worked on that one.

Now that you mention the Sweden region, I think it was Finland. It was marked on some basic pine, I believe it was the 1x4 or 6 stock we bought. Yeah, how does that work? Seems like a loooong way away to import Pine. *shrugs*

a reply to: mtnshredder

Now that you mention the Sweden region, I think it was Finland. It was marked on some basic pine, I believe it was the 1x4 or 6 stock we bought. Yeah, how does that work? Seems like a loooong way away to import Pine. *shrugs*

It's so stupid, we are sending ours to China, hence raising the prices. It is now too much for the US consumer, so we are in turn importing from other places.

This is why not using straws will not have a dent in environmental issues. It's all this unnecessary shipping that is causing global pollution.

a reply to: projectvxn

Perhaps they are tanking the fiat currency on purpose in this way, so they can digitally 'forgive' the national debt and switch to a national digital-only currency backed by crypto or something.

originally posted by: ressiv
only one andswer... overpopulation and an stronger envirement regulations
there will be soon an time that the last tree on earth is pulled douwn
by global heating moore and moore forrest will burn douwn that in cobination with higher need of timber and pellets for heating itdrives the prices up..
its pure an rat race to the end !

So sayeth the Lorax...

I have heard this as well; doesn't seem to be much of conspiracy on how this works.

The explanation given to me is that a large portion of US construction grade lumber comes from mills in Canada. For a good portion of 2020, the lumber mills in Canada (probably elsewhere in North America too) were made to either close down, or work at fractional capacity of their normal labor force.

Meanwhile, with so many folks either out of work or working from home, and left with a surplus of time on their hands (and much more opportunity to evaluate all the improvement projects they could think of), the demand for home renovations/additions actually increased.

So with an increase in demand of home renovations, and a reduction in supply of raw lumber, the price of lumber shot up drastically.

Seems like a pretty cut & dried, market-driven explanation for what we're seeing.

I haven't seen it in this thread, but I was getting lumber for a project at the local HD and the lumber guy told me part of the problem with prices on plywoods and other lumber is that during the riots in and around Portland, where a lot of wood is
taken from, Antifa set fire to the forests and burned down 4 of the 9 proccesing facilities in the area..I did a google search. There were a couple articles written about it, but overall, not much press coverage. a reply to: JAGStorm

originally posted by: carewemust

originally posted by: Alien Abduct
a reply to: JAGStorm

Now is the time to wait until lumber prices go back down and stabilize. Might take another 6 months to a year.

Will interest rates still be low?

Not low enough to stop the economy from tanking

a reply to: JAGStorm

Oh ya! I remember about 2 years ago, a 2x4 was about 2$. Now I seen it as high as 8$ to 9 bucks.

In all. They shut down lots of sawmills and etc. There selling all there old lumber they have in stock. I was building a sauna/small outhouse project some months ago out of 4x6 log type construction. As I was building it over a period of 3 or so months. The lumber prices were literally going up ever other day it seemed like.

So ya. They shut down a lot of the lumber mills. You know, covid and all. And well there are going to be a lot of forest fires in the coming future in northwest and other states. So in the future lumber will likely be in short order, but for now its merely inflation. Which means?

Well its fake set up prices till they let you all open the lumber mills again. You know supply and demand. Or more like sell high, buy low. Either way. We all are living in tinder.

What else would one expect with all these spending programs that there would be MASSIVE inflation to follow? Who could have predicted locking down for extended periods with half the countries work force held down into unemployment the cost of labor would increase? Who would predict the massive demand for new housing options after some folks are exhausted by draconian laws in their cities?

It’s also true some folks have bad relationships, ducks quack, bears # in the woods, wet water.... reply to: JAGStorm

You’ve ignored a few major factors that have been steering the market.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

Home repair materials went through the roof when the Texas ice storm hit.

We were lucky. A plumber was able to repair our piping without needing any parts.

We put a temporary patch on our caved in living room ceiling. The only repair guy that would respond wants $100 just to give us an estimate! Heck, the guy could go around giving estimates all day and make a fortune without ever doing any work!

I can do walls but can't manage ceilings.

Maybe my oldest son can visit in the summer....

originally posted by: Rob808
You’ve ignored a few major factors that have been steering the market.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

I didn't ignore anything, I related to you what I was told by someone close to me that buys lumber every week as a professional contractor.

I'm happy to hear your explanation about the additional market factors in play outside limits on supply and spikes in demand.

Springtime, demand is up, and so will the prices

It started last June and has finally leveled off around here at about 250%. Lots of luck finding a contractor too.

originally posted by: SleeperHasAwakened

originally posted by: Rob808
You’ve ignored a few major factors that have been steering the market.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

I didn't ignore anything, I related to you what I was told by someone close to me that buys lumber every week as a professional contractor.

I'm happy to hear your explanation about the additional market factors in play outside limits on supply and spikes in demand.

The multiple trillion dollar spending packages coupled with unemployment. Hmmm the lockdowns, the loss of thousands of small businesses. Maybe just small stuff but you might be downplaying their impact.

It’s not just lumber that’s going up in price, fancy that.

originally posted by: Rob808

originally posted by: SleeperHasAwakened

originally posted by: Rob808
You’ve ignored a few major factors that have been steering the market.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

I didn't ignore anything, I related to you what I was told by someone close to me that buys lumber every week as a professional contractor.

I'm happy to hear your explanation about the additional market factors in play outside limits on supply and spikes in demand.

The multiple trillion dollar spending packages coupled with unemployment. Hmmm the lockdowns, the loss of thousands of small businesses. Maybe just small stuff but you might be downplaying their impact.

It’s not just lumber that’s going up in price, fancy that.

I agree, all the things you listed are all important macro economic influencers, for sure. I would tend to say that the lumber supply chain is a pretty "closed loop" system so losing small businesses like restaurants or brick & mortar stores won't impact the price of lumber. The lockdowns, as I mentioned in my first post, for sure inflate demand (folks with nothing but time on their hands that pivot to home improvement).

I think you're also spot on that the stimulus package in general will have an inflationary effect on our economy, not just with lumber supply. We've had what 3 rounds now and sum total of each person was minimum $2300 or so (I've no idea the aggregate of all 3 rounds, haven't gotten any myself). That is a broad based influencer for high prices though, not just lumber, as we've flooded the economy with trillions of $$$, yet we've hardly regained any lost jobs and companies are still way behind on their production quotas.

Higher prices are on the menu for everything because of this strategy.