Construction lumber costs

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
Not long ago there were a plethora of posts , with a lot of great pics, concerning the rise in the cost of construction lumber. We went for a couple of hours drive around rural Lancaster County, SC last week and I was astounded with the number of large, really nice houses we saw under construction. It appeared all were being custom built. I have the need of a general contractor for a load bearing beam problem. I have not been able to find one that will even come for a look. I talked with one builder who said he has the most custom built houses under construction and back logged as he has ever had.

Also, not to long ago the unemployment rate was at or near all time highs. People were spending savings and building up credit card debt. Were the heck is the money coming from?

Have the lumber costs really gone down this much?
 

bainin

New User
bainin
In the Raleigh area- they just add it to the purchase price and folks are happy to overpay even beyond that . Strange days.

I havent been back to Home Depot to have a look at OSB or Plywood since the beginning of the year...and my attic project has been
on hold since then :)
 

BWhitney

Bruce
Corporate Member
It is not just lumber. It has been a couple of years, but the last plastic hardware cloth that I bought was ca. $18.00 for 3' x 15' roll.
Today. $38.00.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Lumber prices have come down greater than 50% but that said, they still are 20% higher than before the pandemic.
 

mdbuntyn

Matt
Staff member
Corporate Member
Credit card debt actually went down last year, and the average household savings rate went up.
 

petebucy4638

Pete
Corporate Member
Not long ago there were a plethora of posts , with a lot of great pics, concerning the rise in the cost of construction lumber. We went for a couple of hours drive around rural Lancaster County, SC last week and I was astounded with the number of large, really nice houses we saw under construction. It appeared all were being custom built. I have the need of a general contractor for a load bearing beam problem. I have not been able to find one that will even come for a look. I talked with one builder who said he has the most custom built houses under construction and back logged as he has ever had.

Also, not to long ago the unemployment rate was at or near all time highs. People were spending savings and building up credit card debt. Were the heck is the money coming from?

Have the lumber costs really gone down this much?
I've been building custom homes since the 80's. What we are experiencing is a housing bubble where people are willing to pay a lot more to purchase a home. Some of them don't know that this is a bubble, others do and don't care. What amazes me is that they are able to get financing for these overpriced homes, especially considering that the buyers will be very upside down on the mortgage to value of the home when the bubble collapses, and there is no doubt that it will collapse. I'm very happy that I don't have any spec homes under construction in this crazy labor and materials market.
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
Not long ago there were a plethora of posts , with a lot of great pics, concerning the rise in the cost of construction lumber. We went for a couple of hours drive around rural Lancaster County, SC last week and I was astounded with the number of large, really nice houses we saw under construction. It appeared all were being custom built. I have the need of a general contractor for a load bearing beam problem. I have not been able to find one that will even come for a look. I talked with one builder who said he has the most custom built houses under construction and back logged as he has ever had.

Also, not to long ago the unemployment rate was at or near all time highs. People were spending savings and building up credit card debt. Were the heck is the money coming from?

Have the lumber costs really gone down this much?
Do you need a licensed contractor, or a Professional Engineer?
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
I have the need of a general contractor for a load bearing beam problem. I have not been able to find one that will even come for a look.

Get an engineer to look at it and design the solution. With that you can find anyone to do the work and pull the permits yourself, so you really don't need a GC for that job (assuming you are the homeowner and plan to live there another 12 months). May take 4 to 8 weeks to get on the engineer's schedule.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Not long ago there were a plethora of posts , with a lot of great pics, concerning the rise in the cost of construction lumber. We went for a couple of hours drive around rural Lancaster County, SC last week and I was astounded with the number of large, really nice houses we saw under construction. It appeared all were being custom built. I have the need of a general contractor for a load bearing beam problem. I have not been able to find one that will even come for a look. I talked with one builder who said he has the most custom built houses under construction and back logged as he has ever had.

Also, not to long ago the unemployment rate was at or near all time highs. People were spending savings and building up credit card debt. Were the heck is the money coming from?

Have the lumber costs really gone down this much?
You need a PE, not a GC... A GC will just hire a PE to answer your question and charge you 2x as much.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Credit card debt actually went down last year, and the average household savings rate went up.
I think some of that savings is coming from a lot of WFH. I heard from my sister that some companies are now asking their employees doing WFH to take a 30% pay cut. They are already saving on building and equipment maintenance, utilities, and supplies, but some see this as an opportunity to take advantage IMO. My son works for a large bank, and he started back working from his office last week. 350 desks on his floor, and he's the ONLY one on that floor. Desk assignments were first come, first served, so he picked a nice window office. His commuting, parking, and lunch expenses over the last 20 months have been nil.
 

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