My home owner insurance premium went up at least $100 just for that reason. I actually got a call from my agent explaining the increase.
Semi-related: Last year a buddy of mine who runs a sheet metal facility dropped off some massive pallets- I spent almost the whole summer busting them apart, backing the nails out, hammering the nails back to straight and used the materials to build my wood rack in the back yard. Holds I think 6 cord and cost me nothing but time. I couldn't begin to imagine what it would cost now (if I had to buy the materials).
Similar to your story, guy I know is in the midst of a fight. Any time a barn/shed/house was going to be torn down over the last 5 or so years he would go salvage what he could and brought it home. He kept it covered in his back yard. The city rode his case, threatened fines, ect because he had garbage accumulating in his yard. He started building last fall and finished up a few weeks ago and has a nice shop to tinker in now. The mayor came over last week and said he is reassessing the property for a ridiculous amount because of the new structure and current building supply prices. He went off on him and went into the house and got every letter the city sent him about the trash that needed to be disposed of or else. I'm curious how it will end but the mayor has his signature on several letters stating "the trash of little to no value must be removed." Next time I see the property owner I think I will call him Midas since that trash lumber he touched turned to gold.
The world has gone nutz! Buddy/neighbor of mine went to get a building permit issued to re-roof his garage (actually being responsible). The roofing cost was the basis for his permit fee. The county used the "going rate" per square for having a local commercial roofer come perform the work. My buddy did the work himself and had nothing but material cost involved. There was no winning the argument. A true screw job.
Here in the north most of our wood is imported from Canada; that has not happened as much. I know border is open to commercial traffic; but Quebec is still under lock down orders.
We went in Lowes the other evening... Talk about sticker shock... I used to build furniture, I don't think anyone could afford it now... I did get 1 sheet of 3/4" Advantek to build a box to use with the tractor...over $53. Then the lumber guy showed me the big surprise...they had 6 or 8 full bundles of 7/16" sheathing, all marked SOLD...seems 1 guy bought it all...over $2500/bundle... Don't know if he was a roofing contractor or he knows sumpin' we don't...
Ive done the same except for the nails. Bought a box of 300 2.5" screws and with tax it was nearly $30 so 10c per screw. Ill save screws regardless of drive type. I demoed a greenhouse room this week and the floor was framed with 2x8's about 11' long . Some rot at one end but 10' of good meat. If an 8' 2x4 is $9 in wondering what a 10' 2x8 costs. Guessing $25? I built my friends 4'x36' lean to shed out of reclaimed/cull lumber and it cost me $75. This was Fall 2019.
I see. I didn't know if they were actually having to pay that much more to acquire the building material also. My next question is, why are loggers not getting big money for the logs/pulp they bring in? Last guy I talked to said they were only getting like 10-15% more than they were before (and they weren't getting $h!t before).
If I had to guess, they would be getting compensated primarily in additional hours. The managers/logging companies need an increase in volume of work so they would hire on more loggers. They also want to encourage everyone to stay and 10-15% sounds about right to do that. If someone is already working, why increase the size of the carrot? Just line up some more mules!
The guys I've talked to are 'smaller' loggers in charge of themselves. You'd think the mills would be paying big bucks for their loads, seeing what lumber/building materials are going for..
Must be like farming. The ones who produce the raw materials get very little of any increase in price. Those that make out very well are the middle men.
$31 each at Menards...$27.67 after 11% rebate this week. My brother hooked me up with one of his customers that builds commercial windows (big!) and all their glass comes in crated in some heavy duty crates...they were paying $500/week to dispose of the crates/wood...my brother started picking up a trailer load per week to burn in their OWB, but mentioned to me that they sometimes had some pretty big stuff...we started grabbing those to surgically disassemble and save for "project wood"...I have been saving up framing lumber sized stuff to add on to my garage...they just took on a large order for some huge windows that come in 15' long crates framed by 2x6's...so (2) 2 x 6 x 15' per crate, plus (2) 2 x 6 x 5' on the ends...and there's at least 25 of these crates there right now, plus some shorter (10'?) ones, and at least half a dozen more that are 2 x 4 framed crates. Went to get the first of them tonight...doesn't take too long to disassemble the crates once you get a system down, does take a few minutes to remove the nails though...still worth it though considering they are $35/ea for a slightly shorter 14' board here now!
OUCH! I need 12' 2x10 to reframe it. Homeowners paying for it and knows about the prices. Not exactly sure what ill do with the ten or so reclaimed 2x8's. Been wanting to make a shed (not for wood) here for years as we share one with neighbor in the efficiency apt and he has the bigger side. Great score on those pallets. Some nice lumber to be had. Any pics? Maybe they can pay you guys to get rid of them??? Is the lumber douglas fir or "whitewood" which is usually spruce? Couple years ago i scored a 16" pallet made from 1x4. Had metal roofing panels on it. Stack covers now. Maybe used for some future project. Scrounged a 4'x8' hardwood pallet from a company last Fall. Full 1x6" oak runners. Couldnt pick it up and flip flopped to load. At my friends where im deciding what to stack on it yet.
Not sure if its Doug or not...pretty nice boards though...looks like the same stuff as what you'd get for framing lumber at the hardware/lumber yard...only its actually straight!
Last summer I bought a unit of 7/16 osb sheathing for $ 1200. 68 sheets. I thot long and hard before I cut the last sheet of it 2 days ago. And that's Fairbanks prices. Shipping seemed to run 4 to 5 bucks a sheet from down south. Year before I bought 36 or 38 sheets for 14+ $ a sheet. Wish I had bought a semi load.
All I can say is I'm very thankful that I have a sawmill. It does take a long time to sheath a wall or roof with 1×8s tho. But , that's what it will have to be till the price goes back down. If it goes a down.
A good friend of ours is a contractor and he's building a new house for himself and wife. They poured the footings a few weeks back and decided to wait on the rest. Things are getting silly with prices. It's happening across a lot of sectors and even in the used market for certain things. I hope things stabilize gradually. I worry about the bottom falling out and dragging a lot of other things down with it.
Yes, I've heard that lumber from Canada is pretty non-existent right now. This summer the border is going to be opened and I think that will solve a lot of these issues. That said, my next project is a bigger garden shed. The one we have isn't great, and it's definitely too small. I'll be taking it down, piece by piece, saving what's good. Hopefully I can save the plywood floor pieces for at least part of the new shed's floor. The steel 12x12 shed kit doesn't come with the plywood flooring and I'm not paying 60+ dollars a sheet. I'll piece together the floor if I have to. I spent a bit more than I planned on building my wood shed last summer. It's only worse now.
Definitely not disagreeing with your post, because my wife and I are putting a renovation on hold, but we're going to use the year to save a little more and put ourselves in a better position. But I think we're going through a bit of a market realignment due to the uneven restarting/reopening of different segments of the economy, and flash points of inflation in some areas - home improvement being one it seems like we're seeing. I think as the summer drags on and people are going out to bars & restaurants more again, and traveling more- they'll be spending less on home improvement goods and the prices will normalize.
