Building Supplies Sticker Shock

[mountainsoft]

I was just getting used to paying $70-80 for birch cabinet plywood I previously bought for $45.

We managed to build a privacy fence this summer, despite fence boards costing $3.50 each compared to the $2 or so I used to pay.

Now I needed some 10/2 romex wire for an upcoming project. I stood there in the big box store in disbelief. Surely I'm reading that wrong. A 50 foot roll of 10/2 romex was almost $120! Ouch. No way I'm paying that much if I don't absolutely have to. Thankfully I came home and dug through my box of leftover wiring supplies and found about 30 feet of 10/3 romex. Whew. I don't need the extra conductor, but I'll just cap the extra wire and save $120.

Out of curiosity I dug up a receipt for a 15 foot roll of 10/2 romex I bought in Oct 2017. Cost me $18 at the time. Today that same 15' roll costs $41 at HD or $45 at Lowes.

 

[jazz4cash]

We have a few places that recycle used and unused building materials and I enjoy window shopping at these places. Due to COVID they are only open 3 days per week and they were closed last time I stopped by. They have a lot of items in the parking lot like wrought iron fencing, gates, pavers, etc. which are arranged in piles. This time there was a very large pile of used PT lumber dumped on the edge of the lot. It was in good shape for a deck or similar project that would get stained/painted. I had the impression it was free but maybe it just got dumped by someone trying to make a donation. One store I go to always has short rolls of Romex and all manner of work boxes and breaker panel parts.

 

[Plantman]

I think some businesses are using the pandemic situation as an excuse to pad their profits by fleecing their customers.

 

[HF63]

This craziness is why no home projects get done at my home. I cancel everything and just do minor things with what I have on hand. Way too many other stuff to sent my time on it.

 

[kgtest]

Inflation. Someone inflated the prices. And they are here to stay.

 

[mountainsoft]

One store I go to always has short rolls of Romex and all manner of work boxes and breaker panel parts.

Since we built our own house and remodeled both of our parents homes, I have many storage boxes full of leftover building supplies. One for wiring, one for plumbing, electrical boxes, conduit, etc. These often come in handy for small projects, but the electrical cable leftovers are usually shorter lengths under ten feet or so. I really lucked out finding a 30 foot cable in my boxes.

 

[mountainsoft]

This craziness is why no home projects get done at my home.

Unfortunately, we have probably done more home improvement and building projects this year than any year before. A couple were by choice, but most were out of necessity.

 

[Koolau]

I was just getting used to paying $70-80 for birch cabinet plywood I previously bought for $45.

We managed to build a privacy fence this summer, despite fence boards costing $3.50 each compared to the $2 or so I used to pay.

Now I needed some 10/2 romex wire for an upcoming project. I stood there in the big box store in disbelief. Surely I'm reading that wrong. A 50 foot roll of 10/2 romex was almost $120! Ouch. No way I'm paying that much if I don't absolutely have to. Thankfully I came home and dug through my box of leftover wiring supplies and found about 30 feet of 10/3 romex. Whew. I don't need the extra conductor, but I'll just cap the extra wire and save $120.

Out of curiosity I dug up a receipt for a 15 foot roll of 10/2 romex I bought in Oct 2017. Cost me $18 at the time. Today that same 15' roll costs $41 at HD or $45 at Lowes.

Or do what the local meth-heads do. Steal the wire you need! If you don't get electrocuted (not unheard of) think of the savings!

But, seriously, I wonder if the inflated prices are sustainable. I'll pay what I have to to get something working again, but I'd never do another rehab. Too expensive at todays prices. YMMV

 

[travelover]

I'm thinking of selling my house for parts.

 

[Koolau]

I'm thinking of selling my house for parts.

I wonder how much you COULD sell old house parts for. There must be a market by now for used (clean, no nails, etc.) 2 by 4s, ceiling and floor joists, etc. I know they are recycling bricks.

When we rehabbed the old homestead, my dad said that we had "jacked up the chimney and put a new house under it." Not too far off. The 2 by 4s we replaced WERE originally 2 by 4! Imagine that. That project wouldn't even be done today due to the cost of materials. The rehab in 1981 was $30/sq ft. I'm betting it would be $130/sq ft today. YMMV

 

[CRLLS]

We are in the process of buying construction material for a backyard shed. We placed the order about 2-1/2 weeks ago. Already the prices have dropped several hundred on the dimensional lumber and OSB alone. Prices at the time we ordered were well off their peaks of a few months ago. Oddly, the treated lumber has not changed. There is no reasoning behind these fluctuations other than pure greed IMO.

 

[ponyboy]

We vote with our dollars. Simple as that. Stop renovating things that do not need renovated. Most people sat on things that should have been done for decades. Whats the sudden rush? Remember, VOTE!

 

[travelover]

I found this goofy bear video interesting. He seems to think wholesale lumber prices have already plummeted.

 

[Koolau]

We vote with our dollars. Simple as that. Stop renovating things that do not need renovated. Most people sat on things that should have been done for decades. Whats the sudden rush? Remember, VOTE!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! A motto for these post (almost, I hope) Covid times. YMMV

 

[pb4uski]

I wonder how much you COULD sell old house parts for. There must be a market by now for used (clean, no nails, etc.) 2 by 4s, ceiling and floor joists, etc. I know they are recycling bricks. ....

When we demolished and rebuilt beginning in Oct 2010, we had explored a local non-profit that would "de-construct" as an alternative to demolition. Essentially what they would do is bring in a crew of young adults to take the house apart as carefully as they could and recycle lumber, etc. They would send nails and other fasteners to metal recycling, glass to recycling, dispose of the shingles, recycle plumbing, electrical wire, etc. IIRC it was about the same cost as demolition.

Green alternative to crunch-and-dump demolition takes root in Vt.

Unfortunately, the ~3-4 week timeline for deconstruction was much longer than we could absorb without messing up our construction milestone to be weather-tight by Christmas, so we went with demolition which was done in about 7 hours. The excavator first dug into the house at 7am and the foundation was broom-clean about 2pm.

However, we essentially stripped the house before demolition. We decided to reuse the kitchen cabinets and a sliding glass door so we stored those in the garage.... we donated all the windows, doors, bathroom cabinets, bathroom fixtures, kitchen sink, etc to the Restore (in fact, they sent a truck and some young backs to pick it all up). About the only thing that I couldn't recycle was one window that I couldn't remove so the excavator got that one.

On the materials inflation issue, I had a carpenter that I know replace a door that we had bought last fall at my mother summer home a couple weeks ago and he said that the price of 2x4s was starting to retreat a bit in our area, so there is hope that things will get better.

 

[HF63]

I'm thinking of selling my house for parts.

I really like this idea, let bids begin!

 

[mountainsoft]

Stop renovating things that do not need renovated. Most people sat on things that should have been done for decades. Whats the sudden rush?

I'm not the type to "sit on things". If something needs done I build or fix it as soon as possible. Small problems have a way of turning into major problems if they aren't taken care of quickly.

We didn't have a choice when the pressure tank failed on our well. We had to replace it (and the associated parts that go along with it) or we would have no water. Thanks to COVID and supply problems, 80 gallon tanks weren't available within 100 miles so I had to settle for a 50 gallon tank. Disappointing, but at least we have water again.

I would never have chosen to build a privacy fence on our property. Unfortunately, our new neighbors built their mini-mansion right on the property line so our once lovely view was now a view of their house out every window. They had an equal view of us. We didn't move to the mountain to have that kind of proximity with our neighbors. So the fence was a necessity ASAP. It has made a world of difference, no regrets, no matter what it cost.

We have never needed air conditioning here in Washington state, but this summer has been unbearable. So I have a mini-split on order and will be installing that in the coming weeks. I'm hoping it will reduce our heating bills in the winter too.

I've had a number of other projects that we simply couldn't put off. It has been bad timing with limited supplies and high prices, but they had to be done. After all of the projects this year, I'm hoping the next few years will go a bit easier.