just come from the drywall supplier. posted on the door ,rock is going up 10% aug 11,then there is 2 more 10% increase in place by sept. 15th. the thing about doing this price increases in steps is it lets them increase the last price increase by 10. so insttead of a 30% increase it actually comes out to 33%
33% increase! wow and i’m sure thats not the end of it.
i see guys on here talking about how materials are cheap right now,i don’t see it.wire is high ,plywood ,not osb,is high,sheetrocks going up, shingles have taken a big jump,wheres the cheap stuff? larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there’s not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Replies
Lumber and OSB is cheap right now. That's probably about it.
No immediate plans for any sheetrock but just scanning the prices as I walk by at the big box, and it's pretty cheap as of late.
$6.50 or so for 8' er's is the cheapest I've seen it in a few years.
I've heard sheetrock pricing vary greatly by region, so it may be a transportation associated cost increase for your area.
They had a gypsum plant close in N.O. about a year ago, but prices are still good (go figure)
Ray
alwaysoverbudget.
There is little real competition for the sheetrock market. As a commodity they simply pass on added costs while retaining profit.. fuel costs are increasing so all costs associated with it's manufacture are increased as well. perversely as the volume slows down their per unit overhead increases so to retain their profit levels they simply raise the prices..
This is a time to be creative if possible.. I buy thins from my local sawmill. Thins are boards that wind up coming off the mill less than an inch thick. You see mother nature doesn't grow trees to standard dimensions. there usually are a few boards less than an inch thick per log sawn..
That makes them near worthless to sawmills.. So they are shredded for mulch or simply discarded. I can buy whole pickup loads (about a thousand bd.ft.) of thins for $20.00 and it doesn't matter if it's cherry, black walnut, or whatever..
I take them home and sort them out by thickness. 7/8ths in one stack, 3/4 in another. 1/2 in another and less than 1/2 in the final stack. I sticker them up as they dry and when dry I use that instead of sheetrock.. Oh, I plane one side smooth and joint the edges. I run them through my shaper and can either ship lap them or tongue and groove them. Other than my labor and a tiny increase in the electric bill they are very close to free. Out of a $20.00 pickup truck load I get about 18-20 4x8 "sheets"of wood.
Right now I'm doing my tower in them. Instead of my usual approach I'm doing a faux panel with rails and styles. I cut strips of boards to about 1 inch thickness and shape the edges. Then I nail the result over the joint between two boards and it comes out looking like raised panel. I do make real raised panels in a lot of spots But the round tower called for something really creative or a massive amount of fiddle work on each panel..
In the end working with real wood is a blessing I would much rather haul a lot of 6 to 12 inch wide boards around than 4x8 sheetrock.. Working alone it's a whole lot easier as well.
I've seen whole walls done by small scraps of cut offs of varing woods, sizes, thickness, and widths. Sort of a giant wood puzzle. I've seen interior walls made of brick and stone. If you go to a store and pay retail that would be more expensive than sheetrock but if you visit a demolition site and ask to salvage some the cost is free.. (or nearly so)
One wall that I really loved was done by nailing a whole bunch of doors up, solid wood doors.. all sorts of woods, widths, and types. Dutchmen had been put in where handles and hardware. The result was astonishing, wierd but wonderful. Skylights made up the differance to the 9 foot ceilings.. and the resulting bedroom was bright and fantastic
As for shingles.
Go buy cedar logs and a Froe. your first batch of shingles will take you a long time, the second batch will be much faster and by the time you are finished you'll be able to knock a square out in an hour.. You cost for a square of hand split cedar shakes will be something like $25.00 and an hour of your time..
None of these techniques make sense for professionals. However do-it-yourselfers who have more ambition than money can achieve wonderful things by simply thinking outside the box.
Last sentence was a good one!!
I would like to see pictures of your "wood puzzle".
arcflash.
I've seen it twice. Once in a book about "hobby" houses and once at a fellow employees farm house.
Imagine a random stone wall something like my walls at 94941.7 except made out of wood instead of stone..
That depresses me. I like to use that yellow board every chance I get (it takes paint better than I thought it would). The last time a bought a couple boards, it was a little over $12 a board. I went to Lowes to get a new roller yesterday and it was just over $14 a board. What gives? I thought gas prices were going down! Today I'm going to use the scrap I have on a closet ceiling. I haven't figured out how I'll do it without cutting it in half (I don't have enough for the closet walls).
I was at our supplier testerday and they had letters posted from 4 drywall manufacturers, showing between 10 and 12% increases from all, and it includes mud also. Has to be fuel related, is my guess.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
I just ordered a bunch for $7.24 for 1/2"x48"x12' and $9.44 for 54". I was pretty happy especially once I had beaten down the BS a bit on their price...
I think many suppliers are taking advantage of this fuel price thing though. For example my Porta John Supplier is charging a $12/mo fuel surcharge. Just so happens that where I'm building right now there are 3 builders, 3 Porta Johns, and all three are rented from the same company. Once a week the guy shows up to clean them and he obviously cleans all 3. I'm guessing 5 minutes per. So, for his 15 minutes on site the fuel surcharge is $9, or $3 per unit per week. I'm sure his route is set up so that his before and after construction sites are a mile or less away. Really I can't see how he couldn't be averaging 4 units per hour or 32 units in a 8 hr day. So that would be $96 a day in fuel sur-charges. My wild guess would be the truck uses maybe $150 a day in fuel. This is all fine though because I'm sure they give the extra profits to the driver who has the great job... Everytime I see that guy I'm extra friendly because I feel sorry for him and am just counting my blessings. :-)
Never really felt sorry for the porta-potti guy, just glad I wasn't doing it.
The company I work for buys rock by the semi-truck and our prices are usually locked in at bid time. We have gone to Home Depot in a pinch though. Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
Good point on the fuel surcharge thingy.
I've felt it's a way to really help pay the rent when maybe business is down.
And what bothers me is I'll order a $5000 lumber package or a $3000 Azek or interior trim package (hefty orders) and there's a $15 fuel surcharge on it.
Kinda like spending $200 on a dinner and come bill time there's a 50 cent extra butter patty surcharge.
Runnerguy
I hear ya. That's part of the reason I'd never order a lumber package from a big box. They all charge delivery charges.
Wonder if I can fill out an expense voucher for a fuel surcharge. I'm sure my boss wouldn't mind ;-)