First the contractors, then the suppliers.
Today I noticed that Ganahl Lumber in Los Alamitos seemed pretty quiet. When I asked the gal at the sales counter how business was she said it was so bad that they had laid off 7 people just last Friday; expecting more cuts in coming weeks.
Upgrading the footings and columns that support a girder beam is an opportunity to level out the floor above.
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I stopped in a Home Depot this morning, because it was handy, and I was the only customer in the store. They must be hemorrhaging cash. Gonna be some bankruptcies comin down the pike.
i think so too, but i kinda blame them for keeping prices so high. $3 for a 2x4 come on! i mean with in the last 5 years prices more than doubled.
I wonder with the gas pricess falling if the Fuel Surcharges we pay for things will decrease? Not holding my breath.
Hell no they're not going to drop those surcharges, not with revenue falling like it is.
My usual yard seems mostly dead in the mornings lately. I go in 2-3 times per week first thing and there is often only one or two others loading up material. Not good.
mike,
i have a fax on my desk which came in from a supplier last night
as of 10-27-08 the supplier is raising pricing on Landmark 30 shingle colors burnt sieena,pewter gray, cobblestone, resawn shake,heather blend, weathered wood $7.70/square
BUT they have decreased their fuel surcharge by $5 i have never known a supplier to raise shingle prices by COLOR--- but they claim that they had--since august ---been pricing by their actual average cost of shingles in stock--but inventory levels of those colors have dropped so low they have to be replaced and that the new prices reflect charges from the manufactureresGee--with the cost per barrel of oil cut almost in half----shouldn't those prices from the manufacturers be DROPPING instead of spiking?????
Stephen
Stephen,
I agree. Wouldn't it be fun to tell those kind of suppliers that you are no longer even telling customers about the different colors due to the price increase?
Childish? Yeah, I guess so...but my truck got broken into last night so I am in a bad mood,
Mike
My buddy was in his office yesterday sitting on the john with the door open when in walks two guys. he yells and tells them he's in the restroom he'll be right out one guy comes right on back and starts to try and sell him something face to face he's like com'on man I'm trin to use the john! they leave he gets finished and starts to leave thats when he realizes they took his keys off his desk. doesn't have a spare and the dealer won't make him a new one until he gets a copy of the title to prove it's his. I offerd to sleep in the truck with a shotgun but he said the police were going to watch it.
this must bee the season for break-ins.
this time last year MY truck was cleaned out.
this past friday my storage unit was broken into and 2 air compressors liftedthieves must have been pretty organized-- it's a small place-----ptobably 12-14 units, 2 gates. thieves cut the locks off both gates and every unit door---grabbed my air compressors.-- the owner keeps a unit with a bunch of stainless steel sheets----they took those as well.
the used book seller that has about a 16x30 unit PACKED with used books----they cut the locks but took nothing at least they only took my compressors-- i still have my ladders, scaffolding, jacks, plywood stack, dump trailer etc.
owner says the cops told him they know who did it, but they can't prove it.
stephen
One of our jobsites got hit last weekend. 4 gangboxes of various trades cut into and cleaned out. In hard times crime always goes up it seems. Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
Stephen,
Maybe there is money to be made in job site security or materialstools bounty hunting? I'd sign up as I'd like to see some justice for the punk that got into my truck.
Spent $1k today buying parts to fix it.
Mike
It goes on up the line. Take note of the price of 2x4 stock quoted, that is mill wholesale . This mill is located about 30 miles from me. I used to live right near it. http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081029/NEWS/810290456/1001/COLUMN
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I was talking to our roofer about whether the prices were coming down in line with oil prices.
He said he was still seeing price increases and it was explained in a letter from one of the major manufacturers, I can't recall which, that the bi-product of gasoline production is or was used in asphalt, according to the manufacturer refineries have become more efficient therefore their raw materials have not become cheaper...
sounds like #### to me but I really don't know how shingles are made .
As they get better refining/distillation methods for the production of gasoline, the asphalts and tars left over decrease.
Also the quality of those tars and asphalts goes down.
Asphalt grades for making pavements, got progressively more brittle, through the 80's, to the point you couldn't really buy asphalts suitable for making a durable road, even though the cost went up.
The oil companies, then started offering polymer additives, that brought the flexibility needed for good pavements back. Had to pay for that too.
We've already had one independant yard go completely under in Mooresville last month.
And things are still rolling pretty good here!!!
Scary stuff man.
The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
Stock lumber just informed 3000 employees there getting a pink slip in the next two weeks. In doing so they are cutting 30% of there workforce and closeing 86 locations nationwide.
I was talking to to my lumber guy and he says that company has lost money for 2 years. If they don't do better in 09 they are gone.
I have to say, I won't miss them!
They bought out a 50 year old Mom and Pop lumber yard in a small town next to where I live. When it was the M & P, I used to get GREAT service there and even free delivery on small orders. When it became Stock, the service decreased and the costs went up.
Which company are you talking about?
Stock lumber
I was talking about Raymond