I see that in dimensional lumber at lumber yards yet where I get my hardwoods the price hasn't moved in a few years it seems or very little. 2x4's at Lowe's the other day $13+ Better Living (local building supplier) $9.37 each. Some are taking advantage.

I waited too long to buy 2x material for a new workbench, so by now I've upgraded my $120 design to a $1,200 design without changing a thing! 

 

I'm glad I built my assembly table winter 2020.  

 

I see a lot of contractors are now putting an "escalation clause" in their quotes that's tied to the lumber cost at the time it's needed.

i've got a bag of quality pine sawdust.  i'll trade for a case of ammo (9mm or 45acp).

Lumber futures are headed downward. It'll be a good while before any drop in the futures price makes it's way to the retail outlets. Red oak is nearly the same price per bf as a fir 2x4x8. 

20 hours ago, DAB said:

i've got a bag of quality pine sawdust.  i'll trade for a case of ammo (9mm or 45acp).

I think it will take more than one bag

 

No sign of that stuff going down soon and with the shortage of Copper it may cost more next year than it does now to go to the range.

Edited May 20, 20214 yr by Gerald

Now that folks are going back to work, they will have more time at work than at home.  Also, their money supply will be less, they will turn to entertainment and dining out.  Food prices are already going  up.  A loaf of bread that has been $2.49 per loaf for the past year is now $2.99.  Butter and eggs are going up.  Gasoline prices are skyrocketing.  But, as the economy adjusts to the new norm, food will be higher, lumber will be lower as folks won't have the time or money to do projects.  It will take awhile to get the prices back down.  By the theory of supply and demand, we have plenty of lumber in stock, but to control the flow, you raise the prices.  Just like when the Colonial pipeline that supplies fuel from Texas to the south and east coast was hijacked, folks went into panic buying and so the prices were raised and have yet to come back down.  After folks started getting out, prices of gasoline went from $2.19 per gallon to $2.99 per gallon.  One local gas station has it for $3.29 per gallon.  But, it will settle out after the economy gets moving again.  There will be some limited supplies of some things and overpricing of others, but it will work back down or they will keep it on the shelves.  

7 hours ago, FlGatorwood said:

But, as the economy adjusts to the new norm, food will be higher, lumber will be lower as folks won't have the time or money to do projects.  It will take awhile to get the prices back down.

 

There seems to be a housing construction boom going on, and, we are now heading into hurricane season - both factors working against the price of lumber going down anytime soon.

Heading into the summer with travel restrictions eased - I don't expect gas prices to drop much either.

 

The flip side of that coin is that my net worth (on paper) has gone up!  Our house is worth more, the used truck I bought last year is worth about $10,000 more than I paid for it - according to kbb.com  Of course those paper figures have never bought me a gallon of gas or a loaf of bread...

8 hours ago, FlGatorwood said:

gasoline went from $2.19 per gallon to $2.99 per gallon.  One local gas station has it for $3.29 per gallon. 

Consider yourselves lucky! The going price around here is $4.95 per US gallon.

Our highest price around here is $2.99. Well, that's pretty much the norm. Very little variation. Costco has it usually $.10 cheaper. Our Ford hybrid gets around 45-50 MPG, which is nice. But, the old V10 250 makes up for it at 12 MPG...on a good day. Groceries are 15-18 miles away. That's a once a week  car trip.  Lowes and HD is a bit farther and that's at least, a twice weekly truck trip.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2021/05/22/why-lumber-and-plywood-prices-are-so-high-and-when-they-will-come-down/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie&fbclid=IwAR0o5khpXWB7IFnUQoqDUQuiiilpk_01zUiRUpoexFkmICiIg7-eKK0vcw8&sh=675fecf54b71

 

29 minutes ago, kmealy said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2021/05/22/why-lumber-and-plywood-prices-are-so-high-and-when-they-will-come-down/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie&fbclid=IwAR0o5khpXWB7IFnUQoqDUQuiiilpk_01zUiRUpoexFkmICiIg7-eKK0vcw8&sh=675fecf54b71

 

I Can't wait til 2023! Gonna have to bite the bullet. There's a few outlets other than big boxes I've yet to try.

Haven't had to buy any lumber lately. 

Have a pretty good supply from "Curb Shopping". 

At last count we had about 40 sheets of 3/4" ply, and 30 sheets of 1/2", and about 10 sheets of 1/4". 

Amazing that people are throwing out brand new sheets at the prices I'm hearing. 

Not mentioning the 2 x whatever supply, the piles are getting pretty big. 

 

Getting hard to find places to stash it all. 

It is obvious you are not building enough.

No he's not @Gerald

 

13 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Haven't had to buy any lumber lately. 

Have a pretty good supply from "Curb Shopping". 

At last count we had about 40 sheets of 3/4" ply, and 30 sheets of 1/2", and about 10 sheets of 1/4". 

Amazing that people are throwing out brand new sheets at the prices I'm hearing. 

Not mentioning the 2 x whatever supply, the piles are getting pretty big. 

 

Getting hard to find places to stash it all. 

 

 

Use the lumber to build more storage.....  

Deja vu all over again.  I remember selling equipment in the 70's:  every sale had an adjustment clause, with portions of the sale tagged to different price indeces.  I was compensated by commission, so a big AC unit that took 6 months to build could result in a larger commission when it shipped.  Every cloud....silver lining.

2 hours ago, PeteM said:

Deja vu all over again.  I remember selling equipment in the 70's:  every sale had an adjustment clause, with portions of the sale tagged to different price indeces.  I was compensated by commission, so a big AC unit that took 6 months to build could result in a larger commission when it shipped.  Every cloud....silver lining.

I remember going to the grocery store in the '70s.  That was before bar code scanners.  You'd see a can of something with price sticker 59 cents, peel it off and there'd be one for 52 cents, then  49 cents, and 45 cents.  Or you could look around on the shelf and see cans marked with 2 or 3 different prices.  10-12% interest on CDs.  Crazy time.

2 hours ago, kmealy said:

10-12% interest on CDs.  Crazy time.

 

 

12-22% interest on home loans at that time too.  Now that our houses are paid for we get .02-.04% interest on our savings.