Lumber Pricing Question

6 years ago

Lumber commodities are falling again. My question.....How long does it take for the lumber price drop to get to the home builder? Does inventory at a higher price need to be moved first or does the new price change take affect immediately? Thanks to all who answer

Featured Answer

kudzu9

6 years ago

If you're waiting for what you think will be a low point in lumber prices so that a building project will be cheaper, you're fooling yourself. Even if lumber prices would come down substantially, most other things will keep on with their relentless move upwards, including labor. I've yet to hear someone say: "I'm glad we put off building because we saved money."

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Comments (9)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
6 years ago
Builders will keep their prices as high as they can for as long as they can. It's only when they start losing business to competitors that they'll start lowering prices.
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millworkman
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
It depends. Mills will slow production when it falls too far and to fast which will at least stabilize the pricing at the same levels. It could easily be between 2-4 months before the commodities drop is really effected in retail pricing.
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PRO
Charles Ross Homes
6 years ago
Unfortunately, the pricing of commodities like lumber tend to increase rapidly and come down more gradually. Your builder--unless they are a large production builder with national contracts--doesn't have any control over that. He/she is not putting more money in their pocket due to price increases unless you are building under a cost-plus contract where the builder's fee is a percentage of the total project cost.
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Lynn Heins
6 years ago
I'm not a pro, but I'm guessing it'll be quick to rise, slow to fall. We're farmers, and that's how cash rental rates are. When commodity prices are high, cash rent increases almost immediately. But when commodity prices are low, cash rent is SLOW to respond.
Seabornman
6 years ago
A local lumber yard sends a notice out about pricing every so often. The latest one says OSB and similar products will be in short supply for a while yet, while treated wood is starting to be available. They mentioned other products, but my point is that various materials will be affected differently as we move on. I'm trying to get a metal roof on my house project right now and two vendors told me my selected manufacturer was not even accepting orders they were so backlogged!
JJ
6 years ago
I've been waiting for some standing seam sheets for a repair for 6 months.
User
6 years ago
On metal roofing...Great, just great!!!

Any suggestions on what to do for a porch that is suppose to have the metal roofing? I have not discussed this with my builder, but he did tell me a while back that we could not use asphalt shingles because the pitch is too low. At our stage in building, walls of the second story are going up next week. Then roof, windows, and roofing to follow probably after the new year.
BT
6 years ago
Anything less than 2:12 pitch - can not be shingles. To be perfectly honest in Northern areas I would not do shingles on less than 4:12 pitch because of snow. Metal may cost about the same or a lot more... Always suggest using PVDF coating vs SMP.