Lumber, plywood prices skyrocket

New York Times via Houston Chronicle ^ | May 1, 2004 | BERNARD SIMON

[JoeSixPack1]

Our local home depot had 1/2" CDX for $32.90 per sheet yesterday. But that still puts me in shock!

[JerseyHighlander]

Good luck, the stock of plywood and OS board in NJ is non-existent, large builders are bringing it in from other states, and NJ based builders are going to lengths, like travelling 2 to 3 states away to buy supplies. NJ is still in a new construction boom, prices are skyrocketing on new homes built with sub-standard lumber (and sub-par construction workers), these homes won't stand for more than 20 years.

[Veloxherc]

I am glad I will be building with concrete. By the time wood finishes going up in price, concrete will be cheaper.

[boxsmith13]

"'The guy at the lumber store said, "All the plywood is being sent to China and Iraq""'

I dont think the world is even remotely prepared for the impact China is going to have on the global economy. It will be the greatest upheaval in 60 years

[John Thornton]

According to Random Lengths, a trade publication, 1,000 square feet of -inch OSB sells for $503 in the north-central United States; this time last year, the same amount cost $170. Half-inch four-ply southern pine plywood is up to $523 for 1,000 square feet, from $240 a year ago.

Yes, but a year ago, the plywood business was in a slump---prices were way down and wood processing plants were shut down---putting a lot of people out of work.

What was the price of plywood in 2000 or 2001?

I know this is hard for the media to understand, but in a market economy, prices go up and down based on demand. I'm sure John Kerry feels that if he is elected, he will be able to order prices very low with no impact on production---after all, his favorite era was the Nixon administration.

[Rome2000]

Use CMU instead.

[Freesofar]

Ther are litterally MILLIONS of good prime lumber pine trees standing dead right now in the forests of Southern California.Victims of drought, inviting bark beetle infestations due to overgrowth, too many trees per acre competing for moisture. But offers for their sale and removal will not be touched by lumber companies due to all the environmental restrictions placed within the contracts. The BLM even offered a lumber mill free for the taking but no takers.
Right now in the San Bernardino National Forest , property owners are paying a premium price to have contractors remove the dead trees, racing to get ahead of the next fire season ,and they go to waste,or firewood mostly
It is a tragedy, By next year Sequoia National forest will have millions of Brown dead standing pine , the death rate is already showing around 20% there 80% dead forest in San bernardino NF
Good thing Clinton declared all that new National Monument status locking out the public access to all that beautiful forest and killing any chance of harvesting or thinning.
A great national treasure squandered by the Leftist entity, The Sierra Club

[snopercod]

We've been working and saving for 11 years to build on our property and now the prices are souring out of control. I don't know what's going to happen. I expect many sleepless nights...

Having built two houses on my own - one in Los Osos, one in NC - I know what is going to happen.

You are going to run out of money before it is finished unless you take action now. You probably will anyway. I always did ;-)

There are many things you can do to cut costs. Better start looking...

[DB]

I'm in central California. Probably just as bad here...

[JerseyHighlander]

OK, I stand corrected, NJ prices haven't hit that level yet, but try getting one order for a house, won't happen, home improvement contractors are running around buying here and there for additions, houses have board stamped from 2 or 3 manufacturers.

[dufekin]

All this inflation could be enough to trigger a new recession...that's what I fear.

It probably won't happen before November, however, so if Bush can keep a 1-vote lead in Florida and Ohio...

[Vigilantcitizen]

1/2 8' OSB 1689.60 per unit / 51.80 sheet / 1.60 sq ft

1/2 8' CDX 1584.00 per unit / 48.00 sheet / 1.50 sq ft

I ain't paying that for birch and oak plywood.

3/4" shop grade birch is running around $30.00 per sheet.

3/4" oak is running $44.00 per sheet.

[antaresequity]

whoops

I made a mistake [actually the guy quoted it wrong]

I called back...Golden State is quoting 20.94 and 21.20 a sheet [CDX/OSB]

[.38sw]

We're working on rebuilding the fence around our yard (6'x 8" rough cut redwood). My husband has decided to redesign the portion in the backyard that borders on open space, after checking out the price of lumber. We're using wire, reusing the posts, since they're still most in pretty good shape (the infill, however, and the rails were pretty shot), and replacing the top and bottom rails and the kickboards. He just bought the rails over the weekend, and paid over $200 for rough cut redwood, 2X4's, I think. I'm glad he agreed to do the wire thing. I had proposed this before, and he didn't like the idea. But, it'll save us a whole lotta money to do it this way. It doesn't look bad, and several of our neighbors have done it this way.

[farmfriend]

He thinks those prices are high, he should price redwood. A 16' 2x6 is $20. And that is common construction not heart. Heart is $10 more.

[Skooz]

I guess I now have a good excuse for not starting that huge deck my wife has been nagging me about.

"Not now, dear, we have to wait for the lumber prices to fall back down."

[antaresequity]

my mistake...I divided by 33 sheets a unit not 66...and the first quote was not my regular guy...it was the counter guy.

I got throug to my broker and he quoted both at around 21 a sheet.

Sorry for the confusion

[DB]

That was encouraging...

I think I'll just go and cry now...

[Petronski]

Sweet Mother of God! $48 for 1/2 CDX?

[snopercod]

Are you in the construction biz?

Kindasorta. I was licensed in CA way back when, but couldn't tolerate the excessive regulation and left the miserable state. I have built two homes on my own (with the help of my lovely wife).

Now I design houses out of my house since I can't find a "real job" here in NC.

I was thinking of building a small vacation rental here in the mountains where I live. I have an offer in on a lot a few hundred feet from a big waterfall. Now I am wondering if this is going to work...