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Thread: Lumber prices!!!

  1. #1
    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    Lumber prices!!!



    Bad news for speaker builders i guess...

    Picked up a news item a couple days ago from a Canadian construction contractors association. Lumber price increases have simply gone crazy when compared from pre-Covid to now, so in about a year.

    They indicated that on average wood price has gone up by 125%! Citing lockdowns, curfews, Covid restrictions, as the explanation, making forest workers and lumber mills work at a imited pace. This while demand is very high both in Canada and USA for housing projects, Canada also exporting lots of lumber to the US.

    Two specific price increase examples were given in the article. First, 4X8' sheet of 1/2" plywood which sold for $21.CA now goes for $40.CA . Second, a piece of 2X4"X8' previously selling for $2.89 CA now sells for $6.49 CA !

    They added this ain't over since lumber shortages are in sight not too far away. They are talking about importing lumber from Europe. Well, that won't be a deal either, my bank is asking $1.60 CA for one Euro, a 60% exchange rate, then add shipping costs for all that lumber from Europe to Canada... Maybe to the US also.

    Since the pandemic is around for a while according to experts, it seems speaker builders will have to put the hand deeper and deeper in their pocket, i.e. PAY much more to play.

    My preferred for larger boxes (never use particle board) is 7-ply British Columbia Fir plywood (one of the hardest "soft wood"). End of March 2019 Depot was selling a sheet for $62. CA (kept a note of that), though thickness stamped on it was initially 19 mm, went down to 18.7, at last look was 18.3 mm, so i figure 18 mm or less next time?

    Haven't checked price on it recently, but in the above pandemic context not sure i even want to know...

    Richard

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    Senior Member macaroonie's Avatar
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    A sheet of 18mm Baltic birch is now £70 for aa/bb ie one good face , other with patches

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    Hi Mac,

    Thanks for the input.

    Last time i checked pricing locally on the sheet you describe was before the pandemic, say 12-18 months ago, it was $100. CA.

    I don't even dare looking now, might not be good for my blood pressure, lol . Regards,

    Richard

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    Saw on Bloomberg Business News today an update on the lumber pricing situation.

    Well, on the Chicago commodities exchange, where lumber is traded, the futures hit a new record high! As their name implies futures indicate the direction of the market price wise in the coming months. No break in sight...

    Wonder if i could trade some snow at Chicago exchange, yeah the real stuff not the one you sniff otherwise i'd keep it, got about 6' high on front yard grass and getting short on space, could offer a good price, shipping not included...

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    UPDATE

    Was at the local Home Depot yesterday for something else, but at the same time checked pricing on lumber since been a few months...

    * Plywood sheet, Std, 3/4", $98.98 Can (for $3. more you get the better one under).

    * Plywood sheet, Fir, 18.3 mm, very nice one side, $102. Can (my preferred for mid or large speaker boxes).

    * Plywood sheet, Std, 3/8 or 1/2", can't remember for sure thickness but its one of those two, $50.

    * 2X3, regular, $8.95 or so; same but Select, about $10.

    * 2X4, regular, about $10.; same but Select, around $12.

    * Wood fence board, nominal 1X6" 5 ft. (actual say 1/2-5/8" X 5 1/4-5 1/2"), about $8.

    Naturally, all the above prices are taxes extra. Covid prices rip off. And they said recently that prices had started to come down, What? In that context, glad to have a fair amount of lumber in stock, daughter/husband recently bought a house (also at crazy price), there's work and repairs to do, so they shop from me for lumber, etc. since mine is free, lol.

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    Senior Member macaroonie's Avatar
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    2 x 6 CLS C24grade 4.8 mtr £24 at trade supplier

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    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    I have NO real experience buying lumber lately, BUT

    there was a news story today that "prices have dropped abt 30% from the highest recent level" ( which I'm sure is still way too high )
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    Thanks guys for the input.

    Mac: not sure its time yet to bang the beer mugs for speaker builders... with such costs no money left for beer, sniff. Or you do without lumber, then have lots of money left for beer!

    Wolf: i don't see yet where's the 30% price drop and you're right its still way too high. Maybe the futures on Chicago commodities exchange have gone down, however in-store prices are still very high, may take time.

    This ain't imported stuff, Canada is loaded with forests, wood and has many lumber mills. These often get it from Govt/public forests for a low cost. Recently a news org. did a helicopter survey! of lumber mill yards in some regions to see stocks. Films showed yards being pretty packed!! Now say they lack labour due to Covid payments to people for them to stay home...

    But one industry executive sort of talked too much when he said, you know lumber prices were low for many years, now they're more in line (with what industry likes to see). In the new normal guess we have to expect that lumber cost will remain relatively high for a while...

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    Senior Member 1audiohack's Avatar
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    With lumber prices where they are I am thinking about parting my house out and rebuilding with brick!

    Barry.
    If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    LOL, thanks Barry had a good laugh. Never thought about this...

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    no comment necessary

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    WOW, as bad where you are as it is around here...

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    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    I had part of my fence get blown down in a storm. Pricing replacements @ $97 a section. Think I will wait!

    Rob
    "I could be arguing in my spare time"

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    Senior Member RMC's Avatar
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    Canada's British Columbia, a major lumber producer also selling to the US, is on fire from thousands of lightning strikes! 300 active forest fires. Bet this will become the next reason for short supply and jacking up the prices again...

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    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    When we built our new home about three-years ago in Virginia, I was surprised to see our 2x4s came from Stora Enso in Austria labeled "quality No2", and our 2x6s from Vida in Sweden labeled "Premium". The product quality was visually striking compared to what I see at our local consumer lumber yards; clean, smooth, straight, with no missing edges, knots, etc.

    I don't believe my builder consciously picked these brands beyond using his supplier about 40-miles away for the delivery. I didn't get the idea that it was cheaper than domestic, but I was impressed with the quality. Since we were on a fixed-price bid, it was incumbent upon my builder to save money where he could and we had no specification for what lumber he was to use. So, I have to assume the imported materials were competitive with domestic lumber on price at that time. It was labeled as pine/spruce but the quality looked like those birch building blocks I played with as a kid. Our flooring, underlayment, and roofing plywood was all domestically sourced, and our trusses were built-to-order from a manufacturer about 70-miles away and looked to be made of the same wood products you'd expect from a lumber yard. That is knots, missing edges, and worse. In one case we chose to remake one piece of a roof truss ourselves because the wood just looked compromised.

    A new home under construction across the street from our old house got a delivery of Stora Enso wood just last week, so it must still be competitively priced—or better. I just find it odd that even with shipping across the Atlantic Ocean that something as heavy as wood could be competitively priced with domestic lumber. And yet lumber manufacturers here say the rise in prices is simply an adjustment in the market that puts them closer to where it always should have been.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

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