Timber Prices??

[Stevebod]

Hi all,

just about to build my 3rd shed. Completed my cutting list and getting quotes for timber. Spoke to a local supplier who reckons timber prices have now doubled. Should I wait it out?...(not in any desperate hurry....)

 

[Pallet Fancier]

If you're not in a hurry, why not wait? Prices can only get higher or stay the same (I'm pessimistic they will ever go down again - noticed how fuel is higher than at the time of the strikes? And going higher still?)

I'm in more urgent need of the space, but am priced out, and am spending a lot of time looking for demolition sites and contractors flogging their over-supply cheap rather than having to truck it away. Problem is, you don't get things like sheet materials or cladding, this way. Still got to pay for those!

 

[Spectric]

Prices will only rise upto the point that the customer will no longer swallow the cost, then yards will just sit on unsold lumber until they reduce the price. A local yard round here has said that with some materials they are now up almost 75% since last year and it is not all down to high demand, but there is a dose of profiteering by blaming Covid and brexit.

 

[RobinBHM]

I believe prices will settle down.

Sawmills reduced to a skeleton staff during the Covid waves last year + container ships are in the wrong places

My guess is that give it 6 months and the supply chain will fill up again.

Sheet insulation rocketed in price after that BASF fire in Germany a few years back, but prices have gone down again now.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

- noticed how fuel is higher than at the time of the strikes? And going higher still?)

The USA has printed more dollars in the last year than it has in the whole of its history - petrol is priced in dollars.

 

[Ollie78]

Just do it now if you can, I don`t think prices will drop unless there is serious over supply which won`t be for a while yet.
You could look at alternative construction methods, I looked into using reclaimed insulated freezer panels and stuff like that, because timber is so expensive it might be closer to previously more expensive methods now.
Apparently metal is in a similar situation too.
Maybe you could use cobb, rammed earth, sandbags

Good luck.

 

[Pallet Fancier]

Just do it now if you can, I don`t think prices will drop unless there is serious over supply which won`t be for a while yet.
You could look at alternative construction methods, I looked into using reclaimed insulated freezer panels and stuff like that, because timber is so expensive it might be closer to previously more expensive methods now.
Apparently metal is in a similar situation too.
Maybe you could use cobb, rammed earth, sandbags

Good luck.

You may laugh, but I gave some serious thought to wattle and daub. I mean, I even googled it! That's how serious I got!

 

[Trainee neophyte]

You may laugh, but I gave some serious thought to wattle and daub. I mean, I even googled it! That's how serious I got!

Straw bale as a building technique is quick and easy, but I am rather taken with light straw clay slip for sheds as it is less bulky. I haven't tried it yet, but it is on the list.

http://www.naturalbuildingblog.com/using-light-straw-clay-slip-straw-as-interior-wall-fill/

 

[Sandyn]

I believe prices will eventually settle back to where they were, but it will take two to three years. As well as your usual suppliers, you should have a look at timber recycling yards and Facebook marketplace and buy whatever is suitable at good prices before the price hike works back to the recycling market. It may take a while and you may have to do some redesign to use alternative sizes, but you might be able to get a lot of what you need at more reasonable prices.