Improvements and building material prices

Got a bid last year pre Covid. of course, it was pushed back but I was told of the building materials big jump in prices, now that we’re looking to get it started soon after Easter. He stated he wouldn’t alter bid on labor but on any increase in materials (makes perfect sense) Can you guys tell me what I should expect in percentages of a jump? Is it ANY type of material? or mainly wood? we’d need rock/wood/quick crete/ all bolts/nuts/screws/nails, etc…

Locally, rock ~ 25% increase, lumber double, concrete ~ 25% increase, and fasteners I’m not sure about. Your area may be super different of course

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thank you for taking a stab in it!!! I know all results would vary…but still helps to just have some chime ins to compare!!! (Central/South East VA here)

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I hear you! It’s kind of crazy where I’m at, Gulf Coast FL. In addition to price increases the demand for labor is way high, so I’ve had some troubles getting folks out here.

yeah. unfortunately for me, a major portion of the work is a ‘make it better or its going to get much worse’ situation so longer I put it off is a major trade off in costs of what it will cost ‘later.’ :frowning: sigh

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That’s a toughie. Where I put my barn, there were some nearby trees that while not technically in the way would have been much more difficult to remove after the barn went up. Had to bite the bullet and have them removed before the building arrived. I hated to spend the money, but it was a good decision.

Best of luck on your project!

well if the project has any plywood in it those costs are up by the hundreds of percent.

15/32nds (was old 1/2 inch) CDX 4by8 sheathing used to be about $10 now is being quoted at $42.95

Have them run the materials list for a requote. be prepared for a shock similar to touching the electric fence

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50% increase on materials in my area, NE Georgia. Glad we got our barn improvements completed this summer.

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Initially I guess everyone switched their vacation budgets to home improvements and there were supply chain issues and prices shot up. A year later it seems just as bad.

I just ordered 6x6’s and such to build out a couple of stalls and I had to just not look at the total. I’m pretty sure it’s double what it would have been in the Before Times. (We downgraded some items, like using SPF instead of SYP tongue and groove.) But this has to get done and I only want to do it once. It does mean we’re doing the labor ourselves instead of hiring it out.

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I have not looked at numbers here but 25% seems kind of low to me. I know some things have literally doubled in price.

@ayrabz did your contractor not have even a hint on what the increase would be?

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to contractors credit: he has from the start of COVID alterted me to the scarey increases. He has a calendar of dates of work and wants to establish a date so he can nail down prices for that timeframe…I respect that, but wanted some feedback to not be shellshocked and? or? to pull other funds and know what I need.

Around here it’s a minimum 40% increase, with some items having gone up by as much as 60%.

We were looking at building a house. What would have cost about $200K pre-COVID would be almost $400K :flushed::woman_shrugging:t2:

In Central VA, local construction crews are anticipating another 30% increase in lumber this spring.

There are also shortages in aluminum, PVC, steel, iron.

I feel the pain too.
We just sold our farm and bought one that’s a better fit. It’s almost perfect, but lacks the hay storage we need. This will be a smaller garage type pole building with 4x bays, a shingled roof and concrete floor. I expected to pay $25-30K for said building (with no insulation, high end finishes, etc). I got three estimates from reputable local builders (central NC) and the best option is costing me a little over $40K. That’s not including power. Or painting, which I will do myself to save the $.

We’re lucky we can still move forward with the project, since we really do need a place to store hay that isn’t taking valuable stall space, but boy, it sure hurts!

I’m moving to a farm with no real horse shelter 8 hours away. I thought prices went up since I got the estimates but 40+%. :confounded:

So who let’s their horses just shelter under trees? I’m only kind-of joking.

Do you all think prices will go down again?

I feel your pain. We are in the process of purchasing a farm that needs major upgrades to the existing barn/shelter situation.

I’m hoping we can limp along with what’s in place until prices come down. I’d like to do the improvements right, but current prices plus all the other expenses associated with moving will force us to cut corners if we build now.

Just to add a different data point, we got an estimate for roof replacement (asphalt shingles) about a year ago and before we decided to put down a deposit to lock in the price, there was an increase in August 2020 of 15-17%. Sounds like we got off pretty easy actually! I feel for those of you looking to do major improvements or construction right now.

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Maybe similar to HOLDING an electric fence.

I would ask your contractor to give you an estimate of the impact of material cost increases on your estimate. Better to go in with a reasonable idea of the increase than get a worse than expected surprise later on.