Newsday ran an article last week on the soaring costs of building supplies post-pandemic, and what that means for builders and home owners looking to expand.
According to the article, building prices overall rose about 30% in the last few month of 2021 alone. Lumber in particular has been a problem. The National Association of Builders estimated last month that the cost of a new home has risen by about $36,000. What’s more the cost of soft wood lumber has nearly doubled over the last year, rising roughly 125%, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor statistics. While the prices sawmills charge per thousand feet has declined recently, the going price is still 76% higher than it was two years back,.
In need of an expert, Newsday caught up with Ben of Ben’s General Contracting Corporation on-site working on a home expansion. Ben explained that while many builders are reporting shortages of lumber, windows and doors, price increases and shortages have also extended into the synthetic end of the market.
Ben went on to explain that he, like many builders, is willing to mitigate, to some degree, the rising costs of building materials.
“We take it on the chin,” he said. “I’m not going to nickel and dime everybody. But,” he said, “everything is going through the roof. I’ve got to be able to pay my overhead. If I don’t pay for insurance, trucks and fuel then the job isn’t worth it.”
The article goes on to express a hope shared among homeowners, contractors and builders that the current rise in building material costs will eventually level off. Certainly we share this hope with the building community and look forward to a better second half of 2021.
Check out the video, featuring Ben’s General Contacting Corp below.
