Material availablity, Highlands

[saveasteading]

Prices and effects, from very recent enquiries.

 

This is Highland information but probably national and international.

 

On timber prices. I was hoping to buy all non-structural timber locally in the Highlands, where there are many saw-mills. The prices are obviously (?) better than after handling through merchants. Wrong!

One helpful person explained that their prices are rising to match availability too, just dealing with their primary markets of fencing and pallet wood. Quoting rule of thumb for local pine products as a shocking £500/m3.

So he advised that, for example,  they cannot ever compete with imported cls prices. A blow to our costs as I had estimated at a lower price (for secondary timber)  than the merchants'.

He also said that OSB board that is made at Inverness is mostly going to the US where the price is very high.

 

The Scottish timber is all much wider grained than that from cold countries, so isn't generally of structural quality.

 

Will the prices settle and fall?  Anybody's guess. For timber I reckon it will a bit as it is not from EU, and a balance may be found. On the other hand, the foresters can control the price by not cutting the trees.

EU supplies cement by the tanker from Greece, bricks from Belgium, and I am assuming they are 1. slow to recover from lock-down, 2. having to sort out import protocols for GB, 3. is there import duty by GB?

 

One Inverness area project has closed the site for 6 weeks minimum, in the hope of materials becoming available at all, never mind the price.

Perhaps if more sites could do that, or alter the program,  then things would come under control more quickly.

 

We have an area of roof to dismantle, and will be trying to harvest whatever timber we can. We have also altered our works programme from 18 months to 2 years, and are starting slowly.

 

 

[ProDave]

It is becoming a worry.

 

I went to buy some humble 50 by 20mm tile battens, was shocked at the price compared to last time, and then when i went to pick them up, instead of a nice bundle of 10 all that was there was a handful of loose ones mostly bent.  I managed to pick out 10 that were nearly straight but without more deliveries they would be picked clean in hours if not days.

 

My joiner friend tells me plasterboard, plaster and cement are like hen's teeth and so is insulation.

 

I am measuring up this weekend to try and get the cladding for my sun room purchased asap, that's if I can find any.

 

I am glad I am near the end of the build not at the start.

[nod]

Everyone cashing in at the moment 

 

I’ve just purchased £3500 worth of English oak 

 It’s not something that’s in high demand So the price hasn’t changed much 

We had a similar situation five years ago when Brexit was announced 

Bricks and blocks that are made here going up 40% right after Christmas 

Ive waited nine months for a new tipper trailer and had to stand two price rises after paying my deposit 

The dealer told me the factory is on full production and could sell my trailer for £1500 more than I’m paying if I wanted my deposit back 

 

The plastering and rendering sites I’m pricing for now have a built in 5% material rises and the builder - client are agreeing to absorb and other material rises 

and relax penalty clauses 

[Temp]

Apparently lumber is falling again..

https://fortune.com/2021/06/16/lumber-prices-falling-2021-chart-update-price-of-lumber-going-down-wood-costs/

 

20% down from peak.

 

[nod]

20 minutes ago, Temp said:

Apparently lumber is falling again..

https://fortune.com/2021/06/16/lumber-prices-falling-2021-chart-update-price-of-lumber-going-down-wood-costs/

 

20% down from peak.

 

A lot of these things will fall 

Like bog roll and hand sanitizer ?

The problem is No ones knows if there will be another lockdown next winter 

[crispy_wafer]

hoping prices drop back, I'm in the middle of a build.  Planning on getting watertight then shutting the door for 6 months whilst I keep an eye on materials that will be needed from there on in.

[Cpd]

45 minutes ago, crispy_wafer said:

hoping prices drop back, I'm in the middle of a build.  Planning on getting watertight then shutting the door for 6 months whilst I keep an eye on materials that will be needed from there on in.

I am also putting various building project on hold and concentrating on jobs I already have materials for - I have been stockpiling on a tiny scale for a few years. 

[Stones]

No bagged cement to be had up here, apparently won't be any until well into July. 

[ProDave]

I am just back from collecting my Timber Cladding for the sun room.  Jewsons were the cheapest by some way and they had it in stock, so I went straight away before that changed.  There was not much left of the 150mm planks after I had taken my lot.

 

I asked about Promix Lite plasterboard joint filler, as everyone had been telling me there was none in stock.  If I run out (likely) I think I can call in a favour from a joiner friend who says I can have some from his tub.

[ProDave]

Just went to get some decking planks.  The Evanton sawmill only had 5.4M lengths and after I took my few they only had 5 left.  That will be another unobtanium very shortly.

[dave2878]

6 x 2 was priced up at £26 a length today at my local timber merchants , concrete has went really high , 

[Cpd]

7 hours ago, dave2878 said:

6 x 2 was priced up at £26 a length today at my local timber merchants , concrete has went really high , 

I just don’t dare go into my local hardware……. I need battens for some internal work but am going to brake down some  22mm sarking board I have on stock…. 

[saveasteading]

Managed to blag 2 bags of cement at the local BM, I think because they want our account....good thinking on their and our parts.

 

Some is there, and they are rationing it among regular buyers, which sounds fair to me.

[jamieled]

I've been picking up my 5 bag allowance in the big orange shop when I'm in town. I might just have been lucky my trips  coincided with their deliveries.

[ProDave]

The timber supply (and cost) in the region is not going to be helped by the fire at Fettes sawmill on the Black Isle.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-58099277

[Kelvin]

We are debating delaying any building for some time. That said inflation is also likely to be on the up so either way it’s just going to be dear. The cost is one thing but the lack of availability of materials creating uncertainty in your build schedules and then the massive cost hikes is making us think very carefully about self-building. 

[Ralph]

On 09/08/2021 at 18:45, Kelvin said:

We are debating delaying any building for some time. That said inflation is also likely to be on the up so either way it’s just going to be dear. The cost is one thing but the lack of availability of materials creating uncertainty in your build schedules and then the massive cost hikes is making us think very carefully about self-building. 

We are just about at the end of our build so the impact has been on delays rather than costs. However, speaking to the trades and seeing some of the prices I don't think we could afford to build the house we have if we were starting now. 

 

[gc100]

I’d be very cautious if I was starting a build now. I’ve been pretty lucky and have a good relationship with my BM and have been getting 20bags of cement at a time which keeps me going for what I need but they guys who built my house with me have had lots of trouble with the current job. You can get everything but prices are high and very hard to get any meaningful discounts. We got huge discounts on our build of lots of negotiations between suppliers but there’s less  margin to work with now. 
 

I hear from a national BM chain that a huge amount of supplies are being bought and horded by HS2 (the most pointless reckless waist of public money ever IMO ) on top of the Brexit and COVID supply chains issues. 
 

I started my build a few months before COVID hit the uk, but being very paranoid and bought pretty much all the supplies I needed to get to first fix before it Boris and pals started taking it seriously and stored them . It kept use going through the first lockdown and beyond. I then got everything months ahead and again stored ready. I did this throughout the build and always kept the project going . I think if you are to build now you need to do something similar and have some secure storage at least .

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by gc100

[Kelvin]

We talked it over yesterday with the architect. He was a bit noncommittal on material availability, prices, and trades. Reading between the lines though they are having problems with their other projects. He also mentioned HS2 hoarding materials. Overall I think we are going to delay the build and see how things go. There’s a danger of course that things might not settle or go back to where they were and we’ll get a bit stuck but the ever rising prices aren’t sustainable. We’ll do as much as we can to secure planning etc and then make a start then stop and wait.