Have material costs to build homes jumped lately?

Labor has taken the biggest hit.
Subs are just trying to keep people employeed, hoping that things will change.

Anything in construction - Elec., Plumbing, Framing, Roofing, Concrete, HVAC, etc., are taking jobs at 0% profit.

Material cost have risen, and will continue.

Labor rates are actually going down, almost to the point that the are better off with the unemployment, than working.

 

When you are working on profit margins of 0%, you have no safety margin.
Material prices rise, and what is left, but to cut the labor rate.

Only 2 things involved - Materials and Labor.

Labor never changes. Never!
Only the rate of compensation/hr.

 

"But still" to what exactly???

Why?

What thoughts are you looking for exactly?

 

lots of GCs are trying to cut into labor in order to get back some $....but it starts with the clients, who many seem to believe right now that the same things should be able to be built on the cheap but still best grade (i have one of those clients right now driving me nuts)

materials are going up, everything from paint to wood, etc...just in the last 6 months everything has been....the economy is adjusting to hard times, and suppliers are tightening thier belts too

as a GC i have had to not be as generous as in past when some rates flush, or could make up some in extras billed to give to my guys, so as a result i see many trades now acting surly about not getting top dollar still, or they think that they can slack off our quality as result...i personally dont abide such things, so have revolved a few of my regulars out that havent changed thier tune, despite my working with them....there are lots of good guys willing to work for a decent $, right now it just takes more time to find them!

 

I am in the market for 5000 sq. ft.Clear Cedar 1 x 8 planks...

according to suppliers..Cedar has gone up 40% in past 6 months..

My luck I need it now!

 

soft woods and hard woods alike have gone WAY up over the last 6 months - 1 year

try contacting georgia pacific directly, or if there are any small mills nearby to you....i worked out a deal with a small lumber place just outside the city (about an hours drive, wood-king IIRC) ...anyways, they gave me a much better deal on framing timber dealing directly....perhaps something you can inquire about?

 

Any petroleum base product has gone up considerably in the last year. We get hit with surcharges for deliveries. Most suppliers here adjust these respective to gas prices. I have a few subs that try raising their price for labor and I can’t blame them, but we all need to keep them low to stay competitive. One thing that always pissed me off is, when a hurricane hits, OSB prices go up. Now explain to me how a sheet good coming from an automated plant needs a price increase of 100% or more. The overhead can’t change much when you only need to leave a switch on. They had a plant in Missouri go down because of a hurricane and blamed the increase because of the cost of fuel for shipping.
I guess the cost of shipping from Valdosta Georgia justifies a 100% increase. I thought if you shipped 250,000 sheets of OSB by train you would get a better price than this. I hate these people.