Lumber Prices Soar Alongside Construction

[Oyaji]

An article appearing today in the Kitsap Sun, a newspaper of the Pacific Northwest......

http://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2017/08/13/lumber-prices-soar-alongside-construction/561222001/

[swampyankee]

Lumber prices have been crazy now for many years and the worst part is it's all crap. Try going to Home Depot or Lowes ( which is all that's left in my area, as they put all the small lumber yards out of business)and you have two go through a pile of wood trying to find one straight 2X4. Takes a half hour to find ten. Sheets of plywood are almost always warped. It's frustrating trying to build anything all you're doing is forcing wood in place.

[Oyaji]

Whenever something needs to be built, I make my purchases from the local, independent lumber yard. Sure the prices are a tad higher than what you get a Home Depot or Lowes but, the quality and service is a whole helluva lot better. I even get help from the yard man loading the material in my pickup; you won't get that kind of assistance from the home improvement centers.

Remember as a kid there was 4 lumber yards within a 1 mile radius of the family home. One of the yards was only a block away and I recall them making deliveries with their Hyster straddle-lift going up and down the street right there in the neighborhood. You won't see that kind of activity these days........too much government (i.e. OSHA) interference.

[Sunray]

"...one straight 2X4..." Any of 'em will still be arced a wee bit. So will plywood.
"...Tariffs on Canadian softwood..." Illegal tariffs at that. There is a treaty in place the U.S. government has chosen to ignore. And it's Congress, again, not the Donald.

[PaFrank]

Ever been to Northern Maine? The trees are cut and loaded onto trucks and SHIPPED INTO CANADA, where they turn it back into lumber or paper and sell it back!

[clintonhater]

Ever been to Northern Maine? The trees are cut and loaded onto trucks and SHIPPED INTO CANADA, where they turn it back into lumber or paper and sell it back!

Same here in northern NY. Labor costs for milling in Canada are presumably lower, but hard to believe they can be SO much lower as to offset cost of transportation, not to mention the aggravation & delays of border crossing. Only 8 m. from here there's a huge mill, but the only logs they get are those grown on land they own or lease.