Between high demand, all-time high prices and high interest from thieves, plain old lumber has emerged as the hottest commodity of this year's home, deck and fence construction season.
"In the last year, we were buying the same product right here for $10, $11 a sheet. Now, we're paying in the neighbourhood of $90 a sheet," said Garth Babcock, a construction manager for Akash Homes, which builds close to 250 homes each year in Alberta. "It's unheard of."
The two-by-fours used in construction are bought by builders in bulk, with the price for 1,000 board feet typically in the $400 range. But not anymore.
"We'd take a spike in the past, maybe $600, $800 [for] a thousand board feet. Now, it's over $2,200, and we don't know where it's going," Babcock said.
An 1,800-square-foot duplex that cost $25,000 to frame last year now costs three times as much, he said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmo...19-pandemic-supply-demand-fence-posts-decks-e
"In the last year, we were buying the same product right here for $10, $11 a sheet. Now, we're paying in the neighbourhood of $90 a sheet," said Garth Babcock, a construction manager for Akash Homes, which builds close to 250 homes each year in Alberta. "It's unheard of."
The two-by-fours used in construction are bought by builders in bulk, with the price for 1,000 board feet typically in the $400 range. But not anymore.
"We'd take a spike in the past, maybe $600, $800 [for] a thousand board feet. Now, it's over $2,200, and we don't know where it's going," Babcock said.
An 1,800-square-foot duplex that cost $25,000 to frame last year now costs three times as much, he said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmo...19-pandemic-supply-demand-fence-posts-decks-e