Higher construction costs due to rising lumber prices

Dirt. Our appointment is mid-February 2022 :D

But that is simply not usable at all, because the structure has been so destroyed by dryness and bark beetles.

Take a look at the PlusMinus report about it. I think it’s about 7 minutes long.

Go into the forest (if there still is one). Example Westerwald: whole gaps run through the area – years ago there were trees, now no longer. All bark beetle wood – simply unusable for construction. And that over thousands of square meters. No wonder that construction timber prices have risen massively. This will continue. Logical consequence: smaller supply, when there is supply, then more expensive, because transports are longer. Increased demand due to intense construction activity. The law of supply and demand.
Same with steel. Anyone who ordered raw materials in the first 10 days of 2021 can count themselves lucky. Prices have continued to rise since then. This is also what the railing builder (metalworking professional) says. Even screws are getting more expensive. Anyone planning a house now must definitely expect significant price increases compared to the past – in almost every trade.

Our carpenter also recently complained exactly about that, plus a 30% cost increase. Steel seems to show the same price trend in some cases.

I was actually already puzzled that there isn’t a thread about this here. I’m pretty glad that most of the material has already been installed at our place by now.

The forecasts for steel prices are also rising. You hear things like 20%. From my point of view, the bigger problem won’t directly be the higher price, but rather to get the desired material at all due to reduced production capacities. I’m curious what 2021 will bring.

So far we’ve only had complaints from the concrete contractor regarding steel prices. Great that the structural calculation documents have now arrived and say that a lot more reinforcement is needed than originally planned :rolleyes:

We haven’t heard anything yet from the timber house manufacturer, but there we have a fixed price anyway ...

Steel has become expensive depending on quality, dimensions, etc. Actually, everything has become expensive and difficult to obtain. Electro is similar, whether cables, pins, and so on.

The wood content in the house is overestimated similarly to the meat content in the sausage.

see avatar...

Be careful that the houses are still delivered more or less on schedule. Wood is scarce and production is partially stalling. Says the grapevine.

Currently: Some larch for the attic of the carport: 12 weeks.

That is simply not usable, as the structure is so destroyed due to drought and bark beetles.

This statement is not correct. There is a lot of excellent construction timber lying around; the beetle only damages the cambium. The bottleneck will only become apparent when it is determined that in the future little can be taken from cleared areas.

The price increases have no special technical or logistical reason: In the value chain there are companies that can determine the market in two directions. Oversupply in the purchase of raw material (depending on the wood type) and high demand for the products. On the one hand prices are pushed down, on the other hand raised, and the profit machine is complete. You take what you can. And you can.

All bark beetle wood - simply not suitable for construction.

No. You can build with it - both residential houses and warehouses with unchanged spans. Take a look at "#04 Aber was ist eigentlich Käferholz? - neue Lagerhalle für Stark" or the solid wood wall from Toredo Vollholzhaus.