Page 59 - Green Builder Sept-Oct 2020 Issue
P. 59
BY MATT POWER
N THE SECOND QUARTER OF THIS
YEAR, Home Depot, according to
a presentation by company CEO
Craig Menear, reported double-
I digit customer trac increases over Where’s the middle mud? Supplies of fast- and
the previous year, and percent higher slow-curing joint compound were in ample supply
spending. Lowes reported similar, record- at this box store, but the medium-fast,
breaking earnings. 45-minute hot mud was almost depleted.
But all is not well in the building supply
universe, at least for the professionals who MEANING IN
rely on the same short list of products, year
after year. In the new normal of topsy- THE MISSING
turvy supply chains, prices and availability
of goods whave become unpredictable. For The first products to run out
small companies, especially, staying solvent
may mean looking beyond the normal may reveal what experienced
comfort zone, at products and systems that pros use most.
are well established and less volatile.
HIS IS A ripe time for product behavior
LUMBER INDEPENDENCE? researchers to gain some insights into who’s
The long isolation of quarantine at home, buying what and why, simply by visiting the
coupled with the initial ood of stimulus T nearest building product box store. For
money, created a burst of remodeling example, one Home Depot had plenty of 20-minute
activity—especially outdoor decks and and 210-minute joint compound (often called “hot
patios. mud” by the trades) available, but was notably short
In Pittsburgh, for example, the Post- on 45-minute bags. This suggests a prosumer or
Gazette reported in July on big price hikes trade buyer. Most won’t use 20-minute hot mud for
for pressure treated lumber, aluminum anything except hole patching. It’s too unforgiving.
decking and the related hardware. “Anything And in most cases, a 210-minute drying time doesn’t
deck-related is up percent,” says Robb make sense for a pro. Say he or she takes all morning
Ciotti, general manager of South Side-based to mud a couple of rooms with the stuff. It will still
Allegheny Millwork and Lumber. “The prices take almost four hours to dry, so sanding or a second
are rising so quickly, some people feel like coat can’t happen until the next day anyway.
you’re price gouging.”
But it’s not just decks feeling the
lumber pinch. It’s dimensional framing, for example, have not seen signi£cant price
the predominant framing choice for new hikes, which means they’re vastly more
construction. aordable than lumber framing. In normal
New data from the NAHB finds that times, ICFs cost about percent more than
since mid-April , the composite price -by- wood framing, according to Amvic,
of lumber, per Random Lengths, has soared an ICF manufacturer. But with lumber at
more than percent. This surge is adding percent of normal cost, that £gure now
approximately $, to the price of a new seems irrelevant.
single-family home and more than $, to Of course, ICFs depend on the availability of
the average new apartment. concrete for their assembly. To date, shortages
The NAHB blames the lack of adequate of cement (the key component of concrete)
lumber supply on Canadian taris, and the appear to be localized, and prices went up
fact that the mills guessed poorly about only about percent over ¤. The supply
the impact of the pandemic. The owners is something to watch however, as much or
reduced hours and sta, only to be swamped our cement comes from India and China. The
ICFs rising. As lumber prices and
construction demand skyrocket, Insulated with surging business. fact that China tamed the coronavirus quickly
Concrete Forms (ICFs) look increasingly But for makers of other structural may, despite our government’s anti-Chinese
attractive from a cost and skilled labor systems, this might be a game-changing rhetoric, be helping the U.S. building industry
moment. Insulated concrete forms (ICFs), keep moving.
perspective. CREDIT: AMVIC
September/October 2020 GREEN BUILDER 57
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