Holy #$%@! The price of OSB!

[StihlHead]

I was at HD yesterday and looked at the price of OSB, and did a double take.

$15.50 a sheet For OSB??? That was the old price for CDX. CDX is now $21.

Glad my garage remodel and roof deck projects are done. When I started remodeling this house 2 years ago OSB was $6.50 a sheet. I was complaining about $9.50 a sheet when I was done.

Update: that is for 7/16" OSB stacked at the front of the store.

 

[greg13]

The laws of supply & demand apply here. LOTS of wood going to the areas hit by Sandy.

 

[PapaDave]

My brother picked up a few sheets for a project recently. 13 something per.
I almost fell over. Last time I checked, they were $7.44/sheet.

 

[nate379]

What thickness is that? I bought a few sheets of 1/2" this summer and it was running just under $20/sheet. 7/16" was around $16.

My Dad thought it was nuts, he can buy 8x16ft sheets of OSB for about $10/sheet. Benefit of working at an OSB mill. (That is the size that comes off the line at the mill, it gets cut into 4 sheets usually)

 

[PapaDave]

I'm referring to 7/16". Don't know about the 1/2" .

 

[nate379]

Cheapest I saw 7/16" go in the last 3-4 years was right around $13 a sheet. Just by chance I was working on a building and bought 40 or 50 sheets. Had to pick up a few more sheets 2-3 weeks later than they had gone up to $18.

Shipping costs make stuff like lumber expensive up here. Mostly comes from B.C. or Washington/Oregon.

 

[Highbeam]

I saw 15.67 per sheet of 7/16 OSB yesterday at the home depot.

The flatbed is hitched up right now for tomorrow's lumber purchase but luckily only 2x6 lumber. Studs are still quite cheap.

 

[loadstarken]

Yeah I crapped the other day when I saw the prices at Home Depot and bLowes.
I was going to check a Lumbermans or a Dunn Lumber just to see if it'd be any cheaper.

 

[StihlHead]

I bought some 3/8 plywood off of CL last week from some wholesalers that bought 8 pallets for a contractor that welched on them. So they are selling it for $10 a sheet, their cost. It usually goes for about $30, sanded both sides, birch finish. They said that ply is going through the roof from Sandy rebuilding and an uptick in home building locally. So I doubt that the other lumber yards anywhere in the PNW are going to be any better than Lowes or HD. Last I saw OSB it was going down, from apx. $14.50 to apx. $13.50 and then this jump to apx. $15.50. A lot of the OSB sold here at HD is labeled as made in MN and Canada. I rarely see any local label OSB at HD or Lowes.

Also noticed that sheetrock has gone up about a buck a sheet.... 1/2 inch light weight stuff is just under $10 now. Someone out there is making MONEY.

 

[jebatty]

Not surprising. With the crash in the housing market, many mills have shut down permanently. Mill supply is down, demand is starting to increase = price rise. Not likely to change much in the short term. If prices stay up, may be enough to justify new mill start-up.

 

[StihlHead]

Around here the mills that shut down (there were many) were mostly cutting saw logs, not making peelers for plywood or chipping for OSB. Dimentional lumber has only gone up about 60% in the time that OSB has more than doubled (in the past year). There are still idle mills here and they are not running full shifts. Most logs are still being cut and shipped overseas from here. OSB production is also up 7% over last year. Seems distorted... and more likely the Sandy effect rather than housing starts.

 

[greg13]

If you follow pricing, Hurricanes & major floods always drive up the prices of sheet products like Plywood & sheetrock. The major supplies seem to get diverted (rightfully so) to effected areas, leaving "spot shortages" in other areas.

 

[lukem]

I bought 7/16 two weeks ago for $10.67 at Menard's.

 

[BrotherBart]

I bought 32 sheets of 7/16" last year from a guy down the road that never got around to finishing his basement. Stuff was stored inside and was perfect. Six bucks a sheet. I only needed three sheets but bought the whole load.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I noticed all the ply was double last year's price. Drywall was about the same though.

Matt

 

[Pallet Pete]

Shoot its $23 a sheet by me as of today when we where in the HomeDepot ! I cant wait for the demand to go down a bit the same thing happens every couple of years here.

Pete

 

[lukem]

I bought 7/16 two weeks ago for $10.67 at Menard's.

Talked to my BIL today and he bought same thing from the same store yesterday and it was $14.