Quality work costs money, i always tell people that there is always gonna be someone cheaper but often there is a reason they are cheaper.
I bid on a foundation once where the other bid was really low...like $600 over materials for a week long job. The homeowner was a bit perplexed why i told him i wouldnt beat it. He went with him over the reccomendations to run screaming from his friend. The guy brought out 3 friends to do the job, took 5 days and wanted extra money at the end because he screwed up his bid so badly. Homeowner declined, the guy never paid his concrete bill, went out of business and left a trail of similiar jobs in his wake. Foundation was 9 inches out of square too.
Construction is extremely expensive when you have to do it twice. Dont automatically assume that the most expensive bid is best, but never go with the much lower bid than everyone else
In reply to poopshovel again :
The short answer is trade wars. We imposed a 29% import duty on Canadian lumber. Since so many hands get involved from the Mill to the customer ( on average 9 ) that has increased the cost of lumber by 50% or more.
It takes many decades to grow trees to a size big enough to harvest and we pretty well used up our forests in the last building boom.
The forest owners know that letting trees sit isn’t hurting them because the sweetheart deals most have with regard taxes means it’s better for them to let trees grow than harvest prematurely.
Most American mills are either shut down or operating with such obsolete equipment it’s hard for them to turn a profit due to low demand. ( as compared to the building booms of the previous decade )
That and transportation costs are up significantly further adding to lumber costs.
The “deals” in housing are homes built in the last years of the previous building cycle ending in 2008. Many sound structures were poorly finished in a rush to sell and cosmetically in poor shape but structurally sound.
Since they were sold at bargain basement prices homes 6-10 years old need only cosmetic reworking to turn into fabulous values. Work that can be done in much less time than new construction for a tiny fraction of the cost of new.
The labor problem is real though, finding hard working young people willing to go through the learning process to become effective tradesmen is difficult. Many remember or have had family members hurt during the last building bust of 2008. As a result are reluctant or discouraged to enter the trades.
Antihero said:
prices vary wildly from region to region. Some stuff like rebar fluctuates rapidly, #4 stick of rebar has gone from $3.50 to 8.95 in the last year
That’s the result of our trade wars. Higher import duties really don’t tend to save jobs so much as cost other trades/ business money.
