A line of people standing behind or next to large metal carts filled with wooden planks snakes around the lumber section of Lowe鈥檚 in Reynoldsburg. In a roped-off section, an employee uses an industrial transportation device to lift boards off a shelf and onto metal carts. This is how people collect lumber supplies in the midst of record-high prices and demand.
鈥淎 phenomenon because of COVID is people have been sitting in their homes essentially working from home,鈥� University of Wisconsin Professor Scott Bowe said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e sitting there looking at their crummy-looking kitchen cabinets and are like 鈥榳e should really remodel the house.鈥欌��
Bowe studies and teaches courses on wood products. He says there are three main categories of lumber 鈥� soft-wood, hardwood and engineered wood products.
Softwood is primarily used for structural components in houses, like studs. He said hardwood is typically used for interior decorative applications, and engineered wood products are used for wall-sheeting and flooring. No category of lumber has been spared from price hikes.
鈥淭he spike we鈥檝e seen in lumber prices is really driven by how well the housing industry is doing,鈥� Bowe said.
As many Central Ohioans debate what to do with their latest stimulus check, some are putting off long-awaited remodeling projects because of record-high lumber prices, which are doubling and in some cases even tripling costs. Even with major supply chain hiccups, demand for lumber is showing no signs of slowing down.
Supply Slowed, Demand Steady
Holmes Lumber Columbus Market Vice President Frank Sniadach said there is a statewide lumber supplier.
鈥淵ou have wood prices that have never been where they鈥檙e at,鈥� Sniadach said. "People are paying double the amount, with other products as well but wood in particular, double what they would have a year ago.鈥�
He cites the engineered wood product oriental strand board, or OSB, as an example. Builders commonly use it to sheath walls and roofs.
鈥淥SB, which is a wood panel that鈥檚 used on projects. Last year this time? It was probably selling, we were buying it for $10 a sheet,鈥� Sniadach says. 鈥淭his week? It鈥檚 $50 a sheet."
And a simple eight-foot two-by-four plank that cost $4 a year ago is nearly double the price now.
Sniadach's company is faring well since it鈥檚 supplying the wood. So are contracting businesses like The Cleary Company, which primarily focuses on home remodeling in Columbus. Aaron Enfinger, who is the chief operating officer for the company, said the company strives to do all it can to make customers aware of the current lumber supply issues.
鈥淎s we go through the process to get initial costs for a project, we鈥檙e having a lot of conversations with our clients to make sure that number one, they鈥檙e aware of what鈥檚 going on, that we are facing these types of price increases right now,鈥� Enfinger said.
Enfinger says he tries to stress market volatility with customers. He said COVID-related supply issues have lengthened the time it takes to complete a project, sometimes 10-fold.
鈥淲e order a faucet where normally it would be on the job site Thursday, it鈥檚 4-6 weeks out,鈥� Enfinger explains. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not enough people at the ports to unload the ships. There鈥檚 not enough people to take the containers onto trucks or trains, and there鈥檚 not enough people to man the trains and trucks to get them out into distribution.鈥�
So customers need to commit to ordering all their materials at once for The Cleary Company to deem the project financially viable.
鈥淣ormally we would try to stage things a little bit better, or at least we would try to order them whenever they were closer to needing to be on the job site,鈥� Enfinger said. 鈥淏ut now we鈥檙e just placing orders for everything to try to get materials so we can get our projects completed.鈥�
Sniadach of Holmes Lumber notes that housing development trends have changed overtime. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, he considers this to be a contributing factor to price escalations.
鈥淢arket has been underserved for years. We鈥檝e underbuilt since the housing bust, years back. No one is taking risks. No one is developing tons of land like they used to in the past,鈥� Sniadach said.
For now, there鈥檚 no telling when lumber prices will return to normal.
鈥淣obody knows. There鈥檚 no way to know,鈥� Sniadach said. 鈥淚f the demand keeps coming and the supply can鈥檛 keep up, it will just continue on this path.鈥�
