Material and equipment price increases and availability

Willie B · Mar 27, 2022

CM1995 said:
Didn't want to derail DM's thread on heavy truck parts availability so let's start a new thread.

For the ones who purchase and install construction materials what are you seeing in terms of price increases and availability?

Here in AL the only RCP (reinforced concrete pipe) manufacturer originally went up 30% across the board and now is not taking any orders regardless of customer for at least 6 months. We purchase RCP through our pipe supplier which is the pipe manufacturers biggest buyer so size is not making a difference. Fortunately we have a couple of pre-cast manhole and structure manufacturers to choose from so that hasn't become an issue yet.

We can get HDPE (corrugated plastic), some PVC depending on type (corrugated, SDR grades, PVC) and ductile, although 4" ductile is very hard to find. All of the type pipes above just had a 15-20% price increase in the last month.

Since we install a fair amount of storm drainage I've had to scramble to substitute RCP with HDPE on our current and upcoming jobs. At least now most of the GC"s and owners know about the RCP shortage and don't look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them we cannot get it.

Fortunately ALDOT approves HDPE and corrugated PVC (A2000) pipe so it's easier to persuade engineers to change the spec on private jobs. So far we can still get plastic pipe.

Ordered 80 LF of 8" ductile for a road crossing this week and it was $32 per LF. The real kicker is the pipe plant where they make the damn pipe is literally 10-12 miles from that job. Here in Central AL we have 2 large ductile iron pipe mills that produce 1,000's of feet of pipe.

Crushed stone has increased 15-25% as well with outages of certain screen sizes. Wanted 3/4 crush this week for a road crossing but had to settle on 8910 which is 1/4 to dust.

Thursday our silt fence subcontractor informed us that non-woven silt fence fabric is on an 8 week back order. If that's the case it's going to either stop alot of construction or muni's are going to have to accept other erosion control measures.

Equipment is hit or miss. Depending on machine Cat has plenty or none. We bought a B6 hammer for our 305 and picking it up Monday. Talked to the Bobcat guys last week and they are on allocation for new skids and mini's with most of them pre-sold.

So what are ya'll experiencing out there?

I'm a self employed electrician, me & my son. Planning ahead, I've been able to buy materials, but costs have risen sharply. Average material cost is 3-4 times what it was in 2018. Certain items are made from unobtanium, and I'm out of luck. Generators have been back ordered since January 2020. I'll order, then wait 6 months. The lack of generators has sharply increased demand. I've sold at least three times as many as in past years, despite long waits & price escalation.
Case machine parts have been 6 month backorder.

CM1995 · Mar 27, 2022

hvy 1ton said:
I keeping looking at volumetric trucks, but I'm not brave enough to try it.

The company here started out with 1 truck several years ago and now has at least 7-8 along with tri-axle dumps, line pumps and a vacuum cement tanker tractor trailer.

With ya' on being scared of them. Every time they pour for us I see a maintenance headache. I guess one just plans on putting two mixing bodies per chassis through its lifetime.

NepeanGC · Mar 27, 2022

We do a fair bit of concrete, and personally I love the volumetric trucks, especially the new digitally controlled ones. Our supplier has a ton of mix designs on board. Makes it easy to adjust to the conditions, and keep it nice for finishing. To me they don't seem that complicated, the ones around here are a few hoppers with a main belt, and an auger. Augers are an obvious wear point, but I see a lot less to go wrong than say a screening plant.

cuttin edge · Mar 27, 2022

we do a fair amount of city infrastructure upgrades for the city here. The guy that does all the bidding saw the writing on the wall last year and bought a boat load of stock. Pipe, joiners, gate valves, curb stops, man hole frame and covers, storm frame and grates, elbows, Ts, all the goodies. There is a local manufacturer for concrete pipe, and manhole pots, so no worries there. I think they also bought a tractor trailer load of geotec fabric. I do hear that there have been some issues with rough plywood. I guess the furniture grade is not a problem, but seems a waste for concrete work. Osb is manufactured here, but they make more money shipping it to the US, so local stores are charging like 40 bucks for a sheet of 7/16.

tdrainage · Mar 27, 2022

We do primarily farm drainage and soil erosion work - soil and water management. HDPE prices starting going up last March and went up close to 60% by Nov. - we bought up enough pipe last July to run us through this summer. If we hadn't we would have been paying three times as much and waiting to get the materials we need. They would not let us prepay and only take delivery as we needed so we had to take it all - HDPE doesn't like sunlight for long amounts of time so we only bought a short years supply - which for us is just over 1 million feet of various size pipe. We have a precast plant 10 miles from us and though we do not use much - have been able to get what we need - that being said - have a couple of friends who do a large amount of storm sewer work and they are like most of you - cannot get pipe - and what they do get - if there is a chip out of one end - instead of sending it back like they used to - they get the approval from those in charge to repair/patch what they can.

JD955SC · Mar 27, 2022

Housing is red hot here in my area and no slowdowns projected. Commercial is nuts as well.

I see a lot of delays in construction. I.e. a house instead of rapid construction from start to finish now might sit a month waiting on siding or windows/doors.

Trying to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry because when it starts to flatline I’m going to try to slide over to garbage/landfill trucks/machines and wait out the recession.

CM1995 · Mar 27, 2022

JD955SC said:
Trying to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry because when it starts to flatline I’m going to try to slide over to garbage/landfill trucks/machines and wait out the recession.

We've been preparing over the last 2 years for the slow down by getting DOT certifications, a GC license and fortifying financials. When the private market slows or stops usually gov't funded work continues. Just hedging our bets the best we can.

Steve Frazier · Mar 27, 2022

CM1995 said:
I guess one just plans on putting two mixing bodies per chassis through its lifetime.

Most of the work we do in house is small quantities, under 5 yards. I've got a company I use that has turned out to be very reliable and they have a single axle truck for the short loads. I was remarking to the driver what good shape his truck was in and he replied it was due for replacement, that they would transfer the body to a new chassis. Apparently the wear parts are easily replaced and they go through them each winter and have little down time.

Up here in the north during cold weather the sand can chunk up due to freezing and screw up the mix. They park the trucks inside to lessen the risk but I avoid the colder months even with antifreeze being available.

Truck Shop · Mar 27, 2022

I learned years ago when the economy slows the need for food stays the same. One big reason I
have worked fleet refrigerated the last 30 years. Your not going to get rich but you will stay employed.

CM1995 · Mar 27, 2022

Steve Frazier said:
I was remarking to the driver what good shape his truck was in and he replied it was due for replacement, that they would transfer the body to a new chassis. Apparently the wear parts are easily replaced and they go through them each winter and have little down time.

Up here in the north during cold weather the sand can chunk up due to freezing and screw up the mix. They park the trucks inside to lessen the risk but I avoid the colder months even with antifreeze being available.

Interesting. How big a factor does the road salt play into it?

Steve Frazier · Mar 27, 2022

The amount of damage road salt does is astronomical. The Highway Dept. at the same town I work for has been sending 32K trucks out to be re-framed after 8 to 10 years use. They're right in the thick of it every storm. The industry has finally adjusted by using heavier frame rails instead of double frames which just traps the salt between them. Re-framing costs them around $35,000, a new truck today is over $200,000 and has all the emissions and electronics crap on them.

I think the concrete bodies are up high enough they don't get a high dose of the salt spray, plus the adverse condition of both temperature and snow are not conducive to concrete work so they may be able to keep the trucks out of the salt to some extent. Religious washing after a storm also is a big help. This company must do all of that because the truck I mentioned was 20 years old and was in like new condition!

cuttin edge · Mar 27, 2022

tdrainage said:
We do primarily farm drainage and soil erosion work - soil and water management. HDPE prices starting going up last March and went up close to 60% by Nov. - we bought up enough pipe last July to run us through this summer. If we hadn't we would have been paying three times as much and waiting to get the materials we need. They would not let us prepay and only take delivery as we needed so we had to take it all - HDPE doesn't like sunlight for long amounts of time so we only bought a short years supply - which for us is just over 1 million feet of various size pipe. We have a precast plant 10 miles from us and though we do not use much - have been able to get what we need - that being said - have a couple of friends who do a large amount of storm sewer work and they are like most of you - cannot get pipe - and what they do get - if there is a chip out of one end - instead of sending it back like they used to - they get the approval from those in charge to repair/patch what they can.

The Blue Brute water pipe doesn't do sun light as well. That stuff is kept covered.

cuttin edge · Mar 27, 2022

Good lumber is getting hard to get here as well. I guess you guys import a lot of lumber from Russia. With that shut down, our mills are sending everything your way. Even with tariffs, the lumber mills make more money selling to the US, just like the OSB mill. If you buy any OSB with Arbec stamped on it, it either came from a mill in Quebec, or from a mill I can almost see from my house.

Willie B · Mar 27, 2022

CM1995 said:
Interesting. How big a factor does the road salt play into it?

I don't know what it does to transit mixers, but it sure is destructive to ALL vehicles used on highway. Auto bodies suffer most, then frames, but the whole vehicle takes a beating. Nothing wears out, they corrode. Most electrical problems, springs, brakes, wheel bearings & seals, everything under the vehicle.

Truck Shop · Mar 27, 2022

Steve Frazier said:
industry has finally adjusted by using heavier frame rails instead of double frames

The dumps used by DOT here also for snow removal came with 1/2" rails on the ones the state
bought 2 years ago.

CM1995 · Mar 27, 2022

cuttin edge said:
Good lumber is getting hard to get here as well. I guess you guys import a lot of lumber from Russia. With that shut down, our mills are sending everything your way. Even with tariffs, the lumber mills make more money selling to the US, just like the OSB mill. If you buy any OSB with Arbec stamped on it, it either came from a mill in Quebec, or from a mill I can almost see from my house.

I think we have 2 LP OSB mills in the state and it's still $40+ per sheet at the big home stores. Probably cheaper through builders supply houses.

Wife and I have been wanting to build a house for the last 2 years but lumber prices are ridiculous.

Bam Bam 171 · Mar 27, 2022

CM1995 said:
I am afraid I'm going to have to grind the rust off my trowel and remember how to brick up an inlet or manhole.. that's if we can get bricks...

A lot of folks around here are re-learning how to brick up boxes.

JD955SC · Mar 27, 2022

CM1995 said:
I think we have 2 LP OSB mills in the state and it's still $40+ per sheet at the big home stores. Probably cheaper through builders supply houses.

Wife and I have been wanting to build a house for the last 2 years but lumber prices are ridiculous.

Wife and I were looking at buying a piece of land and putting a mobile or modular on it. The price of the model we wanted went from $140k in 2019 to $220k.

Shimmy1 · Mar 27, 2022

Hey CM. Did the RCP outfit shutdown during the *vacation for everyone* back in '20?

Or, did the workers just say fu©k it and not show up to work because they could make just as much or more with the freebies?

Willie B · Mar 28, 2022

JD955SC said:
Wife and I were looking at buying a piece of land and putting a mobile or modular on it. The price of the model we wanted went from $140k in 2019 to $220k.

Yeah, & look at all the costs of upgrading your lot to prep it for that double wide. Last one I was involved with was modular set on a concrete foundation by crane. A simple rectangular ranch house. The owner bought the lot 20 years ago so he didn't factor land cost. Power, well, Comcast, septic system, driveway, he wanted a number of upgrades, & he had the walkout basement 3 bed rooms, two baths. His didn't come with a boiler. He added central air & a generator & a garage. His $150,000. house cost about $450,000 total.

Material and equipment price increases and availability

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