Just How Slow Is it?

[IdleUp]

Thought I would put up a post to get a feel for just how slow things really are for owner / operators, or anyone for that fact. Where I'm at ( Roanoke VA) construction has almost grind to a halt.

What's happening in your part of the woods?

 

[30 dirty years]

Just been scratch and sniff around here

 

[pushcat]

We were going all out untill the weather totally shut us down about a month ago. Could have worked all winter. Ag economy is still pretty good and the farmers made some money. Did more soil work this year than I have in the last five years combined. Heard we picked up a few commercial jobs just lately too. Hopefully the weather will break and we can get something done this winter or next spring's going to be wild.

 

[qball]

it's like molasses uphill in february.
slow

 

[Dualie]

well i had to move with the work. residential is dead. HIGH END residential is decent. Commercial and industrial are still decent. That gravy money is gone.

No more glory work and turning down projects that are not slam dunk profit centers though. The good news is all the rate cutters and low ballers are going by the wayside.

 

[joispoi]

Slow is a step up from stopped.

 

[Speedpup]

Dead on Long Island for residential and commercial which I do is almost as dead. Where 3-4 GC's showed to bid a project even small projects 20-25 are now bidding. NYC is headed to a real bad slow down also with no new permits being pulled, new projects canceled, and some stooped in progress.

Even my friend a HVAC guy told me his company lost a 54 story building which was stopped after the foundation was installed because of financing problems. Article in NYT said that NYC skyline will not change for 3 years. When I see the price of equipment on ironplanet at auction that tells it all.

I have one decent job of $700,000 after that I have no clue not even anything to bid. 08 was a horrible year for me and 09 looks worse with municipalities all coming up red in budgets. NYS was said by gov. to be in the worst financial shape in 100 years. Just look at the unemployment numbers rocketing upward.

 

[stretch]

HIGH END residential is decent.

Not around here! My family deals primarily with high-end residential and our subdivision has been DEAD. For the past two years. At least we are trying to close a deal to get rid of, if I recall, somewhere around a dozen lots.

I will admit that there is actually a decent amount of commercial/industrial work going on, and 55-and-over housing is still strong. Don't know how well condos/apartments are doing, still quite a bit of utility, highway and bridge work being done.

 

[Dualie]

well in the last 3 months i have bid on 15 3+ million dollar homes. A couple i wouldn't bid because they were so complex and damn near impossible to build. as far as i know their still not past the dirt work stage.

I have some cell phone pics i should post of the job im on now. one of the top 10 view lots i have ever been on. Its a 2.6 million dollar project.

 

[IdleUp]

I didn't think anyone had 2 mill any more . . . .

 

[Colorado Digger]

out here there are at least 5 to 10 dirt bids on every job. way too much iron for the work load. i also didn't bid a big one b/c of unsecure funds and sketchy g/c involved. tough time to get strung out. i have enough to get me through march then hopefully things get a bit better, it's just that everyone who hasn't worked all winter are gonna be waaaaaayyyyyy low. last year same thing 1st round of spring bids went cheap and then there wasn't any more. it's gotta get better.

 

[Dualie]

thats where im never ceased to be amazed. How much excess wealth there is in this country. The rich will always have money regardless of market conditions

 

[Colorado Digger]

not right now, even these rich dudes are pulling back, their porfolios took a dump and now they have to make it up by beating us all into submission. i just got off the one with my main g.c.'s on another big job and the developer said he needs to save 10% on all divisions otherwise no job. i have a job in aspen and they won't pay winter conditions even though it snowed 100" in dec. the owner came to town, didn't even ski aspen, went to vail, skied, then went to switzerland. but you can't me to build your house? huh, without snow removal i'd be in deep doo doo

 

[stretch]

well in the last 3 months i have bid on 15 3+ million dollar homes. A couple i wouldn't bid because they were so complex and damn near impossible to build. as far as i know their still not past the dirt work stage.

I have some cell phone pics i should post of the job im on now. one of the top 10 view lots i have ever been on. Its a 2.6 million dollar project.

$3+ million? Wow...I wish it was that good here! Send some of that work over our way! The biggest home in our project was originally worth just under a one mil, but we had to settle for nearly half that. :beatsme

Let's see those pics!

 

[Dualie]

some pictures of the view from this weeks jobsite. Projected cost of 2.8M.

sorry about my crane cable blocking a bit of the view in the second pic.

Visible in the pic out in the distance is the entire San Francisco skyline, Alcatraz, both the golden gate and bay bridges, treasure island, the port of Oakland and the Marin headlands.

sorry about the quality these are cell phone pics.

 

[Colorado Digger]

oakland, berkeley hills? don't tell me your're getting 3 million per foundation. are you talking about general construction?

 

[Dualie]

Total estimated construction cost. is in the 3 mil ball park. Im not doing the foundation or dirt work im doing the structural steel.

its a pretty impressive slope. To see the little doosan excavator cling onto the hillside and bench out the foundation was damn impressive. No where to put the spoils so they had to come up in stages. it got to a point they were having to walk the spoils up the hill and stack them in a corner. so they could be picked up from the road level and loaded into dumps.

Even then street level is probably still a 6% grade. I had a pretty impressive cribbing pile under my front out riggers on my boom truck to get leveled out. so much in fact the truck was actually pivoting on its rear bumper before i set the rear stabilizers down onto the bare min cribbing.

This is one of the very few bare lots left up in the fire zone. its been 15 years since the fires and the rebuilding started. Now were starting to do RE-models of the houses built after the firestorm

 

[DowneyC&E]

Just Gettin' By

Here in central Ky, things are "moderately" slow. Agricultural work has been what keeps the equipment going for the most part. Farmers seem to still have money. :beatsme Lots of ponds to build or clean out, barn pads, clearing/grubbing, ditching/drainage, etc.

Commercial work is iffy. Some stuff going on, but it seems everyone's waiting for spring. Also, the lowballers are out in full force. There was a recent bid for 4400' of electric line thru a new industrial park that was bid on by about 12 different contractors. 9 bid $100,000 +/- $3000..... 3 bids were in the $17,000 to $22,000 range. (We were with the majority and will not be doing that job)

Residential is extremely slow. Custom builds are trickling, but spec. houses have completely stopped. I know of one GC that completed a spec house this past spring and is still sitting on it, and he's now finishing up another... his outlook isn't pretty. On the plus side, there are quite a few custom builds on the list as "when the weather breaks." Hopefully these peoples money lasts until "the weather breaks."

Right now we have enough work to get us real close to spring, if the weather cooperates. If we have much more of this rainy weather, spring may get a little crazy here too. Another plus (for us) is that 2, possibly 3, other excavation contractors that do the same work as us (in the same area) are quitting. So, more work for us if things don't get slower.

 

[BIG D]

construction

Hello here in southern Wisconsin things are very slow a few commercial jobs on bigger building but otherwise tough going. brother inlaw in underground and repair work he is ok but taking every little job he can get.WE have had a lot of snow that helps a few guys keep a few workers busy . We look for a hard 2009 thanks THE BIG D

 

[milling_drum]

In central and northern FL, its balls to the wall as usual. Just got a job with a fairly big contractor in the South Eastern States.