We just redid ours North of Austin (normal wood privacy fence with no overlap or sections flipping back and fourth). Never have understood why anyone would want that. I bought materials at Viking fence, with galvanized steel posts, cedar 2x4s and 1x4x6 2+ pickets. It was about $125 per 8 foot section in materials including brackets, lag screw, and galvanized round head nails in my nailgun. We did all labor ourselves with neighbors help or 16 year old sons.

I can also attest to the fact that lumber prices increased recently, concerning Western Red Cedar. The second set of pickets I bought, for the other side of the house, was roughly 20% more than the originals.

If you do decide to do any of it yourself, the pickets they sell at Viking in the 2+ grade are about 10 times better than anything else I found in town. You could literally nail 2 from Lowes together, and not have as thick of a picket.

fka ftc said:

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Lumber prices just shot through the roof recently. We knew is was coming, but we got our 07/08 increases from lumber supplier and depending on material increases were 30%-50% higher on average. We are a small builder but purchase $250k+ per month on average. I would suspect retail prices that most small fence guys are paying have gone up even more.

As others have said above, holding him to that price is going to be one unhappy contractor and he will save in other areas. Sounds like he is being fair in the increase, and I can assure you the increase in material costs is absolutely valid.

For you and the contractor, would be best to have an expiry on the contract if work doesn't start within 30 or 60 days. If prices had gone the other direction and you were aware, you would want the option to reprice lower.

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this. price of lumber in general has risen aggressively lately. he's not trying to screw you and likely couldnt have anticipated this.

I work for a building materials distributor. Prices for lumber have soared while the ability to source material dwindles, especially for material to build fences and decks. Lumber pricing is also expected to continue to rise over the next few weeks. I really don't think your contractor is trying to screw you.

Besides the cedar pickets at HD / Lowes, who else in Houston sells good fence pickets? I re-did the top rails of my fence earlier this year and am waiting on cooler weather to run a new set of pickets around. Fence was installed after Ike, and the posts and 1st / 2nd rails are serviceable for quite awhile longer.

Fwiw, getting fence done next week in north SA and paying $26 a linear foot.

SoTxAg said:

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Fwiw, getting fence done next week in north SA and paying $26 a linear foot.

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Once again, what kind of fence? 6'? 8'? Side-by-side, board on board? Cap top or rot board? Any trim? Pre-stained, stained after the fact, or not including stain? Fences can vary a lot. If people are trying to compare prices, you need to know what you're paying for.

chickencoupe16 said:

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fka ftc said:

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jtp01 said:

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In all reality, the contractor should have sourced the materials on the day you signed the contract.

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Just to point out, that "in all reality" this is not reality in the realm of small contractors, particularly labor intensive fence contractors. They would have no ability to future proof lumber prices nor store materials for any length of time. The more proper way for both parties to solve for the issue here is to write into the contract a very standard "quote / price is good for xx days". Not trying to be argumentative, I just think its a tough stance to tell the contractor tough cookies given the price change in the lumber market is somewhat unprecedented and not predictable.

Options here are to find another contractor, accept the higher price, wait for lumber prices to go back down, or least preferable try and strong arm the contractor to perform the work at a price where he probably makes no margin and likely loses money.

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Then the contractor needs to set an expiration for the bid. You don't agree to a price and change it after you've made the customer wait for a month.

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This, to an extent. The, "Quote/Price is good for xx days," clause is for the buyer/owner/GC to sign the contract. After that, the contract is the contract and you agreed to the price. It's on you to get the job done for the price you quoted in the time you quoted. If you're backlogged a month out and can't guarantee that you can source material for the quoted price, that's on you, and you alone, for signing too many contracts and making promises you can't keep. If an owner or GC causes a delay or pushes the schedule back, that's one thing and you're rightfully due a change order for what is outside of your control. If you are the cause of the delay because you can't get to the work fast enough, it's your problem.

Why is it fair to push cost increases onto a customer for the contractor's inability to plan? The customer accepted the price. That's what they planned to pay. If a contractor no longer wants to honor it because they couldn't get to the job for a month and material prices make it a loser now, that customer can't just go find someone else. Had they known the contractor was going to back out or not be able to honor the agreement, they could have gotten a better price a month ago. Again, why should the customer get screwed or bear all the risk because the contractor can't schedule or plan?