What is the best place to monitor wood costs?

Is there a certain index for Houston area to watch?

I am planning on building starting in Jan..my original wood estimate was really high so hoping by Jan that will be down some.


I am doing a cost plus deal with my builder...so anything I can find cheaper is money I save.

As far as appliances, plumbing, lighting, who else is there to check besides fergusons that offers quality stuff?

Agthatbuilds said:

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I agree with builder93. Your not going to save as much as you want trying to pinch pennies in a commodity market. Youre just going to muck up the process.

I know if our clients buy their own lights, appliances, faucets, etc., we dont deal with them in any way except for install. Fox example, if a plumbing fixture shows up incomplete, my plumber walks away and i call the client and tell the client to fix it. You also wont get the prices i do for most things, including lumber.

Cost plus is great if youve found a builder that you can trust. However, the majority of lawsuits come from cost plus jobs because it's so essy to lose control of the expenditures.

Did your builder give you a break in their markup?

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This is interesting.

My builder literally said "you buy the fixtures so you get what YOU want...my guys will install them.

He gave us a detailed list of every plumbing and electrical fixture in the house. We shopped vendors, mostly for style, but also for price and quality of service, rec'd quotes, made selections.

Same with appliances. "Find an appliance outfit you like, order and have them install. stay away from box stores "

Granted, this wasn't a cost-plus arrangement.

Lumber prices aren't going down between now and January. Just like gasoline prices, quick to rise...slow to fall. I doubt we ever see lumber prices back to what they were pre-Covid. Once they get the prices up there, that's a huge win for the mills.

The only difference between your experience and what we do is we send our clients to our partners to select items, then we take it from there.

JP76 said:

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AgProgrammer said:

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Lumber prices aren't going down between now and January. Just like gasoline prices, quick to rise...slow to fall. I doubt we ever see lumber prices back to what they were pre-Covid. Once they get the prices up there, that's a huge win for the mills.

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Wood has dropped pretty hard the past 2 weeks

This was $2.80-$3.00 back in March
Was $5.99 about a month ago

And now back to $3.25


https://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-4-in-x-92-5-8-in-Kiln-Dried-Southern-Yellow-Pine-Purple-Stud-283826/100096906


4x4x8 treated was around $6.80 last December
A month ago I saw it peak at close to $19.00

I just down some yesterday for $6.77 a piece


OSB 1/2 inch went from $7 to $25 the past 8 months
Has only recently fallen back to $22's this past week

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Exactly...I have been watching SYP prices but I was not sure what area fed Houston. There are a few SYP indexes.

Builder93 said:

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classof2019 said:

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What is the best place to monitor wood costs?

Is there a certain index for Houston area to watch?

I am planning on building starting in Jan..my original wood estimate was really high so hoping by Jan that will be down some.


I am doing a cost plus deal with my builder...so anything I can find cheaper is money I save.

As far as appliances, plumbing, lighting, who else is there to check besides fergusons that offers quality stuff?

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Commodities markets?

Don't think you are going to be a superstar money saver by buying yourself. Trades don't like guys like you because you are just another step between them and getting the job done. Now they have to coordinate with you and the builder.

I'd also say if you buy your own stuff, don't expect anyone to honor the warranty. Part of their warranty cost is often covered in their markup. Plus, if you don't have your ducks in a row and they show with nothing to work with, you have wasted their time. Unless you are actually getting trade prices, you are not saving money. Whatever price level the supply houses tell you they are giving you, the electrician is getting a better price and he knows what works better in a certain situation.

Can you do it? Yes.
Would I want to work with you? No.

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Let me back up and say my builder is a close friend. He is being very transparent and I am trying to help him find new trades in our area. (Family owned building company that is expanding to another side of town) So its a win win for us both. Alot of his trades are on the other side of Houston.

My home is to be a "model" for future clients. We are very much working together to get the nicest home for the best price while getting potential new trades.

I have the exact bids and who bid it for each step of my house. Like you said, he likes fergusons for the warranty and if anything is wrong they come to pick up and replace vs going to Lowes. I also know that places like Lowes the insides of the plumbing is cheaper than what you get at Fergusons. I'm ok with that but it doesnt hurt to look and ask.

mAgnoliAg said:

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This didn't go as OP expected

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Well updated with more info, should have explained the situation better.

Agthatbuilds said:

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The only difference between your experience and what we do is we send our clients to our partners to select items, then we take it from there.

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Yes. He gave us several preferred vendors (known quantities). In most cases, he had 2-3 for each category. He even set up with a new window vendor when his usual guy couldn't get the windows we wanted.

Builder93 said:

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classof2019 said:

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What is the best place to monitor wood costs?

Is there a certain index for Houston area to watch?

I am planning on building starting in Jan..my original wood estimate was really high so hoping by Jan that will be down some.


I am doing a cost plus deal with my builder...so anything I can find cheaper is money I save.

As far as appliances, plumbing, lighting, who else is there to check besides fergusons that offers quality stuff?

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Commodities markets?

Don't think you are going to be a superstar money saver by buying yourself. Trades don't like guys like you because you are just another step between them and getting the job done. Now they have to coordinate with you and the builder.

I'd also say if you buy your own stuff, don't expect anyone to honor the warranty. Part of their warranty cost is often covered in their markup. Plus, if you don't have your ducks in a row and they show with nothing to work with, you have wasted their time. Unless you are actually getting trade prices, you are not saving money. Whatever price level the supply houses tell you they are giving you, the electrician is getting a better price and he knows what works better in a certain situation.

Can you do it? Yes.
Would I want to work with you? No.

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Yeah, trades get in their own way enough. they probably don't like people screwing with their already screwed up schedule. They will probably be pissed if they actually show up when they say they will and you don't have the material. Wasting of time is a one way street with those guys.

I'm currently working a build in a similar arrangement as the OP but it's a small build (534 sqft). We're basically enclosing a fancy carport.

We got a fixed price to dry in the structure (if we bought the windows) and we pay $2000 a week for labor for all the extra stuff we buy that he and his guy install for us. We didn't intend to do it this way, we intended to finish out the build ourselves but after realizing that they were only paying themselves $12.50 an hour we decided to try to keep them occupied as long as they're willing to keep coming back.

Also don't take any **** from your builder, remember he works for you and you are paying him a bunch of money. If you want to find your own materials do it, but tell him when they will be there and deliver on time.

My moron builder didn't purchase our wood flooring when I asked, because I saw wood prices rising. Original price was $4 per square foot by the time he bought it was $8 (reclaimed pine is an odd width to match historic floors)

I did the leg work, found floors for the price I needed, better floors than he found for $8, picked them up in a uhaul and delivered them myself. Saved myself about 10 grands.

Yeah, im still charging a markup on any owner purchased items and, again, my guys will walk off if any item or material isnt complete, is broken, or not on site when it's needed. And then your job gets put in the back of their line.

You absolutely have to deliver what you say you will deliver, but remember you (the owner l) has a lot of leverage until that final 10% is dispersed. If your builder wrote the contract and it doesn't specifically cover owner purchased items having a markup it may be worth the fight.

If your builder is charging you on your purchases then they better be warrantying those items just like the stuff they get.

I ended withholding almost 15k at the end of our deal because of our different readings of certain contractual clauses and accounting "anomalies" on his side. He also pissed off my bank so I had their power behind me as well which helped.

It's in our contract that we purchase items.

However, when we do allow for client purchase, we only warranty the install. It's not my problem if something you bought is broken or a lemon.

I still need to pay for the install of an item as well as put bread on the table. Asking for the markup is something that should be expected. I dont know if your builder did this but i pass through any savings i get from my suppliers which usually saves the client money, even when you include my markup.

OP, why did you come on here and essentially misrepresent your situation? If your buddy is a professional, why can't he find his own subs?

We had line items for asset vs install. We were also fixed price so he had no obligation to pass savings for certain items to me, but did have to for allowances. Out of scope items were still charged the markup. He was awful at paper work and never executed our change orders and then would come back to me and tell me it cost more, to which I told him fine we will settle this at the end. That's were most of the withholding material came from. I assume most people just let him work like that and so did I until I saw the pattern

Avoid Ferguson if you can. Try to find the actual part number (not the Ferguson number) then google it, the Ferguson rep has some leeway, so if you find a better price ask them to match it

Yeah, gotta keep those change orders in order.

Agthatbuilds said:

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It's in our contract that we purchase items.

However, when we do allow for client purchase, we only warranty the install. It's not my problem if something you bought is broken or a lemon.

I still need to pay for the install of an item as well as put bread on the table. Asking for the markup is something that should be expected. I dont know if your builder did this but i pass through any savings i get from my suppliers which usually saves the client money, even when you include my markup.

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I mean are you really warranting the part beyond what the manufacturer provides? Whether I buy it or you buy it, the "warranty" will be the same.

When it comes to things like appliances, the warranty is the same youd get from the manufacturer.

When it comes to things like wood floors that the previous poster mentioned, it gets a little more complicated.

We have our own warranty that covers the build, materials and so on for set amounts of time.

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Edit glitch

Also, there is a difference in nickels and dimes and material differences. I set a threshold of $2,000, anything below was let slide or let the builder handle anything above we discussed and remediated. Any difference of $5,000 or more I was willing to stop construction or litigate after the fact.

I don't expect my experience was to normal. I imagine the builders on this board would have done a better job.

At the end of the day my builder and I butted heads because he was a good builder but lousy project manager. I am used to seeing much more PM rigor on smaller margin jobs than he was willing to provide. I basically started PMing the job and that's what got us close to done on time and close to budget.

He also butted head with the lender, the architect, the city and one of the subs, which usually left me trying to play the middle.

That's tough. Glad it worked out for you.

One of the best things i have is the relationships with my subs. We dont have a single sub that we havent been working with for a minimum of 10 years. That's really helpful and we've weeded out anyone who cant hack it.

No, the price isnt negotiable. At least not with me. This isnt a car or anything close. I'm not going to beat up my subs because you think something is too expensive. I call them out when something is that way but I'm not going to jeopardize them or me to get you a slightly less expensive price.

Yeah in my experience with the way building is right now price is not negotiable. Maybe a reduction in cost for a reduction in scope

My guys subs were great, it was mainly the builder. He did 50% commercial dentist offices and 50% homes. Our visions weren't aligned either, I wanted to make everything as period as possible on our remodel and he didn't seem to grasp that. I think in the end our personalities weren't compatible for working together.

Builder93 said:

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OP, why did you come on here and essentially misrepresent your situation? If your buddy is a professional, why can't he find his own subs?

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I think I explained that....he is expanding the family business into a new area....He has his subs at the current areas pricing,(IE woodlands vs east houston pricing) doesnt mean there isnt good subs locally that I may know that he will thing bring into his umbrella of subs if they pass his standards of work.