47-55.1 Garage Building Woes

[vintovka]

Well we moved to Florence OR and need to build another garage for the 54. Met with no less than 6 contractors and NONE have giving us an on paper bid. They don't even call back!! I think current wood and concrete costs are the reason. Local prices approaching $8 for a 2x4 and $200+ for a yard of 5 bag concrete. Permits are running 3-4 months as well, May go with a metal 2 car on gravel if things don't change soon!!

[mick53]

I have been a general contractor for about 40 years in a few states including California. A contractor can lock in a price months in advance by paying for it an taking delivery later. The reason most contractors don't want to do this is they hope the price will go down. I have also given bids for projects that don't start for a while with provisional material cost. This protects the customer and the contractor. Also upon winning the bid I have had customers pay the entire material cost to lock it in. I now do projects in the 15-50 million dollar range but it applied when I was doing small residential also. Getting a price on a job that is not yet permitted is looked at by the contractor as possible waisted time. The bids may be free for you but they cost time and money for the contractor. In an industry where the average win ratio is about 10% that counts. My advice is get your permit and then call 3 contractors with good reputations. You will be surprised how close the bids are. Always read the contract carefully an see what is and is not included. Never sigh a vague contract that is not itemized with a completion date. Just my $.02 worth. Thank you for your time.

[joedoh]

these days everyone is a general contractor, and they blow through subs by not paying them till 90 net or sometimes at all. remember the contractor is just your interface, if you have the budget and time, read up on project scheduling and county codes for inspections and just hire the subs yourself.

my last contractor told me his problems were being exacerbated by my unwillingness to pay milestone payments even though he hadnt hit the milestones. it was baffling, it was MY fault he couldnt do the milestone work I was being asked to pay in advance for instead of after completion, because he had spent the 25% deposit I gave him on materials for another job. he said thats how it works, the current starting job pays to finish the last job!

at the end I had to withhold the final payment in case subs came after him, and sure enough, concrete (supposed to be paid in first installment!) put a lien warning and we ended up paying drywall and plumbing subs out of the balance because he planned to pay them 90 net (and probably stiff them outright!). This was after he used the electrical allowance to pay the electrician $85/hr to stand and pump rainwater from the basement so the floor could be poured, I took the county test and did the electrical myself.

[vintovka]

The local lumber supplier told the tale. Mills are closed and contractors are basically bidding on what little is available. Asia is sucking up all the raw logs they can right now. The log piles and sawdust mountains are a sight to see in the ports.

Built a nice 24x30 Garage two years ago, with the works, for 23K. That's where the 54 will stay until spring. One contractors said he couldn't do it for less than 55K right now. Now really Looking hard at Metal Garage on gravel. Just worried about condensation dripping all over.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by vintovka

The local lumber supplier told the tale. Mills are closed and contractors are basically bidding on what little is available. Asia is sucking up all the raw logs they can right now. The log piles and sawdust mountains are a sight to see in the ports.

Built a nice 24x30 Garage two years ago, with the works, for 23K. That's where the 54 will stay until spring. One contractors said he couldn't do it for less than 55K right now. Now really Looking hard at Metal Garage on gravel. Just worried about condensation dripping all over.

If you put a thermal break there like vinyl backed rolled insulation you won't get condensation.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by vintovka

Local prices approaching $8 for a 2x4

stupid crazy prices! i'm helping my son in law gut a bathroom with 9 foot ceilings
a freaking 2x4x10 is over $10 each, we stripped the ceiling with 1x4s that cost what a 2x4 would have 5 years ago
the bathroom vanity is over $800 for mdf cabinets

[62c30]

I built a 30x40 garage this spring and had been collecting materials for the prior 6 months. Other than the concrete I did it all myself. I would buy when I found a deal. I have about $9,000 in the building not including concrete and that is with 2x6 studs. I did a rough estimate the other day after seeing how much lumber and osb ($22!!) went up and it would cost about 50% more now vs back in the spring.

[notsolo]

Originally Posted by vintovka

The local lumber supplier told the tale. Mills are closed and contractors are basically bidding on what little is available. Asia is sucking up all the raw logs they can right now. The log piles and sawdust mountains are a sight to see in the ports.

Built a nice 24x30 Garage two years ago, with the works, for 23K. That's where the 54 will stay until spring. One contractors said he couldn't do it for less than 55K right now. Now really Looking hard at Metal Garage on gravel. Just worried about condensation dripping all over.

We put up an American steel Quonset building 15 yrs ago...We get a lot of moisture overnight.. yes some condensation. Really not bad overall. It could be reduced or eliminated if you added synthetic roofing paper on the inside. $150 for 1000sq ft roll...3 rolls would cover inside 24x40...

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by notsolo

We put up an American steel Quonset building 15 yrs ago...We get a lot of moisture overnight.. yes some condensation. Really not bad overall. It could be reduced or eliminated if you added synthetic roofing paper on the inside. $150 for 1000sq ft roll...3 rolls would cover inside 24x40...

Curious do you know your average humidity and how did you attach the paper?

Building here has come to a screeching halt and operating mills and raw logs all Asia bound. We get 70=99% humidity due to being yards from ocean and feet from big river.

[mongocanfly]

A guy I work with had his house condemned..he had 90 days to get out..he got a material bid for 90k for his new house...30 days later it was 127k...its crazy right now...
here, 2 weeks ago ,2x4s are $8 ,osb is $23...a 4×4×10 are $24 each..
I'd hate to be having to build right now..and I was..
I got my foundation done and throwed the brakes on my house build...itll have to wait

[vintovka]

This cannot continue or contractors and material suppliers may go bust. Existing Home prices are up a good 10% here and soaring in large part do cause nobody in building. The place we just bought in March is up 20%+ today. Watch rents and food go nuts. All of this means everything else will too. including auto restoration parts and labor. Thank you to the left and china.

[notsolo]

Had to look up the average, looks like 85%....as far as attaching synthetic roofing, 4 strips on the 4 ft lengths on each, held by the bolts....and bead of polyurethane caulk on other ribs. This was all nut and bolt U shaped panels, bolt a ring together on the ground and stand it up...the panels on the ends are 24" roofing galv-alum.......synthetic roofing I use is called Titanium UDL. 30.

[layinrocker65]

You have to be careful. Contractors are building houses like crazy where Im at since we lost thousands of houses in the CA fires. The contractors are taking all the money, buying themselves all new $90k lifted trucks and new tools with the money to build the houses. Then they walk away from the jobs before they are done because they ran out of money. Luckily for most of these home owners, insurance is coving most of it.

They are beyond paying for the current project with the next projects money.

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by layinrocker65

You have to be careful. Contractors are building houses like crazy where Im at since we lost thousands of houses in the CA fires. The contractors are taking all the money, buying themselves all new $90k lifted trucks and new tools with the money to build the houses. Then they walk away from the jobs before they are done because they ran out of money. Luckily for most of these home owners, insurance is coving most of it.

They are beyond paying for the current project with the next projects money.

We left CA as i saw this coming after my time working with CA Dept of Insurance. The real big guys (like the swiss reinsurance group) who back up/cover the American insurance companies may have to to pull plug on them due to losses. Even Lloyds of London has, or is in the process of, bailing. AAA and many others are already gone leaving the near bankrupt CA "fair plan" as a last resort. No Insurance? No Loans. A cancellation notice in your mailbox may cost you the value of your home.

[G&R's57GMC]

Being that you’re so close to the ocean and river steel is not the way to go .

We looked at a 2 year old development on the Oregon coast and all the steel garage doors , flashing and anything else made of steel including nails was already rusted. My guess is they would have to be replaced at 5 years. They should have used stainless nails . Copper flashing and composite garage doors .
The windows facing the ocean were etched by the salt air .

Just something to think about .

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by G&R's5MC

Being that you’re so close to the ocean and river steel is not the way to go .

We looked at a 2 year old development on the Oregon coast and all the steel garage doors , flashing and anything else made of steel including nails was already rusted. My guess is they would have to be replaced at 5 years. They should have used stainless nails . Copper flashing and composite garage doors .
The windows facing the ocean were etched by the salt air .

Just something to think about .

Yes, steel is NOT my first choice but unless you are like within 2-300 feet from the waves most well treated steel seems to hold up. Down near our other place on the beach most steel buildings/carports are doing ok. Salt spray is hell on things like heat pumps and raw steel. Have till spring to decide and raining like 6" an hour right now and civil war seems imminent, so building is out of the question.

[burnin oil]

I am redoing my roof right now and thank goodness I bought the material right as prices started to rise. Cost me like an extra $200 so I can't complain. I was supposed to be building my shop this year but got side tracked while clearing out the land. I am comptamplating just buying a cheap portable saw mill for under 4k and a planner and just drop a bunch of pine trees on the property. Seems cheaper than buying lumber if it doesn't go back down in the future. My time and labor is free so who knows at this point.

[mick53]

Material always goes up during hurricane season and this has been a bad one. Then add the wildfires. Supply and demand. It will come down in the spring.

[vintovka]

The talk about open conflict here aren't helping. Gunshops are empty and many are carrying.

Getting estimates from metal guys now. May have to settle for gravel now and have concrete floor done when sanity returns.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by vintovka

when sanity returns.

1/20/21