Home renovation delays due to supply problems? (1 Viewer)

[ATLarchip]

Has anyone else experienced delays on building materials? Hired a general contractor to finish out our ~730 sf basement and rip out and build a new back deck in mid December. He estimated to be finished in mid April. Today we just now have drywall in, mudded, and sanded. He’s telling me now they can’t get the doors and trims because of delays/shortage in supplies. Says he’s got other basement jobs that can’t proceed because they can’t get the LVL beams, shortage on windows, even glue that plumbers use to glue pipes. He said we were lucky to get drywall. Has anyone else experienced this? I have been seeing the prices of wood going up, but the rest of the construction materials as well? He says he’s pushing to get materials, as they don’t get paid unless they are working, and they can’t work without the materials. Part of me wants to believe him, but part of me thinks he’s just trying to cover his butt for poor time management in ordering materials and getting the subs lined up. Like to see if anyone else might be going through or seeing similar situations.

 

[CraigT78]

I waited six weeks for an exterior door to come in that I had to replace because the jamb rotted.

I believe it.

 

[TheDuke]

I've heard about the lumber shortage but not about other building supplies. But it makes sense with supply chains issues, factory/plant shutdowns, etc.

 

[davislane]

Global issue. Supply problems down here is Australia also.

 

[Mongoose]

It’s nuts right now! Any type of home renovation is typically going to require much longer wait times.

Last September we had to wait about 3 weeks to get a new A/C unit that we wanted. We just ordered new entry doors last month and we were told to expect them in August! the same thing with our pool. We’re having it replastered and retiled and we’re also looking at August!

Pandemic= more people spending time at home and fixing things up. It seems like everyone needs a home gym and a home office. Yeah, home ownership = what a dream $$$$

 

[Lars]

It is a real situation. Lumber, furniture, appliances, windows. I am trying to complete some projects on my house and am waiting 12 weeks for windows and doors. I am an electrical contractor and have had trouble getting lots of parts especially breakers for the last year. My electrical supplier will honor prices for 3 days. Lumber and copper are at ridiculous levels. A builder that I work with had his last home cost an addition $100K in material increases over the 6 month building period. Reminds me of 2007-2008 only worse.

 

[Dugthefish]

I'm a superintendent for a general contractor. Your guy is not messing with you. Extreme shortages on almost every building product. Everything is weeks or months behind and 2x the cost. Consider yourself lucky if you haven't been hit with extra charges to cover price increases.

 

[buzzmonkey]

It extends out to semi conductors too, affecting cars, computers, etc.

 

[trigs]

Myself and my parents had been calling around to find some contractors for various jobs, and neither of us were even getting call backs for weeks.

 

[CRAW]

It’s legit!

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

Has anyone else experienced delays on building materials? Hired a general contractor to finish out our ~730 sf basement and rip out and build a new back deck in mid December. He estimated to be finished in mid April. Today we just now have drywall in, mudded, and sanded. He’s telling me now they can’t get the doors and trims because of delays/shortage in supplies. Says he’s got other basement jobs that can’t proceed because they can’t get the LVL beams, shortage on windows, even glue that plumbers use to glue pipes.

It depends on the door. My experience is from 2020, but I found that while standard hollow doors were easy to get, vented/louvered doors are a whole other story. As I learned (ordering from Lowes) the affordable louvered doors, which are required by code for the equipment room, come out of Canada. I ordered a double door (louvered) in Feb of 2020, and Lowes told me it would not arrive until June. Crappy part is that when it arrived, it was damaged and I had to wait until September to finally get my door.

Homedepot seemed to have more of a backlog than Lowes.

Here's my recommendation. Go to HD and or Lowes and see if they can order the doors you need and that will tell you whether or not if your GC's delay is truly due to supply problems or if he is stringing you and other projects along due to cash flow problems on his end. Lowes can look up the expected delivery date on their computer. I suspect HD can too.

Edit: unfortunately, I suspect it might be the later--he's having cash flow problems. I say this because while supplies have gotten more expensive, other than the louvered door, I never have a problem finding what I need, e.g., glue for pvc, etc. Again, check for yourself if the doors and other items are readily available.

 

[Taghkanic]

I ordered a garage door in May. The original delivery date was July. Now they’re saying “maybe October.”

 

[Taghkanic]

(And this is not home improvement per se, but I ordered a new tractor in early January, with an agreed-upon trade in price. Was supposed to arrive in March. That became May. Now being told “We have no idea when it will arrive.” The dealer has 25+ unfulfilled orders due to major backlogs at the manufacturer. Steel shortages are supposedly to blame. Every time I use my trade-in I’m praying it does not break down.)

 

[ovo]

yup,

 

[Cwaters425]

I've been waiting 4 months for my Trex Composite decking. I was able to get the framing material (posts, beams and joists) after about a 5 week wait, but trex keeps getting delayed. Its supposed to come July 29th or 30th, fingers crossed