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One more shortage....

Crap, I have an upcoming need for steel panels for siding and roofing, didn't think about the cost increases. Need to look into that ASAP!
 
Notice how most of the fasteners (nails, screws, etc.) you buy these days are made in China? I expect that to be a problem real soon.
 
I need galvanized schedule 40 pipe, couldn't find it anywhere, so had to buy the regular stuff and send it off to be galvanized. 5-pieces of 6" cost me $4500, and the highest quote was nearly $7000. It wouldn't have cost much more to go all stainless steel.

WOW, that's crazy.
 
I need galvanized schedule 40 pipe, couldn't find it anywhere, so had to buy the regular stuff and send it off to be galvanized. 5-pieces of 6" cost me $4500, and the highest quote was nearly $7000. It wouldn't have cost much more to go all stainless steel.
Thank you for your update. I am a retired steamfitter / welder... Several months ago we all said "It can't get much worse".... My people remind me of that conversation. Anybody's guess as to where this will end.
 
Notice how most of the fasteners (nails, screws, etc.) you buy these days are made in China? I expect that to be a problem real soon.
Of course..... I am buying the large head torx screws for my homestead projects with the thought of being able to re-use them somewhere down the line. I hope that time never comes.
 
Of course..... I am buying the large head torx screws for my homestead projects with the thought of being able to re-use them somewhere down the line. I hope that time never comes.

Get various sizes. I did the same thing, many of them are broken in half when pulling them out. They are definitely weaker than nails.
 
Stonemasonry contractor here, fortunately retired. We discovered a new type of dinosaur, the Backasore, LOL

Do you mean fiberglass insulation? Its in stock here.
No, wool. Architects have gone to wool insulations in the cavity in lieu of rigid XPS type. Enjoy retirement!!!
 
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If you don't mind me asking, what portion of the steel industry are you in?

I'm in structural steel fabrication, so the vast majority of my purchases are wide flange. We also purchase a fair amount of HSS, but almost exclusively square/rectangle. We don't do a lot of pipe work. Plate, angle and channel are what we consider "detail material" so it makes up a pretty small amount of our overall projects. We haven't experienced any significant shortages yet on the material we need for our projects. Maybe rolling dates have slid out slightly, but nothing earth shattering. We purchase as much as we can directly from Nucor (wide flange exclusively), but everything else is from a warehouse/service center. Joist and deck are another item altogether. We have these on many of our projects and the lead times are freaking nuts......but the stuff we run through our shop hasn't been too terribly hard to get a hold of.....just outrageously expensive.

I was just curious what part of the industry you are in due to the comment above. I know certain sectors are hit a lot harder than us.
Structural steel up and down the West Coast and in Nevada. The bulk of it is gigantic odd sized wide flange for cantilevered loads and enormous moment (think CA. seismic areas) resisting drag links and frames.

Joist and decking are out until August of next year.
 
Wow!
I knew things were different in other areas of the country, but I had no idea they were that different. That royally sucks. I probably need to stop complaining. It isn't quite that bad here.

I don't even know how things can continue to function with lead times like that.
 
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In my neck of the woods, electrical boxes and plumbing fittings are non-existent.

I couldn't believe the price for copper fitting at Home Depot last week. I guess I could build a pretty nice rifle if I sold my stash. I've got a few rental units that are all copper pipe and fittings. I wonder if would pay to rip it all out and install CPVC in it's place and cash in the copper?????
 
Another thing in short supply, AA Lithium Batteries. Numerous stores have empty slots (Supermarkets, Walmart, Hardware Stores, even Lowe's). Found three packages at Sportsman's Warehouse.
 
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I was going to install a 12KW of solar this fall and the only thing I haven't purchased is the boxes and conduit. I'm almost too scared to look now.
 
It's available, but still expensive. Last lot of PVC sched 40 conduit I purchased, 10-ea 2-1/2" and 10-each 2" cost me $1000. That really hurt, but I had an open trench, and had the excavator waiting on me, so I had no choice.
 
Wow!
I knew things were different in other areas of the country, but I had no idea they were that different. That royally sucks. I probably need to stop complaining. It isn't quite that bad here.

I don't even know how things can continue to function with lead times like that.
It's been easier for me to re-engineer and change member sizing to in stock material to keep the job going.