Lumber
Wood which has been turned into the form of beams and planks, commonly known as lumber, is a stage in the manufacture of wood. Lumber is mostly utilized for structural purposes but has numerous additional applications.
Lumber can be rough-sawn or have one or more faces that have surfaced. Rough timber and pulpwood are used to make furniture and other products that require sawing & shaping.
How can lumber help in building walls, ceilings, and floors?
Wood has several advantages that make it a good choice for various construction tasks. One of these advantages is
Its thermal qualities provide it with an edge in terms of heat resistance.
Unlike steel, which expands or collapses when exposed to extreme heat, wood shrinks and becomes more challenging as the temperature rises.
Wood has poor heat conductivity compared to other materials like concrete, marble, steel, or glass. This allows the wood to be used in various applications, including matches, hardware equipment grips, wall panels, and ceilings.
Lumber prices in the United States by month, 2019-2022
Throughout the last 5 years, the cost of lumber in the United States has ranged from a low of 240 dollars per 1,000 board feet in January 2016 to a high of over 1,500 dollars in April 2021.
However, the overall improvement is still not linear, with lumber prices dropping roughly 50% during June and September 2018 and then rising by around 50% during August and October 2020.
More recently, from May to August 2021, the value dropped by about 75%.
Several lumber mills closed around this time owing to the early fall, which, along with higher tariffs, a lack of manpower because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, & increasing demand, resulted in a 300% spike in prices during October 2020 and May 2021.
According to Insight, the cost of timber fell to $829 per thousand board feet, the lowest level since 2022.
The drop was attributed to rising mortgage rates, inflation, and decreased house renovations.
As per Insight, the cost reflects a dramatic 39 percent decline from last month, as lumber was dealing at its peak at as much as $1,357 per thousand board feet.
The price had dropped to less than half of what it was in May when it peaked at $1,733 per thousand board feet.
Fact: As per the National Association of Home Builders, rising lumber costs added approximately $36,000 to overall home prices. Experts were conflicted on how they dealt with these charges as home builders and remodelers. 65.9% of US house builders and remodelers claimed they could pass on the higher costs to their customers in the form of relatively high material costs. In comparison, 33% said they had to absorb the extra material costs through reduced work profitability. Interestingly, almost all US builders were impacted by rising timber prices in some way, with just 1% of respondents claiming they were undisturbed by rising lumber prices.
Concrete
Concrete is a mixture made by combining binding materials (cement or lime) with materials (sand, gravel, stone, brick chips, etc.), water, admixtures, and other ingredients in precise ratios. The blending ratios determine the strength and texture.
The continuity formula can be used to calculate the method for making concrete from its constituents:
Binding Material + Fine and Coarse Aggregate + Water + Admixture (optional)
= Concrete
Concrete is an extremely important and valuable construction material. The cement and water interact with each other to bond themselves into a solid mass when all of the constituents-cement, aggregate, and water standards of measurement-are blended in the proper amounts.
This causes the concrete to solidify into a rock-like mass.
The material cost of concrete
After decreasing by 0.5% in September, the Producer Price Index for ready-mixed concrete (RMC) increased by 0.6% in October.
"The RMC index has climbed 6.4% in January 2020 and 4.8% year to date," according to Logan.
"This is the greatest year-to-date gain in October since 2006," according to the report.
The Producer Price Index "for gypsum materials jumped 2.1% in October, "which is bad news for home builders."
Gypsum costs have risen for the "seventh consecutive month."
Concrete and gypsum are commonly employed in construction, with walls & ceilings, as well as Portland cement and pavers, figuring prominently.
Cement
Cement is a substance being used in construction that sets, solidifies, and binds with other elements to form a bond.
Cement is typically used to connect sand and gravel (articulate) instead of on its own.
Masonry mortar is made from cement blended with fine aggregate, while concrete is made from sand and gravel.
Concrete is perhaps the most frequently used on Earth, second only to water consumption.
Inorganic cement, such as lime or calcium silicate, is commonly used in construction and is classified as non-hydraulic or hydraulic based on its ability to define contact with water.
Cement price
Concrete's main basic and vital constituent is Portland cement.
Once Portland cement is mixed with water to form a paste, it bonds with sand and rock to solidify.
Cement is a glue-like substance that can connect all those other construction materials while also hardening. Several types of cement are accessible, such as
53-grade cement,
43-grade cement,
OPC (ordinary Portland cement),
PPC (Portland pozzolana cement), and so on.
This is the most costly building material.
Starting in 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic and ensuing recession lowered the demand for building markets momentarily and dramatically. Nevertheless, the construction process returned quite quickly due to a surge in house demand during the coronavirus epidemic and cheap interest rates.
As a result, cement prices increased by 0.8% in 2020.
Cement prices are predicted to rise 0.8% in 2021 due to ongoing elevated levels of resuming construction process throughout the year, and 3.5% in 2022 due to a resumption of nonresidential development and a recovery in foreign construction activity.
As an outcome, the cost of cement has risen at an average rate of 2.0% throughout the five years leading up to 2022.
Insulation
Insulation is a substance that prevents heat or sound from traveling from one location to another.
It's typically utilized to block heat and sound from entering or leaving your home or to restrict it to specific areas.
Insulation can be achieved in various methods, but the most typical method is to use materials containing millions of tiny air spaces.
Still, the air is an excellent insulator, and confined pockets of air are responsible for the high thermal resistance among most forms of insulation.
Cost of insulation
The insulation cost depends on various factors like location, type, and material.
However, you might be shocked to learn that updating or reinsulating your home can compensate for itself after just a few years of lower electric expenses.
The average cost of home insulation is around $3,000 and $10,000 for a 2,000 sq ft residence, somewhere between $1.50 and $5.00 per sq foot.
Home Insulation Prices by Area
The insulation cost will vary depending on where it is needed in your home.
A home must be insulated from top to bottom in places like the garage, basement, attic, roof, and walls to be as thermally efficient as feasible.
Garage
Some individuals insulate garages to save money on energy bills associated with heat loss.
Garages are usually insulated before they're even constructed, and several people only do so when they complete the area or add a living room from above.
While insulating a typical two-car garage is quite affordable, numerous home insulation businesses have a nominal charge.
You may wish to include the garage as part of a bigger job.
The price of insulating a two-car garage ranges from $0.50 to $1.25 per sq foot, not including the garage door.
Basement
Because the surrounding landscape aids keep the place cool in the summer and warm during the winter, a basement usually doesn't require much more insulation than an entire house.
On average, insulating a basement costs $1.50 to $2.50 per sq foot.
Wall
The most popular form of insulation is mineral wool or fiberglass filling, which is often put between bricks in the walls.
Spray foam or rigid board insulation may be used beneath the outside home covering in newly built homes.
Wall insulation costs between $1 and $4 per square foot.
Drywall
Any of several big, rigid sheets of sealing material used during drywall construction to confront the inside walls of residences and other structures, generally known as drywall or wallboard.
Installing walls without needing mortar or plaster is known as dry drywall construction.
Plywood, wood fiber, asbestos-cement board, & gypsum are examples of drywall materials.
Wood fiber & pulp boards are formed with natural wood and many other surface characteristics by crushing sheets per canticles of wood with glue.
Cost of the drywall
Drywall panel prices range from $12 to $90 per panel, based on various criteria, including the drywall used, the panel's size, and thickness.
The most typical drywall products are half-inch thick & 4 feet by 8 feet in height (width by length).
Those panels are also available in five-eighths-inch and three-quarters-inch thicknesses.
The average cost of a 4-foot-by-8-foot drywall board is $15, with a usual range of $12 to $20, or $0.40 to $0.65 per sq foot.
Panels of 4 feet by 12 feet cost $15 to $24 each, while prices can go as high as $90 per panel, based on style and function.
The cost of drywalling a garage
Based on the garage dimensions and drywall completion quality, drywall installation in a garage might cost anywhere from $800 to $5,000.
On aggregate, drywalling a normal 2-car garage costs $1,000 to $3,900. In a garage, contractors advise using thicker, fire-resistant drywall.
Basement drywalling costs.
Whether the floor plan is open or separated into smaller rooms, the price to drywall a 1,000 sq ft basement ranges from $1,500 to $7,000. Basements should be drywalled with a green or purple panel, which is moisture-resistant and mold-resistant.
The cost of drywalling a ceiling
Drywalling a ceiling seems more expensive than drywalling walls since the panels are more complex to hang & complete.
Depending on the height, drywalling a ceiling costs $1.50 to $3.80 per sq foot.
Ceilings exceeding 8 feet are charged at the upper end of that scale by drywall contractors.
Metal
Metal is a group of materials with strong electrical and thermal conductivity, malleability, ductility, & strong light reflection.
Metals make up roughly three-quarters of all recognized chemical components. By far, the most prevalent minerals in the Earth's crust are:
The price of metal
Metal prices were from $500 to $800 in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Metal prices are up over 200 percent in July 2021, selling at $1,800, and several market participants do not expect them to fall till at least 2022.
Due to the tremendous need that exceeds supply and the amount of time it takes for supply to close the gap and refill depleted steel inventories, costs are projected to remain high.
Construction is among the most important end markets for completed metal products in the United States.
It contributes to approximately 44% of domestic steel shipments each year. As per Morgan Stanley analysis, every $1 billion invested in construction equals 50 kilotons of steel demand.
Based on the initiatives shown in the construction package, a $1 trillion/10-year infrastructure plan may represent 50 million tons of steel demand over ten years.
How are metals used in home building?
Aluminum is a corrosion-resistant metal frequently utilized on the exteriors of residential and commercial structures.
Aluminum can be used in house facades, inner walls, ceilings, entrances, windows, built-in shelving, and staircases.
Wiring and ducting for HVAC systems also contain aluminum.
Since copper is easy to shape and solder, it is extensively utilized in plumbing and electrical systems.
Copper pipes and tubing are commonly found in residential HVAC & drinkable water systems, in combination with standard plumbing.
Finally, steel is employed in residential construction as a ceiling, framing, and cladding element, both new and recycled.
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By Rounak Sharma
