ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Lumber prices are rising across the country – up two to three times what they were a year ago – and it's putting a pinch on local contractors and home repair projects.
"All lumber prices are going up," says the yard supervisor at Berkeley Lumber, Ed Zeilman. "Anything you buy in the way of framing lumber, to decking, to siding, to plywood goods. The whole industry, the price is going up."
He says wood prices nationwide are going up so fast, it's affecting the bidding process on projects. He can only give estimates that last 24 hours because the prices are rising daily.
"We can't guarantee what the market is going to do the next day," Zeilman says.
His advice to someone pondering a spring lumber project is to either buy now before prices go up more or wait a year or more and hope prices come down.
He says the pandemic has hurt the flow of lumber from Canada to the U.S., so they're shipping some in from Europe.
"Just think about that. They cut the trees in Germany, put them on a ship- well they mill them in Germany and put them on a ship. Ship them all the way to the United States and then truck them from a sea port into St. Louis," Zeilman says.
Experts blame the problem on a building boom and a shortage of lumber from Canada.
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