Shortages of ......?

Post by **Sveedy** » 13 Jul 2022, 09:55

Being in the building industry, I'm totally blown away by the shortages that I'm seeing in everyday items. Such as :

Windows. Typically there is anywhere from 6 - 9 months to get new windows. People are having to order their windows when they pull their permits, but as the windows are installed during the framing phase, houses are just sitting for months.....waiting.

Cement. According to my concrete supplier, only the big developments are able to get concrete due to shortages. Single homes and additions etc are at the very bottom of the list. Wait for months.

Glass. Not just auto glass, but also plain plate glass as well. I am currently waiting 2 months for a single 8" x 12" piece of beveled glass.

Red pigment for oil based paint. Just found this out yesterday from my local Sherwin Williams dealer. I bought the last gallon around in this tri-city area. None expected for months.

Asphalt roofing material. Waiting for the roofer, who tells me that his supplier can't get the shingles due to the oil issues.

Plastic electrical boxes etc. Again, I go into to Home Depot and see nothing but empty shelves where all of the non metallic boxes and connectors are supposed to be. I ask the associate, and am told that they don't know when they will have things restocked.

On top of this, I've been waiting for over a month for my exhaust system from IPD. Still not in sight. Back ordered for months now apparently.

Now not all, if any of this comes from over seas, so with unemployment at 3.6%, what is going on here ? I hear all kinds of reasons / excuses, but simple back-ups in shipping can't be responsible for all of this. Oil issues I get. We deserve that. But 8 months for windows..??

All of this is going to snowball in a big way if people can't do their jobs because someone else can't get what they need to do theirs.

The bucket brigade stops when people can't get buckets. Then the obvious happens.

Just my two cents ( wait, isn't there a shortage of pennies and change as well ? )

Post by **matthew1** » 13 Jul 2022, 10:39

My friend in TX says the same thing. He has a business of about 30 employees that makes furniture. For a year he's been travelling here and there outside the US to line up materials. He contracts for 30-ft containers (or are they 40ft?) and a year ago the wait/lead time was months and months and has gotten better slightly.

He's seen the cost of these materials go bananas, if he can find them at all. This is not exotic stuff: metal, fabric, screws, plastic, etc. Also machines to shape and process the materials are difficult to find.

He sounded the alarm on inflation over a year ago when his prices went way up.

Now it's labor. He can't keep skilled veteran workers.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 13 Jul 2022, 13:12

Weird grocery shortages: Some times my local Homeland grocery will not have muffins and bagels that we like. When I asked the bread truck person when they are at the store, they said they never know what they will get to deliver. When they are on the shelf, there may only be 1 or 2 packages of them. These are not real weird flavors, just plain and cinnamon raisin.

I have heard OSB siding panels are now easier to get than a month or so ago. I will need more of these, but will wait and maybe the price will come down some.

I bought some mixed red paint at ACE a couple weeks ago. More expensive than I expected, but I got it.

I think supply issues are like the swiss cheese concept of virus protection. For virus protection, each protection measure is a slice of swiss cheese with random holes. If all the protection measures have some gaps in protection (holes in the cheese slice), there is still some chance of infection if the holes are aligned. Each step of the production process and each material/ component has to be aligned for the product to be built and delivered. If the window frame corner extrusion clip is stuck on a ship from China, the window can't be built.

volvolugnut

Post by **matthew1** » 13 Jul 2022, 14:45

: raise.jpeg (115.22 KiB) Viewed 468 times

Post by **Sveedy** » 13 Jul 2022, 16:37

matthew1 wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 14:45raise.jpeg

Post by **Sveedy** » 13 Jul 2022, 16:46

volvolugnut wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 13:12 Weird grocery shortages: Some times my local Homeland grocery will not have muffins and bagels that we like. When I asked the bread truck person when they are at the store, they said they never know what they will get to deliver. When they are on the shelf, there may only be 1 or 2 packages of them. These are not real weird flavors, just plain and cinnamon raisin.

I have heard OSB siding panels are now easier to get than a month or so ago. I will need more of these, but will wait and maybe the price will come down some.

I bought some mixed red paint at ACE a couple weeks ago. More expensive than I expected, but I got it.

I think supply issues are like the swiss cheese concept of virus protection. For virus protection, each protection measure is a slice of swiss cheese with random holes. If all the protection measures have some gaps in protection (holes in the cheese slice), there is still some chance of infection if the holes are aligned. Each step of the production process and each material/ component has to be aligned for the product to be built and delivered. If the window frame corner extrusion clip is stuck on a ship from China, the window can't be built.

volvolugnut

Just curious - was the paint oil or latex ?

And your right about the windows and their components. They do have glass after all

But I hadn't thought about the other incidentals.
Plastic clips, rubber seals... ARRGH !!

I've noticed at the grocery store that the produce section has gotten so bad that they have removed display stands and made the aisles about 2 - 3 ft wider. " Spread it all out and make it look like we have more than we do. Maybe they won't notice. ".

Post by **volvolugnut** » 13 Jul 2022, 17:01

Sveedy wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 16:46
volvolugnut wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 13:12 Weird grocery shortages: Some times my local Homeland grocery will not have muffins and bagels that we like. When I asked the bread truck person when they are at the store, they said they never know what they will get to deliver. When they are on the shelf, there may only be 1 or 2 packages of them. These are not real weird flavors, just plain and cinnamon raisin.

I have heard OSB siding panels are now easier to get than a month or so ago. I will need more of these, but will wait and maybe the price will come down some.

I bought some mixed red paint at ACE a couple weeks ago. More expensive than I expected, but I got it.

I think supply issues are like the swiss cheese concept of virus protection. For virus protection, each protection measure is a slice of swiss cheese with random holes. If all the protection measures have some gaps in protection (holes in the cheese slice), there is still some chance of infection if the holes are aligned. Each step of the production process and each material/ component has to be aligned for the product to be built and delivered. If the window frame corner extrusion clip is stuck on a ship from China, the window can't be built.

volvolugnut

Just curious - was the paint oil or latex ?

And your right about the windows and their components. They do have glass after all But I hadn't thought about the other incidentals.
Plastic clips, rubber seals... ARRGH !!

I've noticed at the grocery store that the produce section has gotten so bad that they have removed display stands and made the aisles about 2 - 3 ft wider. " Spread it all out and make it look like we have more than we do ".

The paint I bought was latex. However, I think (but don't know) that latex and oil base paint would both use the same pigments. I got curious and looked up red pigments. There are two inexpensive inorganic red pigments: Lead Chromate and Red Iron Oxide. There are also several organic red pigments that read like chemicals.

volvolugnut

Post by **Sveedy** » 13 Jul 2022, 20:29

This is an industrial oil based paint. Very nasty smelling. Very expensive ( $ 140 per gal. but I got it for less ). Not sure what part of it is hard to get, but they said it had to do with the red.

Post by **gnalan** » 26 Jul 2022, 08:32

Isn't iron oxide just rust? Plenty of it in scrap yards to salvage, I'm sure for free, to make and sell your own red pigment (if you're into diy).

Most glass is made from sand. I don't think the beaches are getting any smaller, buts it's been awhile since I've been to any beach.

I think the biggest issue is the price of diesel. Truckers have to pay whatever the cost is, and in order to make money they have to raise the price of whatever they're hauling.

(Political rant would go here, but since it's not allowed I'll save my thumbs the typing.)