I have been told that with COVID the factories manufacturing shingles are operating well below capacity. Any idea when this will turn around? It is quite a hardship for those in the Gulf States that have been hammered by hurricanes. I hope we do not resort to Chinese suppliers. Chinese drywall was a major disaster!

Likely not anytime soon. My buddies in the building industry have been hurting since April. All materials are hard to get, with no real end in sight. Lumber, tile, fencing, flooring, fixtures, appliances, etc. So it's not surprising that shingles are the same way too.

I just copied my reply from another post regarding material shortages;

The entire supply chain is upside down.

Let's use China for our first example. Most stuff in China shuts down for the Chinese New Year. This year that was from 1/25 through 2/4. But instead of re-opening, they went into lockdown. And no manufacturing happened for about 6 weeks. And then it took another 4 weeks for things to ramp up. So for nearly 3 months, there was no or very limited production.

Or another area I deal with is Honduras. They shut down around the same time we did. But they were fully shut down for 3 months. When they allowed re-opening, it was a max of 50%. But wait, there's more! When they re-opened, public transportation did not re-open, so no one could actually get to work. A company I work with had to charter 17 buses to bring employees in and out of work.

These factors alone would have made things bad. But then add in increased consumer demand, and it goes from bad to items being non-existent. We will continue to feel the effects of this supply chain disruption well into 2021.

One of my sons is a developer . Roofing materials are in short supply here along with a lot of other building materials . Lead times are LONG .

I haven't had to make any customers choose different shingles, yet......but I know it's coming. My supplier bought as many truckloads as OC and GAF would ship them early on, and continue to place massive orders, only to have 25% of them actually arrive, in recent months. Thankfully peak roofing season is winding down here in Wisconsin fairly soon.

Prices went up on rebar recently with another increase coming before the end of the month. As far as lumber goes most mills are having trouble filling orders and in fear of failing to uphold contracts with buyers. Typically the shoe is on the other foot.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SigM4,

Just had my roof redone tuesday. From hail damage 4 or so months ago.
They were going to use Tamko , then called me a month ago to say several factories shut down , so the would use Owen's Corning.
Turned up on Tuesday as scheduled , and installed GAF.

So yes ,things are getting short supply.

Demand has increased along parts of the Gulf Coast due to Sally and now Delta, so some of the available products are being diverted that way. I’m on the design end but am hearing of ongoing shortages/higher prices from several contractors.

Things must be different here because I've never quite seen so many houses in my area getting new driveways, siding, roofs, remodeled bathrooms, remodeled kitchens, redone landscaping, etc. Just today 2 more houses within a block of me getting new roofs. Things have been like this all summer and fall here.

I thought that asphalt was a by-product of gasoline refinement. If so, then possibly, due to the fact that there’s less driving going on due to the current health event, then maybe less asphalt production? Waiting on member tatortod to chime in.

Housing construction has not slowed down with the pandemic, in fact its picked up in some locations (like Denver). We've had record housing sales for the 3rd quarter and our neighborhood home builder is buying up land to continue the craze.

Yes, suppliers that shut down during the pandemic are suffering to fill the gap thus creating the material shortage.

Low interest rates and the desire to relocate out of shit hole cities and states is fueling the demand for new housing. Add all the homeowners stuck 'Working from Home' adding new projects to the list and that makes the shortages that much worse.

Just goes along with everything else that is running out cause of the China Virus shutdowns. Stock up on underwear and socks because that could be next.

Plus, record hurricane landfall year. Yay 2020.

^^^^^^^^
Yep. In the cone of doom SIX times this year, plus it started with Christobal in JUNE!

We are feeling it in the concrete restoration business as well. Rebar and mesh prices are through the roof. And I have 2-3 week lead times on waterproofing that used to be available in 2-3 days.
I’m currently waiting on 40 sheets of wire mesh that my supplier can’t source, and 100 pairs of coatings that the manufacturer can’t deliver for another week.

I owned a construction business for 37 years until last year but still get the weekly futures report for lumber and other building materials.

In short, the market is very tight as we know and the best guesstimate is that it will be March until supply lines are able to catch up with demand. Of course, this is weather dependent.

quote:

Originally posted by btgoanna:

Just had my roof redone tuesday. From hail damage 4 or so months ago....

This area also had hail damage from several months ago plus a derecho storm in August, LOTS more roofs than usual are getting replaced.

Had my roof replaced 3 months ago. Must have been before the shortage - signed the contract and roof was completed 10-days later. (GAF HZT shingles)

It took me all summer to get the materials I needed for my deck rehab which included replacing everything from the joists up, plus quite a few joists. Had to settle for lower quality PT lumber in a lot of cases.

Needed to go to three dealers to get all of the Trex I needed.

Only thing that was easy was the basic Trex railing kits at Lowes.

Prices are also significantly higher.

But it looks great... as long as you don't look too hard at the joints...

HVAC equipment is in short supply.

Seems like everything is being hit, didn't matter if it was essential or not.

My cousin bought a house on a lake at auction held on a cold, rainy November day (Upper Midwest) for about 10% of what it was worth. He planned to build his dream home by tearing down to studs and do a complete remodel starting in April. However, was delayed until August due to COVID restrictions and inability to get basic building materials. Specialty building items such as a garden window (not very specialty) for in front of the kitchen sink took several months. Additionally, he switched to a vaulted ceiling so only option for insulating the ceiling is spray foam and the spray foam contractors are 3x per sq ft more than 2019.