YKK Styleview Vinyl Windows and Doors for the North Georgia Area

Residential vinyl windows and doors from YKK AP® are beautiful, energy efficient and designed for years of trouble free use. Quality and innovation make YKK AP® windows clearly superior. By incorporating high performance glazing and corrosion-resistant hardware with a more architecturally correct profile design, YKK AP® offers windows with the look of a wood window at a price that delivers more value to you, whether you are a professional builder-remodeler or doing your own home-improvement project.
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Call us at (770) 995-3900 for all of your building material and lumber needs.

Lumber Futures Up Further by Possible Rail Strike on CN

Train engineers and conductors walked off the job at the Canadian National Railway on Saturday, after talks with the Teamster's Union broke down. CN was using non-union staff and management to continue services.[caption id="attachment_1446" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lumber Prices Bounce Off Bottom in November"][/caption]As if the mill shutdowns and curtailments weren't enough, the strike by the union representing locomotive engineers at the CN railway gives lumber futures another boost, and will decrease available wood in the supply chain. January lumber closed up $8.50 per m $234.80 after trading at the $10.00 limit at $236.30 early in Tuesday's session. Lumber and building material supply in the Atlanta - Athens Georgia area is already thin, with many items actually scarce.

Highest Prices in a Year Reached for Lumber and Building Materials

People who built a new house this year bought lumber at the lowest prices we have seen in the last 25 years.
[caption id="attachment_1432" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lumber Futures find new Trading Levels"][/caption]If you put off building a new home this year, you missed the lowest lumber prices in a quarter-century (don't worry yet though, mortgage rates are still low). Although lows for lumber typically occur in November, this year, due to a strange twist of supply and demand fate, November marks the highs for 2009. The invisible market forces of ongoing mill shutdowns / curtailments (reduced supply) and increasing new construction sales / starts (increased demand) have caused nearby lumber futures to jump 70% in only 10 months from near lows that haven't been seen since October 1985.
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Quantities of both new and existing homes for sale in the Atlanta Athens Georgia area are also at multi-year lows.

Lumber and Building Materials Prices Pushed Up by Low Inventories

CME lumber futures were up limit two consecutive days two weeks ago, an increase of 10% that almost pushed prices to levels that would cover production costs. OSB prices went higher and order files moved well into December. At this point, more mills are shutdown than are operating. Even though demand is still weak, plywood and other building materials are marginally stronger due to thin supply. October housing permits and starts fell significantly from September, making unclear whether housing has bottomed at this point. The outlook for construction in the Atlanta - Athens Georgia area continues to be weak, particularly with seasonal slowness ahead. Georgia has lost another 18% of construction jobs since October 2008.

Therma Tru Doors for Atlanta & Athens Georgia

"Looks good on the outside, feels good on the inside." Therma-Tru fiberglass doors outperform wood and steel. Therma-Tru doors increase comfort, energy efficiency and performance AND you will also see an increase in curb appeal. Therma-Tru fiberglass and steel entry doors add beauty and security homes. You can increase the perceived value of your home by more than $24,000 just by adding a Thema-Tru entry door system. We have the doors you need to increase your home's value.

Check with us for lumber and building materials for your new home or remodeling projects.

October 2009 Housing Permits and Starts

News from the U.S. Census Bureau that October new residential construction fell to a six month low put intense pressure on CME lumber futures. Near term January lumber futures closed down $9/m and March fell $8/m. Inventory is slim at all levels of the supply chain, and demand for the available building materials is sparse. In our area, Georgia has lost about 310,000 jobs since September 2007, and projects to lose a total of 135,900 jobs this year and 35,000 next year. Unemployment in Georgia has reached 10.2%. Building permits in the Atlanta - Athens area are off about 97% from 2005. According to Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, permits will drop about 70% this year from 2008. Mortgage applications fell last week, with the index of home purchase applications sinking over 4%to the lowest level since November of 1997.