The one big mistake you don’t want to make is waiting to order your siding. Why, you ask? In this article we review how:
- Wood siding prices could increase while you wait.
- Low stock can cause shortages and longer wait times for your siding.
- Finishing choices might influence the turnaround time.
- The shipping industry has been experiencing driver shortages.
- Wood needs to be acclimated to your environment.
Why You Should Place Your Order for Your Wood Siding or Lumber Project Now?
Wood Siding Prices Could Increase While You Wait
Wood siding prices fluctuate based on ever changing lumber demands. Higher demand means higher prices. Lower demand can keep the prices from increasing.
Historically, most building and remodeling happens when outdoor temps are warmer. Ordering your wood now may keep you outside of a price increase based on demand.
Low stock can cause shortages and longer wait times
The wood industry is still trying to recover from the ’20-’21 Pandemic. Many mills sold through their existing inventory and have no or low stock to work with and are relying on timbers coming in on railcars daily and weekly.
This can potentially cause a wait time for customers if the mill is waiting for raw material to work with.
Finishing choices might influence the turnaround time
Finishing choices can influence the turnaround time of your product. Unfinished wood siding will have less processing time than siding that will be smoothed, primed, painted, or stained. Each of those additional steps require time in queue.
Primed, painted, and stained siding also requires additional time for drying. This could change your turnaround from as few as five or six weeks to eight weeks. Your vendor should account for this additional time when they quote your project.
You could experience driver shortages with shipping
The shipping industry is experiencing driver shortages. Presently, there are approximately 200 loads available for every driver. It’s a drivers’ market. They can be pickier when it comes to routes and loads.
It could impact the amount of time you wait for your wood by five to ten days.
Wood needs to be acclimated to your environment
Your wood siding is a natural material and will respond to its new environment, swelling or shrinking, to match the moisture content.
Ideally, it needs between seven and fourteen days to acclimate before installation.
When should I place my wood siding order?
Ordering wood siding for your home is a big decision. You want as few bumps-in-the-road as possible. Most homeowners don’t realize it can take eight weeks to get the siding delivered to the job site and at least one additional week to acclimate the wood.
One big mistake to avoid is ordering your siding too late to get it on-site when it needs to be there. You want to start the process early.
If you need help with wood species, grade, and pattern decisions you may need to start twelve to fourteen weeks before your ideal delivery date. If you have all of your details ironed out and there’s just ordering to be done, ten to twelve weeks ahead is ideal.
In addition to the issues listed above, there’s always the possibility of something unexpected changing the delivery date. You want a little breathing room built into your timeline.
You know the old adage, “plan for the worst, hope for the best”? In a schedule-driven industry like construction, that bit of breathing room may keep you on schedule. Re-scheduling your installer puts you back in the waiting queue as they move on to other jobs, pushing your expected completion date further away.
And, no “rush orders”! Ordering wood siding is a process that can’t be rushed. Once your order is submitted to the mill there are queues for each step in the process … order to the yard, order pulled to mill, order to the prime, paint, or stain bay, drying bay, then packing and shipping.
Get the process started and speak with a wood siding rep today
Get your order in early! We can deliver it to you when you’re ready or you can store your siding on-site or at a close-by lumber yard and your siding will be acclimated and ready for installation when you are. Get in touch with us today.
Thanks for mentioning that you need to look ahead to find the right species, grade, and pattern. I’m hoping to buy some wood to make a new dining table for my home. I want something that looks antique and also classy, so I’ll have to do some research.
Thank you for pointing out that to locate the correct species, grade, and pattern, you have to look forward. To build a new dining table for my house, I intend to purchase some wood. I’ll have to do some study since I want something that appears nice and vintage at the same time.
My wife and I want to use wood for our house’s construction this year. We’re glad you explained that wood siding needs to acclimate for one or two weeks before we’d use it for construction. We’ll definitely keep this in mind when we purchase the wood we need for our house’s project.