Are Lumber Prices Stabilizing as 2025 Approaches?

New data suggests that pricing for lumber will be more predictable giving builders more confidence in pricing. Madison’s Lumber Reporter, the well-regarded source for pricing information, is forecasting more stability going forward for lumber producers and end-users. “Given that the macroeconomic indicators and specific factors affecting the lumber industry last year are well known,” Keta […]

Peel-It-Off Paint? It’s for Real Now with Unpaint

An accidental discovery led to the creation of what is the first temporary paint you can peel off the wall. For builders and contractors involved in finishing out interiors, painting those spaces was always subject to client’s ever-changing opinions and whims. Now that could be a thing of the past. A Colombian company called Glasst […]

Do 15-Minute Cities Represent the Future for Builders?

Mixed-use neighborhoods combining residential, commercial and recreational uses are another post-pandemic trend. Most American cities, particularly in areas outside of the older Northeastern portion of the country, are clearly demarcated into office, retail, residential, cultural and entertainment sectors but a new phenomenon growing out of the work-from-home movement of the pandemic is starting to take […]

New York State’s New Builder-Friendly Laws Could Be Model for Other States

They are not yet law, but a series of new legislations in New York State is designed to spur residential construction by builders. New York State is not always considered the most typical in the country, especially when it comes to what some view as archaic rules and regulations, particularly in building and development. But […]

What Does AI Mean for Builders?

AI – artificial intelligence software – and what it means is a big topic across the entire American economy… including contractors. If those two letters – AI – seem to be turning up in just about everything you’re reading these days, you’ve probably been wondering what exactly it means for the building trade. Associated Builders […]

Have Building Material Prices Peaked?

New data from the Producer Price Index suggests that costs are coming down on things like softwood lumber as part of an overall decline in material costs. The wild ride up in construction materials in 2023 may have peaked as the year ended and going into 2024 we could see some declines in those costs, […]

The Latest Hot Wood? How About Bamboo

Sometimes looked down upon by those in the trade, at least one expert sees bamboo potentially as important in building as concrete and steel. Bamboo may not get quite the respect in the building and construction industry as more widely used woods but its time may be coming. “Bamboo has a real part to play […]

California Builders Have a New Challenge: Embodied Carbon Laws

Already the state with the strictest environmental laws in the country, California has enacted new mandatory measures in its building codes to reduce embodied carbon. California has become the first state in the country to enact new building codes that limit carbon emissions in the construction, remodeling, or adaptive use of certain structures. According to […]

New Home Building Cancellation Rates Drop, Signaling More Demand

The U.S. housing market remains challenged but new information from two of the biggest home builders in the country suggests demand for new homes is picking up. Even as the market for new homes in the country is still below the past few years, D.R. Horton and PulteGroup – two of the nation’s biggest home […]

Lowe’s Wants to Get Builders-to-Be at a Young Age

Figuring it’s never too soon to start building relationships with future customers, Lowe’s has launched a program of in-store birthday parties in selected stores. Candles included. Lowe’s, the second largest home improvement chain in the country with more than 2,200 stores, is hoping a new program will close the gap with number one, Home Depot, […]