Yep, learned that lesson the hard way when we did our deck... waited a bit too long and lumber prices shot up overnight. Felt like I was buying gold-plated wood, haha. Clear expiration dates on quotes are definitely sanity savers.
"Felt like I was buying gold-plated wood, haha."
Haha, been there! When we redid our kitchen counters, the granite quote expired after two weeks... and of course, we waited three. Suddenly it felt like marble imported from Mars. Honestly, honoring quotes for about two weeks seems fair to me—long enough to decide without risking crazy price swings. Any longer and you're basically gambling on market stability (and we all know how that goes...).
Two weeks sounds about right, but honestly, it depends a lot on the industry and materials involved. I've seen roofing quotes fluctuate wildly in just a few days because of weather events or supply chain hiccups. On the other hand, flooring or paint quotes usually stay stable for longer periods—sometimes even a month or more.
When we replaced our deck last summer, lumber prices were all over the place. The contractor gave us a quote good for only 7 days, and I thought he was exaggerating until I checked prices myself. Sure enough, by day 10, the cost had jumped significantly. Felt like playing the stock market instead of home improvement...
Curious if anyone's noticed certain types of projects or materials that tend to have more stable pricing? Seems like some things are just naturally more volatile than others.
I've noticed the same thing with electrical and plumbing materials—copper wiring and pipes especially. Those prices seem to jump around a lot depending on global markets or even local demand spikes. But drywall and insulation quotes usually hold steady longer, at least from what I've seen. Has anyone else found certain building materials surprisingly stable or volatile lately?
I've noticed roofing materials can swing quite a bit too, especially asphalt shingles—probably tied to oil prices or something. But interestingly, green roofing supplies like sedum mats and drainage layers have stayed pretty consistent for me lately. Maybe because they're less tied to global commodities? Curious if anyone else has seen stability in alternative or eco-friendly building materials...
