Home Improvement Heart Attack

Sticker Shock

Posted July 31 2011 08:13 AM by Christian Hazel
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Jeep Enthusiast Culture, Christian Hazel

I've been trying to wrap up a couple home improvement projects inside and around my house. Is it just me, or do you too have a heart attack when pricing lumber, concrete block, bark, and other non-Jeep-related building supplies?

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Crate engine at $6,000 - no problem. Atlas T-case at $2,400 - sure, why not. New tires and beadlocks for $2,5000 - well, sure...you gotta have 'em. But I just about fell on my face when I saw a concrete retaining wall block was over $5 a piece. I need like a couple thousand of 'em! And $6 for a bag of tree bark for ground cover? I'd need like $1,000 to cover the area I'm working with. And $28 for a single 10-foot 4x4? Ugh.

I guess it's been a long, long time since I've actually priced any of this stuff. I think I'll be calling in a dump truck for the ground cover and hitting the local builder's rock supply place for the retaining block. If you own a big yard it's just not cost-effective to shop the home-improvement places like Lowes and Home Depot. It's funny to me how I can justify tossing so much money into Jeep toys, but when it comes to investing in the most valuable thing I own (my home) I suddenly become a tightwad.

Reader Comments:

1. Find a local rock/landscape supply place and take your trailer there. You should be able to get a cubic yard of bark for $30-$50 and they will load it right onto your trailer. Then you don't need to pay a $100 delivery charge too. Your Lowe's must be really inflated (HD is usually cheaper across the board)because a 10' 4x4 should only run you about $12-$15. Good luck!!

Brisk - Posted July 31 2011 09:32 AM

2. Yea bulk yards are the way to go for bark, gravel or other ground cover. You got any contractor relatives/buddies who can get the block wall supplies at their cost? The retail markup on that stuff is off the hook.

sduncan86 - Posted July 31 2011 06:36 PM

3. Actually they now say homes are a poor investment. At least compared long term to the stock market.

John Cappa - Posted July 31 2011 09:02 PM

4. And unfortunately it's only gonna get worse before it gets better, especially with our bickering bunch of children in D.C., and yes at this point I mean all of them!!!

Your almost better cutting your own lumber in the mountains and gathering your own rocks while wheeling in the desert.

Dirty Deeds DunderJeep - Posted August 1 2011 03:22 AM

5. Here in Ohio, ground cover is $25 per cubic yard loaded on your trailer.
Definetely check bulk yards for all of those things.....kinda like perusing a junkyard.

06unlimitedrubicon - Posted August 1 2011 04:12 AM

6. Well, I'm playing the stock market, but we're trying to refinance for a much, much better rate and a shortened 15-year loan. In all it'll save me enough to put one of my boys through college, so I need to get a couple projects banged out to ensure the correct loan-to-value so it goes through.

Christian Hazel - Posted August 1 2011 06:46 AM

7. The prices for home improvement items are insane. I've done a few projects and would like to do more, but at these prices I can see why people do very little in the way of upgrades.

chriszj. - Posted August 1 2011 08:46 AM

8. buy an old warehouse. think of all the room and neighbors that don't care about projects sitting around.

sawdoff - Posted August 6 2011 09:53 AM

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