# Joist / Joist Girder Shortage



## David Connor SE (Mar 9, 2021)

Anyone else out there hearing about a joist shortage? 

Any new orders for joists, joist girders, metal deck won't be filled until 2022. 

Hopefully that's just hyperbole due to heavier than normal backlogs, but that's what I'm hearing.


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## thedaywa1ker (Mar 9, 2021)

My boss is building a PEB office building for us to move into, which was supposed to be delivered in December...we've heard nothing from them and can't even get an estimate on when they think we might get it, as of a phone call this morning. Could be 2022 for all we know.

Its a similar industry I would imagine...I wouldn't be surprised to hear that new orders have an even longer wait.


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## E720 (Mar 9, 2021)

Haven't heard of joists in particular but I know the pipe and tube suppliers are sounding alarms that there could be a major shortage soon as there is a coil shortage. Big mill increases in the last few months because of this.


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## blybrook PE (Mar 9, 2021)

I'm hearing of steel shortages across the board. The local supplier increased their cut cost from $1.50/lb to over $3/lb for previously easy to acquire shapes.

I've also noticed that the cost of dimensional lumber is increasing significantly due to labor issues from COVID. Hard getting crews back into the mills at the moment.


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## Reverse Polish (Mar 10, 2021)

I've had recent encounters with long lead times for steel joists. The reports I've received are that one supplier currently has a five month lead time, and another is projecting out to November. On one project, we've been able to substitute RedBuilt trusses. Trying to come up with palatable solutions for another. FWIW, now is the time to buy stock in Clark-Dietrich.


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## gtg625a (Mar 10, 2021)

I was chatting with a client-architect recently and he was telling me that bids for joists, joist girders, and metal deck were only being guaranteed for 10-days and they were significantly higher. His speculation was this was due to increases in warehouses and fulfillment centers for the likes of Amazon, WalMart, etc. which I could see with the issues around Covid


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## dauwerda (Mar 12, 2021)

I work for a fabricator and steel prices have doubled over the last couple months and continue to rise. Certain steel shapes that are generally stocked, "off-the-shelf" items are becoming harder to source with longer lead times. 2021 is going to be a rough year.

I have also heard that you probably won't even be able to purchase OSB in the third quarter of this year (no matter how much you are willing to pay) due to huge shortages.


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## Titleistguy (Mar 12, 2021)

Yes, do lots of joist work and I know steel just shot to about 100 bucks per ton this week and Vulcraft is quoting me about 22-24 week back logs on some if their joist and deck right now


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