Pricing beams

[footer]

I have a coustomer that is looking for some 6X8 or 8X10 beams 20' long. Do most of you sell these by the BDFT? I was thinking $1.00 to $1.25 a BDFT if I have the logs, otherwise if I have to buy the logs I'll adjust the price accordingly. Does that sound about right, or is that too high? He wants pine, or something similar. Oh ya, he also wants them dry :D
I told him that probably is not an option unless I can find some old timbers to cut them out of.

[Ron Wenrich]

So, how much pine do you have in Nebraska?  How much is he looking to get?

Markets vary considerably from locale to locale.  For my area, that would be way too high.  For Nebraska, that may be OK.  I have sawn those for $.75-$.80/bf.  Then, we put them in our yard to dry for the client.  It takes a good 6 months for white pine to dry.  Client pays in advance.

Your price should be:  price = material costs + mfg cost + profit.  Your mfg costs would also include delivery, if that's part of the deal. 

I usually start everything at the mill level and work from there.  You should be able to have a grip on what your mfg costs are.  Figure out your daily costs and your avg daily production to come up with a $/Mbf figure.   Material costs would be the cost of your sawlogs.  You can reduce that value a bit by your overrun values.  Or just take that as profit.

If you gather your own sawlogs, then I would treat that operation seperately to get a value on the saw materials cost.

[Mobilesawyer]

Hey Footer:

Ok let me see if I have this right 6x8 and 8x10 beams dry. My first guess is that he/she just finished a timber frame course or worse yet read a book with no other input. Drying timbers is something that happens over long periodes of time. Your customer I fear, might even come looking for a refund should a beam develop a check :D. It is important that you school the client on what to expect, just because they sound like they know what they want...
As for the timbers, pricing does vary from region to region. More importantly is what are your customers other options? Can they find the beams they need in your general area, will they be able to get the product when they want it, can a supplier deliver it to them if needed. These facters will allow you some pricing flexibility.
I have sold white pine timbers and when asked off the top of my head in round numbers what an order would cost (always guess high) I base my answer on number of board feet of finished beams x sawlog cost x 2.15 which in my case allows for purchasing good quality logs, production and maintenance costs and a healthy proffit margin. I also offer to sweeten the deal a bit with very good pricing on the one inch material that comes off the log while cutting for the beam.
I end seal all the pine logs that come into my yard with Anchor seal as soon as they arrive and explain the benefit of this to my clients and give then a small amount if they purchase beams from me to reseal the end of the beam after cutting the joinery.

Hope this helps.
Test the water with your client with a couple of trial closing statements like: "Would it suite you if I could produce your order for $XX.XX "
Look them in the eye you can usually tell by their responce weather they are kicking tires or in the mood to buy.

Good luck,
Jeff

[footer]

Thanks for the info so far. I think he is going to use them in his existing house, and needs 6 of them. He says he understands that they will probably check, and that he is going for the rustic look. As for the pine in Nebraska, we have some, but it is not abundant around here locally. Especially not the size I will need. Although I was just recently given a good pile of pine logs, just haven't been able to go through them to see if there is enough that will make 6  20' beams. As far as I know, there is no one else around within reasonable distance any way that he can get these things from. I saw mostly custom sawing other peoples logs by the hour and don't sell much lumber, thats why I was asking. I also do it part time and have a full time job besides. I will probably lean on the high side just because of the size and the fact that no one else does this around here ;D

[Frickman]

I don't have any pine, but for yellow/tulip poplar I would quote $1.00 / bf., green off the mill, and not feel guilty about it. That's $80.00 / each for the 6" x 8" beams, and $133.00 for the 8" x 10" beams. It takes some nice logs to make nice beams that size, and not many mills in my area can saw twenty feet long. Most can only go sixteen or seventeen feet. It's a supply and demand thing, and I'm not afraid to charge what the market will bear. If they don't like the price, they can go somewhere else. Most shop around and eventually come back though.

I don't do any air drying. I keep some dry stickers around and will donate them if the customer needs them, and will also give technical advice. If there is degrade while drying, real or percieved, it should happen at the customer's place, not mine.

[rebocardo]

> Client pays in advance.

I agree.

>  It is important that you school the client on what to expect

I agree, especially with that on a written contract.

> needs 6 of them

Not a lot, what I would do is see how much a lami-beam costs (in the next size down), price your beams near 50% of that or lower where you make a reasonable profit, and show that to the client if they object to the price you give.

[Don P]

I have a retail log home co's price sheet that's about a year old.
6x8 rough cant air dried was $4.20 per lineal foot at 18-22 foot long.
$4.60/lf if KD.

Their closest to the other size is a 6x12, $6.30AD-$6.90KD/lineal foot
at 8x10 volume that would be about $7.00/lineal foot for AD.

I've seen some suppliers use the term PAD, partially air dried. I think its about the same as PG.

[Warren]

Footer,

I'm in Ky, and saw mostly oak.  Around here, the long straight logs seem to be fairly scarce.   I have a hard time getting decent 20 footers for wagon rails.  Personally, I wouldn't go any lower than $1 / bf, especially, if you have a manual mill...  just my 2 cents...

Warren