DES MOINES, Iowa - A spike in hardwood lumber costs put a scare in the woodworking, builder, and DIY market in the spring. While prices eventually leveled over the summer, recent surges have been reported and it’s not just woodworkers who are noticing – several haunted houses in Iowa are reeling from the rising lumber costs, according to KCCI News.

Zombie Hollow in Winterset, Iowa, will not open this year. Owner Lew Jordan told KCCI, “In the spring, when lumber costs skyrocketed, that just completely stopped us in our tracks.” He added that lumber prices were up to $11 at his local lumberyard for a two-by-four that normally cost $2 to $3, and he wasn’t going to pay that price.

KCCI also talked to Zach Wiechmann with Scare DSM, Des Moines, Iowa, who decided to use different building materials as well as existing structures within their facility for their haunted house. 

New normal?

Hardwood lumber prices are on the rise again. Fortune reported that after prices bottomed out at $389 per thousand board feet on August 27, “the ‘cash’ market price of lumber has swung back up 27%, according to data provided by Fastmarkets’ Random Lengths to Fortune.”

While prices are still below the spike in Spring, the recent bounce might indicate the market is settling into a new normal as supply chain issues continue and demand from the remodeling market, DIYers, and home builders remains high.