Rising prices, carpenter wants to switch from birch to pine

[anotherscroller]

Hi!
We just ordered a bookshelf to be fitted around our living room door. Paid the deposit and everything. Whole thing is costing about £7000.
Carpenter emailed yesterday saying he’s really sorry but the birch plywood they normally order to make shelves has doubled in price because of the war in Ukraine as it was produced in Russia. So they are asking if it’s ok to use pine plywood instead.
He says it’s just as durable, it’s just that you can see the wood grain through the paint and it’s not a completely smooth surface, unlike with birch.
I’m a little disappointed because I’m not a fan of pine, but it’s painted so maybe it doesn’t matter.
My husband thinks they should pay for the birch seeing as it was what was agreed.
I don’t want to kick up a fuss because the type of wood wasn’t actually specified in the purchase document (not actually signed though).
AIBU? (Or rather, am I being a pushover?)

Walk away. You already got a go away price (£7000 for shelves!!). Now he's telling you he wants to use an inferior product which will leave a poor finish. He's trying to tell you he doesn't want the work while being polite.

It's pointless paying for birch plywood to just paint over it. Aesthetically, it is much nicer with the grain showing. You might as well go for anything smooth of you are going to paint it.
I used to buy plywood regularly but the suppliers aren't even stocking it now it is that expensive.

Just get a Kindle

if you can afford £7k, I'm sure you could afford a bit more.

surely you realise how ridiculous this is?

I'd cancel the bookcase entirely and buy a couple of kindles!

If he hasn't started work he can just rip the contract up. Any contract I issue states that the price is only valid for 30 days and may be revised in line with material costs and I expect his does, too. Material costs are very difficult to estimate at the moment — if you can get the materials in the first place.

Aww thanks @Notanotherwindow I love it but it does feel like you’re on a bit of an acid trip if you’ve had one too many gins!

I appreciate it seems very expensive, and it is, we were quoted £150 per floating shelf in high quality MDF last year (80cm x 30cm) which was the cheapest quote we could find, so £7k depending on how many you’re having and the configuration of them is probably the going rate. Times are crazy! We ended up doing them ourselves in the end because it was a simple job. However, you don’t always have the skills, time or confidence to accomplish what you want yourself and you choose to save up and spend the money on it because it’s important to you. No judgement here!

£7000 for pine plywood? With the grain showing? Absolutely not.

@almondfinger of course, its ‘PIERRE FREY LA PANNONIE BLEU’ I first saw it used in a dining room, and people seem to love to use it in a cloakroom loo (which I don’t have)!

I'm not sure it is ridiculous.

If we were talking about a car or a kitchen or a key piece of clothing then it's very possible that you'd be stretching yourself to the edge of your budget and can't afford to spend an extra 10%. But this is clearly a discretionary spend, because if you were tight for cash there are loads of ways to get a less attractive solution to the problem for a quarter of the price. It's indicative that the OP has a fair amount of money sloshing about. It seems fairly unlikely in this context that she's said "if we cut back on X, Y and Z we can just about afford seven grand for the book shelves". Not impossible I grant you, but unlikely.

Sounds like you don't actually have a contract with him yet, so adjusting costs due to market changes is reasonable on his part. I would ask him what the cost of doing it as agreed is now. Or of alternative materials.

I disagree that pine is just as good as birch plywood. Pine is a softwood and will show dings more easily, is more likely to sag/warp (depending on the pine and the plywood) and the grain comes through paint, which might be fine if your house has the right look, but it isn't normally quite the clean look of well painted, good quality plywood.

You went with him because his quote was cheapest - maybe it was cheapest because he hadn't taken into account rising material costs? Can you go back to the other bidders and ask if they'd honor their quotes now?

We have a wall of shelves in our office that were built to fit the space. They are painted MDF and they look lovely. They were painted 10 years ago and still look perfect. MDF very durable, totally smooth, doesn't yellow, doesn't have knot holes to bleed through. Far,far better choice than actual wood if you are going to paint.

Of course it's ridiculous. Just because you can afford £X doesn't mean you can afford £X + 10%

if you're now going to have to paint it anyway, have you considered high quality MDF?

This. Marine MDF will last donkeys years without moving. For painted indoor work where you don't want to see the grain it's the best product and cheaper than birch ply.

That said, since you are spending 7k on a bookshelf I presume people will be looking at the diamond and gold decoration, not the wood.

Aesthetically, it is much nicer with the grain showing.

I agree but I'm not sure that's true for cheap pine ply.

Ridiculous for £7k

Your husband is being ridiculous. There’s no way the joiner should cover the vast increase in timber costs.

Go back to the joiner and ask about all the options - as others have said, MDF is very hard-wearing.

I just had two alcoves shelved floor to ceiling with pine (12 shelves in total). We painted it with a satin finish and you can’t see the grain but then it will depend on the finish you want. It was £1,500 btw and we are in the SE!

Costs are really going up for materials at the moment - we just had a quote for new decking etc. The carpenter told us best decide quickly because they won't hold that quote for longer than 2 weeks. He's a guy I trust and we've used a lot so I totally believe him.

Re your issue I'd either stick with birch and pay extra, see if there is another alternative to line or postpone the whole thing. 7k seems extortionate.

Of course timber costs more than 10-20 years ago!!

Look how long it takes for a tree to grow compared to how much timber consumers are demanding!!

Wood prices are going up all the time, I don't think it's the carpenters fault although perhaps they should have warned you when giving the quote.
I agree with others about exploring other materials. Pine is a soft wood that dents and marks easily. You would also have to treat the knots so they don't come through the paint. I wouldn't want that personally on such an expensive fixture.

😂😂😂👍👍👍

Hands down the best comment I have ever seen!

I think I’d rather go MDF than pine. At least MDF gives a better finish when painted.

Philistines, the pair of you!

Have you got all the details, how much each type of ply would actually cost etc. Might it be possible to use a mixture of ply. Birch where it's more visible and pine elsewhere. Pine ply comes in loads of different grades. What about having the pine but getting the builder to prepare it more carefully. An extra coat of paint or undercoat and an extra sand down then I bet you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I'd be giving the builder some credit for actually telling you. I bet others would have just used the pine ply and hoped you wouldn't notice.

If it was me I'd want the birch ply but I'd be happy to pay a little more. I'd expect the builder to take a bit of a hit too though. (Although he might already be due to general price increases)