According to Rick Van Osten, executive director of the Builders League of South Jersey, the pressure to which McKee is referring is "similar to the kind of pressure we feel with framing lumber prices from time to time."
So far, there have been no signs of panic among the members of his group, Van Osten said.
But there is concern.
"We've had a memo from our drywall supplier that he might not be able to complete our order and that rationing could start," said Edward Deischer, sales and marketing director for the Iacobucci Co. in Havertown. "Nothing is definite, but it does concern us."
Right now, the cost of drywall - and other building materials - is more of a concern. Drywall prices increased about 10 percent over 1998, with many producers raising them four times.
For example, U.S. Gypsum Co., the largest producer and the maker of the Sheetrock brand, was charging about 13 cents a square foot for its product last year. In 1997, the price per square foot was about 12 cents.
U.S. Gypsum produced about nine billion square feet of Sheetrock last year - about one billion more than in 1997. The output is enough to satisfy the wall and ceiling needs of more than a million new houses with an average square footage of 2,085, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
About 1.14 million new houses were started nationwide in 1998.
Home builders in this area typically hire subcontractors to install and finish drywall. The subcontractors are paid a set fee per square foot to do the full job. A check of area builders showed a range of about 40 cents per square foot for large builders to about 65 cents for smaller builders.
That means to hang one 4-foot-by-8-foot sheet of half-inch-thick drywall, nail or screw it to the studs, tape the joints, apply three coats of drywall compound and sand each coat before the wall is primed for painting, a subcontractor is paid anywhere from $12.80 to $20.80.
