Pro tip: a builder in Austin showed me his framing crew wastes way less lumber than I thought, and here are his numbers

Paul Thompson · 2026-10-11T07:50:03.756309+00:00

I was touring a finished house in Austin last month and got talking to the builder about lumber costs. He pulled out his phone and showed me that his crew averages about 3 percent waste on framing, while the last two crews he fired were running 12 to 15 percent. That gap is roughly $4,000 on a 2,800 square foot house at today's prices, which blew my mind because I always figured waste was just part of the deal. His trick is simple: they cut from a plan that lists every stud length before anyone touches a saw, and the lead guy checks the cut list twice a day. I walked the jobsite and there was barely a scrap pile, just one small bin by the driveway. So my question is, what waste percentage are you all seeing from your framing subs, and does anyone actually track it per house?

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Pro tip: a builder in Austin showed me his framing crew wastes way less lumber than I thought, and here are his numbers | Custom Home Builders - Discusd