Issue 1 · Tuesday, November 10, 2026
The short version
- ☀️ Wednesday is the only dry day. Pour, roof or paint then.
- 📋 Bidding Tacoma public work? Take the required training first.
- 🔨 Get on the free Small Works Roster to see county bids.
- 🧱 Materials are up 10% on the year, steel and electrical wire most. Update old quotes.
- 🤝 Concrete Connections, Wed 4 PM, University Place. Free.
That's it. Details below if you want them.
Weather window
Wednesday is the day. Rain chance is 7% with a high of 65. Pour, roof, paint or seal it then.
- Tue Nov 10: 86% rain, 59/49
- Wed Nov 11: 7% rain, 65/47 ✅
- Thu Nov 12: 32% by day, 58% at night. Mornings are a maybe.
- Fri Nov 13: 77% rain, 57/46
- Sat Nov 14: 72% rain, high 57
National Weather Service forecast for the Bonney Lake area, issued Saturday night. Check the latest
Permits and rules
Doing public work in Tacoma? Take the training first. Every bidder on City of Tacoma public works has to finish prevailing wage and public works training before bidding. You're exempt if you've done 3 or more public works contracts and held a Washington business license for 3 or more years. City of Tacoma
Veterans Day is Wednesday. Some government offices close. If you need a permit counter or an inspection, call ahead.
Work to bid on
Get on the Small Works Roster. Pierce County sends its small-works bids only to contractors on the MRSC roster. Joining is free. Sign up at mrscrosters.org, create an account, then pick each agency roster you want: Pierce County, your city, your school district. Pierce County doesn't require bid bonds on roster bids. Pierce County roster info
Open now, no deadline:
- Tacoma Power Trade Ally Program. Insulation, windows, lighting, ductless heat pumps and duct sealing. You apply once and stay on the list. Details
- City of Tacoma electrical contractor prequalification. You apply once and stay on the list. Details
Prices
Materials cost about 10% more than a year ago. That's the government's count of what makers charged for home-building materials in September, the latest numbers. Materials you priced at $10,000 a year ago cost about $10,970 now.
- Steel: up 28%
- Electrical wire: up 23%
- Lumber: up 9%
- Plumbing fixtures: up 6%
- Paint: up 5%
- Asphalt roofing: up 3%
- Insulation: up 3%
- Concrete: up 2%
- Drywall: up 1%
What to do: if your price list is more than a few months old, raise your material lines, most of all steel, electrical wire and lumber.
This week's early signal: lumber futures, what big buyers pay for lumber coming in the next few months, are $504 per 1,000 board feet, down 3% this month. Yard prices often follow a few weeks behind, so framing lumber may ease a little.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, lumber futures.
One business tip
Get the deposit before you buy the materials. Put it in writing on the estimate: "A deposit of [amount] is due before materials are ordered." Customers who pay a deposit are far less likely to cancel or stall. If a customer won't put money down, you've found out something important early.
Around the county
- Concrete Connections, Wed Nov 11, 4 to 6 PM. Swank Boutique, 3610 Bridgeport Way W, Ste 5, University Place. Free, RSVP requested, bring a colleague. MBA Pierce
- Remodelors and PWB Councils holiday party, Fri Nov 13, 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Wrap Jax, 11110 25th Ave E, Tacoma. The page doesn't list a cost or who can attend, so check it first. MBA Pierce
- Leads & Lattes, Thu Nov 19, 7:30 to 9 AM at the MBA office. Free for members. MBA Pierce
Know someone who runs a crew? Forward this to them. Got something for next week? A bid, an event or a permit headache? Just reply.