Raising the (price of the) roof: Price of lumber, building materials up 180% in the last year — here’s why Updated 5:54 AM; Today 5:00 AM Luis Santos works in the lumber yard of A. Boilard Sons, Inc. in Springfield, April 9, 2021. (Don Treeger / The Republican) Facebook Share SPRINGFIELD — A 2-by-4 that cost $2.25 a year ago now sells for $5 or more. The price of a 4-foot-by-8-foot sheet of drywall that sold for $6 last year is now over $8. And a sheet of plywood the same size that sold for $26 last year is now pushing $80. The price of lumber and other building materials has nearly tripled in the last year, up 180%, according to the National Association of Home Builders.