In August of 2010 and again in December of 2010, PPG and Sherwin Williams instituted across the board price increases of 6%. They based this on increasing prices for titanium dioxide. The price increase applied to all paint and sundries, even ones that did not contain titanium. Likely the primary reason behind the price increase is the falling strength of the dollar. Most construction materials are now purchased on a world market. Prices for titanium, gypsum, copper, aluminum, petroleum, acrylic, etc all rise and fall with world supply and demand, but also on the strength of the local currency. A falling dollar will buy you less titanium from China, even as overall demand has not risen significantly. The same applies to oil, which explains why we are paying $3. per gallon at the pump. As the world economy recovers, demand will likely compound this effect. At Schoenfelder Renovations, once a contract is signed we purchase the materials as soon as possible, which locks in the price for those materials. In 2011, please pay careful attention to how long bids or proposals are good for. It is sometimes possible to absorb one price increase, but it is not likely that any contractor can absorb 2 price increases without passing them on to the consumer.