FEATURE
When comparing the value of fence boards to that of
gold – like one Toronto contractor did this summer
– it feels like the year 2020 has once again added a
level of surrealism to its roster of events. Although
the lumber shortage in Canada preceded the pandemic, COVID-19
helped exacerbate an already unfortunate situation.
“In May or June, COVID-19 began to affect our area because
they had started to either shut the plants down or have minimal
staff in the plants,” said Kelvin Orr, vice president of Horizon
Builders Inc., a Brandon-based contractor. “We still worked off of
old inventory up until that point, and that’s when you started to see
that treated lumber was getting hard to come by for every project.”
Orr says while both treated and untreated lumber are
hard to come by, the lumber in question is pressure-treated.
Pressure-treated means engineers have infused the lumber with
chemical preservatives.
Pressure-treated lumber is ideal for home renovation projects
because preservatives slow down the natural decay and degradation
of the wood. Suddenly, with much more time on their hands,
Manitobans decided to finish house projects that otherwise would
OSB prices more than tripled over the summer
probably have sat dormant for a few more years. This development
took away from an already depleted inventory.
“People couldn’t travel, so instead they did some work around
the house,” said Orr. “So there was an influx of people that began to
build decks, fences – that sort of thing – and compounded with the
limited number of employees in the plants, the treated lumber got
eaten up a little quicker than the rest of the lumber.”
Orr says he doesn’t blame Manitobans in any way. He believes
it to be the perfect storm of elements that have brought the lumber
shortage to the national stage.
Liz Kovach, president of the Western Retail Lumber
Association, told Global News this past summer, “There is less
forest to harvest due to the mountain pine beetle and fires, which
are partly responsible. As well, lumber mills have had to shut down
at times due to the pandemic, with an ongoing transportation
backlog adding to delays.”
Horizon Builders has tried to mitigate the fallout as much as
possible. Orr cites coordination with suppliers, manufacturers and
clients as a critical element in ensuring that, despite the shortage,
the delivery of many long-term projects can continue moving
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