Housing is Over Built; Lumber is the Honey Hole Most of the time, the daily news and world events do not have a significant impact on how we buy and sell lumber. This recent stuff is different. It’s scary. All the trade and economic balls are in the air, and politically the U.S. is...

Can quality be determined by examining the environment of the facility manufacturing the product? It seems like the two are unrelated, but, after evaluating hundreds of facilities, quality seems to be proportional to the environment of the manufacturing. By this, I’m not saying that brand...

More housing data is rolling in and it is not looking good...but it is 30 days old. Therefore, I am looking for 2-month trends. Existing Home Sales declined on rising prices, expanding inventory to 4.5 months...about average...not a shortage. New Home Sales increased as did prices,...

On a recent Quality Assurance Audit at a large facility, we witnessed a floor truss builder carefully spacing out his floor truss webs in the allotted space available with precision and care. He was very meticulous. I asked him why he was doing that and he explained that his in-house inspector...

Eurowood and SYP…the Future! It’s times like the last couple of weeks in SPF-W, when buyers get taken by surprise, and they have one question for sellers. “How you gonna help me?” Two weeks ago, I warned that SPF mills were about to spring surprise, imminent...

Eighteen teams from colleges throughout the Southwest United States and Hawaii gained hands-on experience in wood design and construction during the second annual Timber-Strong Design Build competition. AWC joined APA–The Engineered Wood Products Association (APA) and Simpson Strong-Tie...

Undoubtedly, many people are now thinking: Is there a difference between a lumber procurement professional and a lumber buyer? I am a Lumber Procurement Professional. I’ve been around the business since I was 15 years old and now I’m 64 (you can do the math). I have worked as a buyer...

For the past three years, the housing industry has bemoaned labor as its primary deterrent to increasing productivity, i.e., housing starts. Framing crews suddenly vanished when detainment and deportation of undocumented workers became more prevalent. The initial impact on the housing...

Finally, from top to bottom, the building industry is moving to panelize. National builders, like Pulte, are mandating it. Local building supply yards, like 84 Lumber’s, are building them in backyard sheds. And in between, BMC and BFS are shipping knocked-down versions. We laid the...

In the November 2017 article, “So Who Exactly is Responsible for Lumber Quality?”, we discuss the abundance of quality building materials and the responsibility of the fabricator to evaluate their application in products. We should recall the ultimate decision maker in determining...