To say I was surprised that almost 80% of all small independent home builders, both site and offsite/modular, build less than 4 homes a year is an understatement. That means that only 20% of all small builders in the US build more than 4. Who knew! If your business falls into the 80%,...

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...

Most, if not all, are now caught up in the summer building season to make serious money for their component divisions. However, far too many companies are allowing tens of thousands of dollars to be lost because of commonly accepted bad practices. Practices such as using non-precise labor...

It is time to forget about using a truss design program, price book, or square-foot multiplier when estimating roof and floor truss projects. For many decades, truss companies have been looking for ways to dramatically improve their design team’s capacity, but every effort has fallen...

Just a couple of years ago, I went back to the commercial modular/classroom/mobile office plant where I had my first GM job in the ’80s. I was 27 then, am much older now, but one thing hasn’t changed much, technology. The stations had the same kind of equipment, home build when...

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...

Permanent modular buildings are considered real property, built to the same building codes and requirements as site-built structures, and can be financed, sold, and depreciated in a similar manner. As such, the markets for permanent modular construction are similar to the markets for site-built...

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...

It is possible to give your shop employees a raise and actually achieve more capacity through greater productivity and make more net profit for your company by implementing an effective productivity incentive program. However, most of the incentive programs (IP) that are touted in the component...

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...