HENRIETTA, N.Y. (WROC) — The pandemic has affected a lot of things: the price of gas, simple grocery items – and now – lumber.
As the weather gets warmer you may be thinking about home building projects – whether it’s buying a new home or adding on a porch. But a nationwide hike in the price of lumber is going to affect those plans – experts tell us they’re going to take longer and be more expensive.
Scott Fields, President and General Manager of Matthew and Fields Lumber says they’re normally busy come spring time. But this year, he’s never seen anything like it.
“We’re roughly doubled where prices were pre-COVID about a year ago.”
Fields says the demand there: people want to get outside and start new projects after a long winter and a long few months of being cooped up inside from the pandemic. However, supply is the main issue, he says.
“The mills are not able to reach full capacity for COVID reasons, social distancing, sick people not being able to get people back from layoffs a year,” he said. There’s also less supply after a Canadian tariff was instilled on lumber, due to the pandemic. The U.S. gets a lot of lumber from across the border.
Fields says they’re slowly getting the workforce back – but it’s going to take a few more months.
Rick Herman, CEO of Rochester Home Builder’s Association says it’s important to keep this in mind if you’re starting any home projects this spring – they’re…
