BUILDING DELAYED BY SHORTAGE OF SEASONED TIMBER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 79, 27 April 1949, Page 5

BUILDING DELAYED BY SHORTAGE OF SEASONED TIMBER

Although building materials are still short, timber is not so scarce as most people think, the Beacon was told by a Whakatane building firm. The trouble lies not in the supply of timber but in the amount of seasoned timber available. To be properly seasoned and dried timber should be left about twelve months after being cut. But because of the demand for building today it is doubtful if much of it is left to dry any longer than three months and certainly not more than six. Three months is about the minimum length of time it can be left before using. If it is sold before that period it goes out at the purchaser’s own risk. Timber For Building Explaining the shortage, the spokesman of the building firm said that in many cases timber had been scarcely dried before it was taken for use. In places where there were drying kilns timber was able to be dried in a matter of weeks, but the result was not as good as weather drying.

Referring to the use of bricks, he declared that Whakatane was definitely short of that material. The factories in the North Island were zoned, and purchases could only be made from the factory in the respective zone. Whakatane was supplied by a factory at Huntly. Although houses were being constructed around Hamilton of brick none could be built at Whakatane. The authorities considered that timber was easier to obtain in this district so that less supplies of bricks were needed.

Although right in their belief that timber is easier to get at Whakatane than in the cities the manufacturers do, however, often take the position too far and do not send any bricks at all, forgetting that they are needed for fireplaces and the like. The position is, at present, that while it is difficult to buy timber in the city it is just as hard to purchase bricks at Whakatane. Milling Supervised

Most of the timber cut in the bush today is under the strict supervision of the Forestry Department.

Timber millers are told what trees they are to cut and where, where they are to be felled and in what way they are to be taken from the bush. This watch is kept in order that the bush may be preserved and not damaged wantonly as was the case previously in this country. Despite these restrictions a very larg - amount of wood is milled every year.