Building your home? (Wood shortage and your alternatives)

Aug 28, 2011 News

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By Leonard Gildarie

Over the last week or so, the debate has been raging over the current lumber shortage and what measures should be taken in the short, medium and long term to address some of the key issues affecting the logging business.
The outcome, if the current suggested measures by the stakeholders are adopted, will have far-reaching consequences on the way homes are built in Guyana.
But before we delve into that, readers as normal would have been asking questions about one issue or the other.
One city resident has a small shop in the midst of Georgetown. He wants to sell beers and other alcoholic beverages, but was unclear on the procedure. He has called several different departments, but no clear answers were given.
I managed to grab hold of the very helpful Royston King, Public Relations Officer of the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown (M&CC).
If the businessman wants to sell liquor with no consumption at the business place, he will just have to apply for the licence at the Guyana Revenue Authority. However, once there are intentions to have drinkers at a few tables, there is the need for toilets and other considerations.
The businessman will have to apply at the M&CC, along with a plan showing the additions of the toilet(s) and other renovations.
According to King, the M&CC’s involvement is purely from a sanitation and health perspective.
The actual licence will, however, have to come from the competent authorities, in this case, most likely the GRA.

Another reader living overseas wondered how long it will take for a certificate of title to be issued. From my information, the Housing Ministry has put measures in place to fast-track the titles of land allottees who have applied for a mortgage. This may take up to a month.
In the case of others, who are not taking a mortgage, the process may be between three to six months. That is according to my information.
Now back to the business at hand.
There were two meetings over the last week to address the lumber shortage with some loggers and sawmillers claiming that the shortage was a perceived one.
However, players in the industry including loggers, the Guyana Forestry Commission, architects, contractors and sawmillers among others, are now tasked to come up with ways to prevent the situation recurring.
To be frank, I think it is a stupid problem to have trees here and there is a shortage of lumber.
However, this article wants to examine a little more closely the suggestions on the table that will affect the industry.
The first glaring one is the increased usage of woods other than the popular ones. Traditionally, Guyana has been accustomed to using greenheart, kabakalli, purpleheart, mora and wallaba, as well as several others.
But these woods are fast depleting and just not readily available anymore. Because many contractors are just not aware of the options of using other woods, and the fact that sawmills and lumberyards don’t stock these so-called lesser used woods, the idea has fizzled. Maybe, also, there were suspicions and little confidence in some of the woods. It was suggested that a comprehensive television and media educating campaign be launched.
GFC says research has found many woods to be ideal for certain applications. Some woods are right for indoors while some are not. I heard an interesting story of Barbadians loving the purpleheart. Now, if you know purpleheart, it would be considered almost a sin to paint it. It has to be stained or protected with a sealant at the very least. Painting it is like hand-painting your new car.
Bajans do that. The wood is in high demand there because contractors demand that. There is an urgent need to re-educate the contractors who unfortunately, though invited, were not at the meeting on Friday.
Then there was the suggestion to have homes in standard sizes like 30, 40 or 50 feet in length. I am not sure how this will go down on the populace who want to build a home that for argument sake is 34 feet in width. But the arguments for justifying this stance are solid. Your contractor would go to a particular lumberyard and sawmill and order 16 feet, 19 feet and some other uneven numbers in wood.
The folks are saying that government should adopt a policy of standard sizes and different grades of wood. While the consumer will pay a little more, it will reduce wastage from the end of the sawmills and lumberyards, and probably bring the price down because of this.
Standard size of wood has been a practice adopted worldwide at most hardware stores to reduce costs. Having standard sizes could reduce the headache of being robbed at the lumberyards and sawmills, a situation that is not unknown.
The grades will allow customers a choice of using their favourite wood for different jobs or applications. This makes sense. You don’t need dressed greenheart for framing your roof.
You may need it for a doorway.
Then there was the suggestion of educating contractors. Now this I like. Many contractors started off as labourers and then decided after a few years that they had enough experience to take jobs off their own. The problems here are many. The most glaring would be that contractors, having learnt a particular style, are unwilling to change. Using greenheart for framing the roof becomes a must.
Educating them, in the long run, hopefully will make them see the light and even bring some innovative ideas. The problem is government has no idea how many of these contractors exist. Then their unwillingness or lack of interest of being counted or allowing government to take notice of them may prove another challenge in identifying them for training.
There is not a website or forum to be registered. Many contractors, drawing millions of dollars every year, prefer to stay in the shadows to escape the tax net. Another major problem of the industry which leads to homeowners being faced with little choices is the fact that very little advertising is being done.
I need some wood to build two sheds at my home in La Parfaite Harmonie. I don’t know where to go, what the prices are, or what woods are available. I am hoping also that I don’t bump into any touts like those on Lombard Street.
At the end of the day, I do believe that the stakeholders’ meeting on Friday is on the right track. The suggestions will be prepared in a report by GFC and forwarded to government. Sometime in the near future, the recommendations will be implemented.
As of now, ask your contractor and sawmill for alternative wood which will cost you less and be used for the same jobs than the more expensive ones.
There is much more on this issue, but digest this over the next week.
Enjoy the weekend and don’t forget to call us on 225-8491 or email me at [email protected].

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