Posted on 01/17/2025 9:09:42 AM PST by BenLurkin
The Palisades, Eaton and Hurst wildfires in Southern California have destroyed more than 12,000 structures, raising the likelihood of a spike in demand for lumber in the months and years ahead.
The rebuilding process after events such as these “typically drives a significant demand for building materials, particularly lumber, given its foundational role in construction,” said Michael Goodman, director of finance and general counsel at building-materials wholesaler Sherwood Lumber.
Demand for construction materials will “undoubtedly rise,” but the pace will depend on the “timeline for insurance assessments, debris removal, permitting and rebuilding efforts,” Goodman said. Historically, it can take several months for the full impact to hit the market, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
But think of how many board feet of lumber they could get out of one sequoia tree?
Nothing to worry about, it will be a minimum of 5 years before a single 2x4 will be needed, probably 8 years if things go smoothly.
Where does Ho Chi Buyden get the authority to pledge six months of fake (oops) American money without the consent of Congress?
As you say this will have an effect long term. It will take years before they start rebuilding these houses. Similar to what is now happening in Fort Myers. Two years after the hurricane hit. The potential Canadian tariff will have a much larger effect.
The question I have for you as a fellow lumber broker is will they change the building codes to make any future structures in this area more fire resistant?
The state is going to deny permits to rebuild single family homes and force the sale of land as a result so that multi-family dwellings can be built.
This will happen somewhere in the state.
10,000-12,000 houses isn’t really a lot of building for a metro area outside of California....about 1,483,000 permits were pulled in 2024 for US as a whole. While it is a good year in past 20 years, 12,000 homes were started in every month of the 1980s in orange county to the south. As a good portion of the exterior covering and roofs are going to steel if they are to be insured again.
The limitation is not lumber, but permits and manpower to rebuild.
I don’t believe they will change the codes. There will be however a big push to use steel studs. The Pinkos here in California will be so conflicted though, between the fire resistance of steel vs energy needed and CO2 produced in manufacture. And the tree huggers hated reality that there is no better product than lumber from an energy/CO2 standpoint.
I want to know how many redwood/sequoia trees that is equivalent to?
I have brought up the one house that survived the Laguna Beach fire back in 1993. There was an article in the LA Times and others back then about the differences in the construction of this house. It survived the fire when every other house around it burned to the foundation.
Among many things it had an inch of stucco on the walls. It had concrete roof shingles. It did not have normal soffit vents. Like most other houses built in the US. The house also had concrete coming up several feet above ground level.
Is it legal to cut down trees in California?
Wonder how long it will take the tree huggers plan a massive protest.
I disagree. Let me explain.
10-12000 additional building permits EXTRA would be a lot for ANY US metro area in one year. Although, it is not conceivable that all of these will be done in ONE year.
According to Random Lengths Yardstick(a lumber industry publication) the metro area of Los Angeles had 12553 building permits through October of 2024(10 months). So, it would almost DOUBLE the house construction IF they were all built in one year.
For comparison the Dallas/Ft Worth metro area had 61723 permits in the same period. The largest in the USA.
Houston 55953
NYC 48063
Phoenix 38818
Atlanta 34555
Austin 27333
Charlotte 22028
Orlando 20016
Tampa 19113
Washington DC 19000
Those are the TOP ten metro areas in the country for building Permits. All the rest are less than that.
San Fran was 5181. Boise 7676. Boston 9779.
So, adding 10-12,000 starts to any US metro area is a significant amount.
Red Emerson and his family own Sierra Pacific Industries.
They are the largest private land owner in California. They operate about a dozen sawmills in northern CA and WA.
https://www.spi-ind.com/Home/AboutUs
Agree
Don’t piss off the Canadians. We buy our lumber from them.
Yep. Bureaucraps cannot miss an opportunity to really fowl things up.
It is about control, not about anything sane.
It is Time to DownSize DC.
And in CA it is Time to Change the Squalling Diapers at the Top.
They should build with axles and wheels so they can move fast if a fire is coming. Springs and flotation would be good tool
Lumber? Brought in with fossil fuels? Time tor Californians to make a principled stand...for the Earf.
HOE LONG does it take to dry green lumber???
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