Houzz Call: Are You Having Trouble Sourcing Wood for Your Build?
Are you renovating or building and feeling the effects of timber shortage, in either supply or price? Tell us your story
Vanessa Walker
20 May 2021
Houzz Australia & New Zealand Editor-in-Chief
Australia is in the middle of a timber shortage due to global supply issues, a surge in demand brought on by the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder program, and the devastation wrought by the 2019 bushfires. For some renovators and builders this means time delays, rising prices and uncertainty, for others, design changes and the introduction of new materials to replace timber elements.
If you’re renovating or building, and have been impacted by this shortage, we’d like to hear from you.
We care about our community’s experience of this issue.
We care about our community’s experience of this issue.
It may be that you are having to pay more than expected, that your project is taking longer, that your builder is using timber sourced from non-conventional suppliers, or integrating more reclaimed wood into the design than previously planned.
Whatever your experience, we’d love to hear from you.
Whatever your experience, we’d love to hear from you.
Please tell us how the timber shortage has affected your build in the Comments section below.
Best wishes,
The Houzz Editorial Team
Best wishes,
The Houzz Editorial Team
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I am not currently building or renovating but I work for a bamboo manufacturer and we are getting more and more calls from builders and home owners looking for alternatives to timber to limit delays and budget blow outs.
My roof started leaking during a storm in December last year, fortunately not badly. My insurer plugged it up as well as possible with silicone. I’ve had a signed contract with a builder and the money in the bank since January. I might get my roof by the end of September, hopefully before the 2021 storm season hits.
We’re in the middle of our new build and recently had no work done on the house for a month due to the timber shortage. Our builder ordered early December, when the time came for delivery he kept getting put off by the supplier for “a couple of weeks”. Half the order arrived late and the rest another 2 weeks later. This of course means that the other trades then get put back too.
Not much we can do about it.
We’ve decided to look at alternatives for our decking and external timber cladding too.