There’s a lumber shortage in Nova Scotia and it’s forcing big and small construction companies to make some tough decisions on what jobs they can complete.

Some big construction companies are going to feel a lumber crunch this summer — the busiest time of year for their industry.

One of the reasons for the shortage is the industry has been overwhelmed with people doing projects during COVID-19.

“Like everything else with COVID, the plants were brought down to about 50 per cent efficiency and it takes a couple months for that to trickle on down,” said Scott Smith, president of the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association and the president of Rooftight Construction Ltd. 

“So when the production slows down but the demand for it speeds up, you’re going to run into these bottlenecks.”

Smith’s company has been extremely busy over the last three months and currently have 34 new homes under construction in the Halifax area.

Pressure-treated lumber is especially hard to come by.

“In talking with my supplier about it this morning, they sold five months worth of pressure treated inventory in one month,” said Smith. “It’s everybody who has been home due to COVID and they’re all fixing up their back deck and other projects and it’s really hard to keep up with that demand.”

Already some smaller contractors are feeling the effects of the lumber shortage.

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