Builders need timber training

When you are retired or, like me, semiretired, one of the benefits is having more time for that best of all pastimes - watching other people working. Last winter on some land at the back of our house the local council was building six 'affordable houses'. I'm not quite sure what that means in terms of what the final cost was, nor for whom it is they are affordable.

The lads working there were doing a good job, not particularly fast but good workmanship and it is gratifying to see they installed lots of insulating stuff then built up the brickwork afterwards. There are no hod carriers like we used to see; now they call in an all-terrain fork lift to lift up the bricks on to scaffolding for them. Very impressive to see the bricks, the insulation materials, the Thermalite blocks and plastic window frames all come on site beautifully packaged, protected and sealed up tight in plastic wrap. Just as well, because we'd had some pretty wet weather and, of course, some snow.

It is noticeable how construction has changed over the years. Now they put in those nicely fabricated timber I-beams for the floors, and the roof is made from timber trusses that the carpenters come in and fix together on a timber base, then they call in a large crane and put the whole of the trussed roof timbers on in one piece. However, and it's a big 'however', all the timbers, the I-beams and the roof trusses were delivered to the site unprotected. So while waiting to be built in they all stood out in the rain and the snow for a few weeks getting soaking wet. Somewhere, hi-tech factories had, with technical precision, lovingly constructed those I-beams and the roof trusses using kilndried,

high-grade timber - only to have the whole lot dumped outside in the open on site by our builder friends. Even when these components are in place it is often many days before the roofing felt, tile battens and tiles are fixed so there's another period when they are standing out in the rain or snow.

I recall all those years when we timber people spent huge sums of money building big storage sheds and making sure that once the logs came into the mill and the resultant sawn lumber was cut then carefully kiln dried, it never went outside again without being protected from the weather. It seems such a shame if all our care is wasted and the product spoilt because of neglect on building sites.

Is there an opportunity for some joint training with our good friends in the building trades to make sure they treat our timber with care and respect?

You can't expect our precious natural product to perform to the necessary technical specifications unless it receives the same TLC after it arrives on site.