Baltic Timber
Russian Timber
The Truth!
Today is going to be a hard hitting blog, and one that will upset the majority of buyers and manufacturers in the Baltic states, but it’s one of truth and the lies that are told frequently about log cabins. I have been quite silent on my blogging for a few years as I have been planning to change the way the UK buys its log cabins and timber buildings.
Firstly, Bespoke Timber Frame Buildings are manufactured I would say here in Lithuania the best anywhere in the world, and I can gladly state with hand on heart, I believe for a bespoke timber frame house, A++ or Passive, I have the very best of all production which can be found.
But Log Cabins, that is another matter all together, you see I have been in the timber industry so many years I know what timber should be used to manufacturer from and what should not, I understand that there are quality cabins, and poorly manufactured ones, I understand that there are those that are designed to last, and others that are designed to fall apart in 5-10 years so you must buy another.
And it is with sadness in my heart that I say that the Baltic’s are now producing Log Cabins that are (SO) over priced, and not worth the money, they are being sold for.
There are many reasons why this is, and I will explain some of them to you.
Firstly, Belarus has stopped all sales of unseasoned timber to other countries, so now the cabin companies must either buy already manufactured logs, moulded and dried from Belarus, or buy Lithuanian unseasoned logs (the tree) , cut them, dry them, sort the good from the bad, and then use that timber to manufacture your log cabin from.
The Baltic’s have since independence from Russia been slowly cutting forest and turning it into farmland, so the decrease in forest area is quite substantial, and companies like IKEA buy at public auction massive areas at a go of Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, forestry to supply their needs for board and such like, so timber is now quite expensive, both sides of the boarders in all Baltic countries.
Plus and this is a very large negative, the soil here in the Baltic’s is very good, extremely good, one reason for growing food, not trees, and the trees that grow in the Baltic’s grow quickly, which means, this timber is quick grown, spruce, pine, which is bad!
All the Baltic countries are governed by the EU, and as we know the EU like to order everyone to do as they please, and their demands for higher wages, and that in particular that Lithuania had to shut down its Nuclear power plant, meant electricity came from Sweden and other surrounding areas, so the price to run the machines in the Lithuania mills increased drastically and put up the price of your cabin by almost 100%, or more.
Many years ago I saw this coming, and have tried to find a way to manufacture cabins that were worth the money to the end customer, my mills were asking monthly, for higher and higher prices for their production of log cabins, and their reasons for price increases was honest and fair, as I could see the pressure they were under to pay higher and higher bills.
Which is one reason so many mills use such poor quality timber from the Baltic’s now, as it’s home grown. And many mills now import their unseasoned fresh cut boards from Sweden or other countries that still allow the sale of this raw material., which as you can imagine is expensive, and also takes the Eco Friendly part from your log cabin , as the movement of the timber from one place to another costs and also means many trucks, ships etc. So the whole ethos of what a log cabin is, has gone, apart from a very expensive, Baltic Box.
If you look at my previous blog you will understand why the glulam is so bad now!
There are many companies in Lithuania that do produce excellent glulam, but most is for construction, beams, purlins, roofs, posts, and their timber is all graded C24 and is excellent, but Cabin companies do not purchase C24 timber, just the run of the mill unseasoned, which they use the off cuts, stick them together, and re-stick and you get a glulam log of kinds or what we say here at LV a pile of crap.
So what can we do to solve the dilemma of over priced log cabins and bringing back quality and price to this industry we started in the UK over 18 years ago.
Please read tomorrow’s blog.
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