BUILDING COSTS

Southland Times, Issue 19518, 18 May 1922, Page 5

BUILDING COSTS

FURTHER DROP IN TIMBER OTHER LINES REDUCED (Special to the Times). CHRISTCHURCH, May 17. A reduction has taken place in the prices of timber in Christchurch. The prices which ruled last month for most classes of timber are now lower by 6d to 3/9 a hundred superficial feet. There was a drop in prices on May 1, but that applied only to O. B. (ordinary building) timber. The present drop not only further reduces the price of 0.8. timber but it also applies to dressed and special lines. The reduction has been made at the instance of the Canterbury Timber Merchants’ Association, and according to members of the Association it more than covers the decrease in milling and yard costs through the reduction in the bonus on wages. Other building costs have been reduced or are expected to be reduced as the result of the cutting down of the bonus. When the sawmillers on the West Coast revised their prices some weeks ago they made a new classification of timber, lowering the price of 0.8. timber and increasing the price of certain dressed lines. A delegation from the Canterbury Timber Merchants’ Association thereupon visited the West Coast and conferred with the sawmillers, with the result that the old classification has been retained and the price of dressed timber kept down. Under the arrangements then made the Association has issued its new price list. A reporter uas informe,d that the extent of this reduction is a little over 5 per cen. on the cost of timber used in the average house. For a five-roomed house the saving would be from £l2 to £l5 on the timber used with the exception of moulding, the new prices for which have yet to be arranged. This, however, is not the only saving. For the same type of house the reduction of the bonus represents about £7 or £8 in carpenters’ wages. Plumbing coate will be sljfhtly lower, and, of course, there are lower prices for many of the materials used in building. For a fiveroomed house the iron roofing is estimated to cost about £2O less than it did in the “boom” period, and nails are cheaper by about half.