LADD – It’s no secret that lumber prices have skyrocketed due to the pandemic and the strain is hitting Habitat for Humanity’s Ladd build like a ton of bricks. Since the start of the pandemic lumber prices have steadily up-ticked for a number of reasons, like the closure of mills nationwide and all those, “do-it-yourselfers” itching to get projects done at home. Pete Loveland, General Manager at Maze Lumber in Peru says the local situation is a microcosm of what’s going on nationally. To get some perspective, Loveland says building material like OSB or waferboard, has had a dramatic price increase along with major shortages. He says a typical-sized sheet of the material, that is similar to plywood, is costing $50-60 compared to $9 over a year ago.