Despite the Covid pandemic still stubbornly hanging on, it was the roller-coaster of material prices and lumber availability that dominated the headlines in this year’s ranking of the Top 10 Stories of 2021.
Last year, Covid-related news represented seven of the top 10 stories at WoodworkingNetwork.com. This year, not a single story Covid-related cracked the list. Instead, lumber prices and related lumber stories got the ink with 8 of 10 stories related to this issue. However, while Covid did not make the headlines, its impact was an under-riding current running through many of the top stories of 2021.
Still, it was the symbiotic relationship between lumber and new homes that caught most readers’ attention.
Through 2021, readers followed as lumber prices tripled early in the year, fell in the middle months, only to soar as the year went on. At the same time, the costs of new homes rose. Whether those increases were related to lumber was a bone of contention that played itself out on our web pages.
Stories in our Top 10 dealt with crime and sawmill capacity. A couple stories were even non-lumber related. (Note: Some stories that were technically in the top 10 were “evergreen” stories, meaning stories from previous years. These stories were not ranked.)
Here is a quick peek at the top-viewed stories in 2021.
#1 (357,151 views) Originally posted: April 29
Homebuilders respond, say lumber producers are misleadingly underrating the cost of lumber in a home
