Timber Use for Joinery in Britain

Abstract

A review of the use of timber for joinery, and more especially the current and potential use of tropical hardwoods for this purpose, can be seen as a microcosm of the overall pattern of timber use in Britain. Joinery is, with construction and furniture production, one of the three major uses of wood (cf. Chapter II-10-5, 6). Figures quoted by the British Woodworking Federation (1978), based largely on returns to the Business Monitor (1978), show a turnover in 1977 of £464 × 10⁶ for the production of doors, windows, prefabricated buildings, timber and timber-frame components and built-in furniture; of this sum, the figure for doors, door frames and windows amounted to almost £170 × 10⁶. Neither the value nor the volume of the timber currently used in this production can be given for certain; in 1971, Riddington gave an estimated use of 1 130 × 10³ m³ of sawn softwood in joinery and today, if it is assumed there is an average use of 0.12 m³ of solid wood per window and 0.025 m³ per door, the solid wood need for the 4.57 × 10⁶ windows and door frames and 8.66 × 10⁶ doors and door sets manufactured in 1977 would have approached 750 000 m³. When the wood used for other joinery items is added, a total of 10⁶ m³ would not seem unlikely; this is about one-eighth of the total wood import with an annual cost which approaches £100 × 10⁶.