Jodi Schwartz and I are in the same meditation group, a group of construction industry professionals. In a recent meeting we were discussing compassion and the great need for it at this moment in time when it comes to everyone involved in the renovation process. Jodi had written a blog post about the challenges of renovating during a pandemic that spoke to me. I thought this was important information for homeowners to know right now if they are planning to start their renovations soon. See Jodi’s full blog post below.
We Need to Talk: the Hard Truth
We need to talk. Apologies for the buzzkill, but the pandemic has impacted us here at KitchenVisions, our clients, and the entire industry. We’ve got to share the hard truth. It is not business as usual, pre-pandemic. We are all dealing with a scarcity of materials like wood, delays in production and shipping, and rising costs.
According to economist Elliot Eisenberg, “Only 40% of container ships arrived on time in March, down from 70% pre-pandemic, primarily due to massive backups waiting to unload. Moreover, delivery delays stretch from docks to rail yards. These delays have increased the cost of moving a 40-foot sea container from China to LA 34.5% since 1/1/21 and 228% Y-o-Y.”
We’ve all heard the stories about the low housing inventory, lack of rental cars, and dearth of pool chlorine (this summer’s “toilet paper”). Yet, local contractors are busier than ever, with most scheduling well into 2022 at this point.
Industry-wide Concerns
“COVID-19 likely caused scarcity and factory shutdowns, as well as supply chain disruptions and greater consumer demand for home services,” said Mischa Fisher, HomeAdvisor’s chief economist.
Delays caused by labor shortages.
Some of our staff, vendors and partners have had to deal with cases of Covid, creating labor shortages, on top of the pre-pandemic industry labor issues throughout the region.
Fortunately, everyone at KV is now vaccinated and healthy. We understand that most of the builders/remodelers, subcontractors, and vendors are also vaccinated.
More good news: more students are choosing vocational schools and learning trades to replace an older work force of contractors and subcontractors. The two local building associations have been very active in supporting workforce development programs.
Production delays caused by material shortages.
The residential building industry is dependent on materials produced overseas, mainly from Asia and Europe. China started the dominoes falling early in 2020, followed by Italy with factories shuttered. While KV works with many North American companies, components of the products are still backordered from other parts of the world. And then add in the shipping delays and here we are in a situation of high demand with lower supply. And we know what that means…
Rising costs due to the pandemic.
The cost of everything from wood (4x price increase) to labor has gone up considerably. Windows, doors, appliances – you name it – the prices have increased since 2019, in part because of the high demand-low supply issue. As more people have been spending time in their homes, the remodeling industry experienced an unforeseen boom. Contractors in New England are busier than ever responding to this urgent need to reconfigure and renovate homes to suit the changing lifestyles of homeowners (think working and schooling from home; cooking and dining more at home; more laundry and cleaning to be done; and dealing with separating sick members of a household or adding another generation).
Along with our colleagues in the home design and building industry, the KV team has done its best to rise to the occasion and measure up to expectations.
What does this mean for KitchenVisions clients? We have some advice:
1) Be considerate. Be a good client and partner in the design process by keeping appointments, making sure all stakeholders are informed, and communicating clearly. We’re good, but we’re not mind readers.
2) Make decisions as quickly as you can. Once you have a start date with a contractor, you do not want to lose it! That means that your design must be completed to meet that timeline. All materials and selections have to be finalized and ordered well in advance of that date, especially appliances and cabinetry. Alternate housing, if needed, should be arranged.
3) Be flexible. Maybe the exact model of dishwasher you want is unavailable. Is it really worth holding up your project to wait (when it might never become available)? Having an open mind is critical during these unprecedented times.
4) Be patient. Juggling backorders and delays is as frustrating for us as it is for you. We are committed to making our projects go as smoothly as possible.
5) Have compassion. Give some thought not only for your design and building team, but also for yourself. We all have high expectations when we commit to a remodeling project, and when sh*t happens, and it doesn’t go exactly as planned, it’s easy to become disappointed and angry. You’re not alone in feeling this way. We are all affected in myriad ways by the pandemic. We hear you.
Glad we had this talk.