City renovators see boom in home improvements
Demand for home improvements is on the rise as the COVID-19 pandemic cuts Edmontonians' travel plans short.
Since March, travelling abroad has become increasingly challenging with countries like Canada placing more restrictions. The federal government is advising Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel outside of the country.
With so many staying home, Dan Van Sloten, owner of DV Custom Built, said more people are calling him and other contractors for renovations.
“We've noticed with countertop guys, cabinet guys and ourselves that we're all just screaming busy because everyone's trying to do these updates while they're trapped at home,” he said. “It was an unexpected surprise for us. I had all my work booked for the year ... and then March comes
around (with) COVID and all my projects ended up cancelling or resizing. I was thinking `man, what am I going to do to keep all our guys busy?' Within six weeks, all those projects ... were all replaced with new projects.”
Van Sloten said most of the renovations he's getting calls for involve sprucing up kitchens and
bathrooms. Depending on the project, a kitchen upgrade can be between $30,000 to $100,000 while a bathroom can range from $10,000 to $40,000.
With a staff of 15, Van Sloten said he initially had to lay two people off in March but was able to rehire a few weeks later when the calls started coming in.
“Being able to get them back within the six weeks was just so relieving,” he said.
Matt Weeks, the owner of Ridgeline Improvements, said he's been experiencing a similar increase in demand with many homeowners looking to upgrade their basements and decks. He said calls started coming in over the spring and summer for work on covered decks, something that he's never experienced before in the 10 years he's been in business.
He called it a strange change. “I would say (call volumes) definitely doubled,” Weeks said. “Last year we would get 15 to 20 calls a month. We're definitely seeing in November, which is usually a slower month, we had 30 plus. Typically we would see that in July.”
Weeks said he noticed the work being done on a basement suite depended on where it was in the city. He said more centrally located homeowners would transform their basement into a bedroom suite while those living farther away from the city would generally turn the space into a recreation area.
Weeks said a deck, depending on the materials and scope of work, can be between $3,000 to $35,000 while a basement can range from $40,000 to $60,000.
Weeks said as a general contractor he was considered an essential worker but he continued to be worried about moving onto projects that involved him and his employees going inside. He was able to shift his company's focus to outdoor projects during the warmer months but with the temperature getting colder, he's started taking on more interior work.
Weeks said some customers weren't comfortable with people coming into their homes because of the virus amid rising active cases.
“Fair enough. We have one project where the people are moving out to let us work.”