Outdoor spaces remain a homeowner priority
Pool installers, landscapers say demand not slacking
Last summer, pool installers were busier than ever, landscaping jobs got booked fast, and hardware stores ran out of gardening supplies as people across the country stayed home and invested in their outdoor spaces. A year later — even as the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel seems brighter — the outdoor work boom isn’t lightening up.
“With the pool season upon us right now this year we see it will be much busier than even last year,” said Jamie Georgelos, a manager at Alpin Haus in Amsterdam. “Last year we very quickly became sold out for the
season. We did a lot of planning last year for projects for this year. We have already started to book projects for 2022.”
“The good news is last year at this particular time we were
actually closed because of COVID-19 state mandates,” Georgelos said. “We started our first pool install today; having the ability to get an early start
is a great thing for us and all of our customers.”
Pool installers and landscapers across the Capital Region say there is overspill from last year that already has their summer calendars booked, and the calls for new work keep coming.
“We are very busy already, we have work left over from last year we couldn’t get to and we have probably three months worth of work this year,” said Bob Grives, co-owner of Faddegon’s Nursery in Latham.
Stone, brick and pavers are running low, as well as anything that is shipped from overseas or across the country, Grives said about landscaping supplies at his store, but his stock of plants is doing fine because they typically are sourced locally.
Pusatere Landscapes is giving
out at least 10, if not more, estimates a week, said Chrstine Richardson, a manager for the Albany business. It is also looking to hire more people to do the landscaping work, but is having difficulties finding people to fill those jobs.
At Hewitt’s Garden Center, seed sales are up again. “We are still seeing a bunch of firsttimers,” said Patti Marx, an assistant manager at the garden center’s Scotia location.
Marx expects gardening supplies to run out fast again this year. Currently, there is a plastic bottle shortage, so anything from watering cans to plant fertilizer that comes in plastic bottles has been hard to stock, Marx said.
Richardson at Pusatere Landscaping thinks the trend to invest in outdoor spaces is here to stay.
“I think (the pandemic) has made people see a whole different side of living,” Richardson said. “Even when it is over people are going to spend more time together in their outdoor spaces.”
New patios can range from $6,000 to $25,000 and inground pools are between $15,000 and $25,000 dollars, according to Richardson. “People have invested a lot of money. I don’t think it is going to change,” Richardson said.