REMODELING
and have never seen it this busy,” said Todd Schmidt, owner of the Grove City remodeling firm Renovations Unlimited.
While the remodeling boom is good for contractors, it means longer waits for homeowners eager to polish up their properties.
Bill and Marcia Miller tried for two years to get a contractor to update the laundry room of their Dublin-area home.
“Most didn’t want to talk with us,” Bill Miller said. “The job was too small or they said it would be really, really expensive. They really didn’t want to do it.”
Americans are on track to spend a record $316 billion on home renovations this year, up from $296 billion in 2016, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. It also forecasts that spending will rise 6 percent more over the next 12 months. Metrostudy, a private company that tracks the industry, likewise reports a record level of remodeling activity this year.
In central Ohio, remodeling activity is even stronger, according to the homeimprovement website HomeAdvisor, which found that requests for remodeling quotes on the site rose 22 percent faster in the Columbus area than the rest of the country over the past year.
The site found that homeowners spent an average of $5,157 on each homeimprovement project last year, up 57 percent from the previous year.
While the number of building and remodeling permits declined in Columbus in the 12 months ending Aug. 31, the value of the projects rose 3 percent from the previous 12 months to $238.6 million, according to Columbus Building and Zoning Department data.
“The remodeling market continues to benefit from a stronger housing market and, in particular, solid gains in house prices, which are encouraging owners to make larger investments in their homes,” said Chris Herbert, managing director of Harvard’s housing center.
Remodeling activity is also fueled by a shortage of homes on the market, which can force homeowners to settle for fixer-uppers.
“If people are lucky enough to find a house in their chosen neighborhood, they’re buying them knowing they need massive renovations,” said Susan Dyas, who runs the Epic Group remodeling firm with her husband, Bob.
“On the flip side, we’ve worked with people who just can’t find anything else that suits their needs.”
That often means staying put.
Jennifer and Scott Obers strongly considered moving from their Dublin home this past spring. But after looking at what was on the market, they decided to keep their home and continue to update it.
“This made the most sense for us, to pick away and turn this home into what we want it to be,” Jennifer Obers said.
The couple is about to embark on their fifth remodeling project — finishing their basement and converting a playroom into a homework station.
“I enjoy renovating,” Jennifer Obers said. “My husband says it’s the most expensive hobby ever.”
A determination to stay put also led Sara Knox-Zhang and Jiamei Knox-Zhang to put an addition onto their 1,260-square-foot Victorian Village home this summer.
“We loved the area and didn’t want to leave it,” Sara Knox-Zhang said. “We really had two options — try to find something or build onto a house we really love. We decided to do (the latter). We know it’s an investment for the future.”
Contractors are working six or even seven days a week, adding employees and refining their systems to try to meet demand. And they still hear from homeowners desperate to line up a crew.
“We have people call us all the time who say, ‘We called three companies and you’re the only one who called us back,’” said Kathy Morgan, owner of Organized Home Remodeling, whom the Millers finally landed to do their laundry room.
Morgan said it’s hard for her business to respond to all the calls it’s getting right now, too. For example, Organized Home Remodeling received 75 leads from the spring home and garden show and so far has contacted 15 of the potential clients.
“I’m sure they think we’re just ignoring them, but we got backed up,” she said.
A survey by the homerenovation and design website Houzz found that Midwestern homeowners seeking a contractor for mid-size projects must wait an average of seven weeks before the contractor can start.
Not only are Columbus homeowners remodeling more than homeowners in other cities, they are pursuing expensive projects. According to HomeAdvisor, central Ohio homeowners are far more likely than homeowners in other cities to request information on roofs, additions, cabinets and countertops.
“We’re seeing an increase in calls for multiroom projects,” said Bryn Hanover, a project developer with Scott Hall Remodeling in Columbus. “Before it was mainly a kitchen or a bathroom. Now, they’re doing two bathrooms and a kitchen.”
Scott Hall Remodeling has hired three new people over the past year to try to meet demand.
The Columbus remodeling firm Kitchen Kraft has never been busier in its 22 years, said co-owner Jim Deen.
Over the past few years, the firm has gone from five installation crews to 12, one project manager to four and three designers to seven to keep up with demand, Deen said. Demand in high-end projects has especially skyrocketed, he said.
“We almost never did sixfigure kitchens a few years ago,” he said. “Now we do them every few weeks.”
Contractors say finding skilled labor remains a huge challenge. In Ohio, about 1 in 4 contractors (73 percent) report they are having a hard time finding qualified workers, according to an Associated General Contractors of America survey from August.
Schmidt, who estimates his business at Renovations Unlimited is up 25 percent over a few years ago, offers this advice to homeowners trying to get a project done: “Try not to wait until the last minute. Be patient.”