A new roof and maybe a bidet? Surge in work on homes after the shutdowns

The COVID-19 lockdowns that swept the country this spring affected essentially every industry, and home improvement companies are no exception. In the initial period of pandemic response, most people were reluctant to let strangers into their home for fear of contracting the coronavirus.

But now that Western Pennsylvania is starting to reopen, some homeowners are taking advantage of finally being able to stick around and keep an eye on the plumber’s work.

Mark Nicklas, vice president of Cranberry-based plumbing and furnishing company Nicklas Supply, said sales have increased around 20% from what the company would normally expect in June. It’s a significant increase, he said, especially because sales were down 60% in April and 15% in May.

Steve Rennekamp, owner of Energy Swing Windows in Murrysville, has seen a similar spike in demand following an earlier drop.

During a seven-week shutdown earlier this spring, Energy Swing employees consulted virtually with returning customers and new people who’d been referred by friends, which provided around 25% of the usual demand. Because workers couldn’t visit homes to take measurements to manufacture custom-made windows or install them, it was a period of almost no income for the company.

Now Mr. Rennekamp reports sales have increased by 35% to 40%.

Even before the pandemic, 2020 didn’t look like a good year for the home improvement industry.

The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, published last fall by the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, projected a “modest decline” in consumer spending on home improvement products and services. The same center published updated predictions in April, taking the effects of the pandemic into account and predicting that most areas of the U.S. would see a larger decrease than the fall report had foreseen.

So what accounts for the recent jump? There’s the pent-up demand theory, in which the period of closures allowed demand to accumulate and cause a rush when in-person operations resumed. That might have a minimal effect on overall spending for the year.

Mr. Nicklas speculated that some of the new demand comes from people spending more time at home and noticing things they’d like to change, coupled with money saved from skipping a planned vacation.

“We’re hoping that they’re going to put that extra income toward a bathroom remodel project or a new kitchen,” he said.

Allison Park company Empire Roofing & More ended its pandemic-induced closed period a few weeks ago, according to co-owner J.B. Barentine. During the five-week closure, the company did only emergency repairs, but it has now reopened for general roofing and siding services.

Unlike Mr. Nicklas and

Mr. Rennekamp, Mr. Barentine hasn’t seen a significant increase in demand for the company’s services.

The pandemic has affected the way home improvement workers have to operate in some of the usual ways — but also some unexpected ones.

Empire Roofing employees are seeing homeowners more present during the roofing process and asking workers a lot of questions, which slows things down, Mr. Barentine said. Initially, that was challenging the backlog of work.

However, he said, “At this point, now that we’ve got eight weeks of repair time in the new normal and four weeks of re-roofing and residing, it’s becoming less of a distraction.”

Some of the COVID-19 safety policies Energy Swing Windows has put in place have also slowed installation times and the company’s ability to catch up on lost revenue.

But the new rules are there for a reason, Mr. Rennekemp said. “We have great respect for our customers, and we want to do the right thing by them,” he said.

In another likely coronavirus side effect, Nicklas Supply has seen certain kitchen and bathroom fixtures suddenly become more popular.

Smart tech, particularly motion- and voice-activated faucets, are in high demand, Mr. Nicklas said. He thinks this may be due to increased awareness of the possibilities of transmitting diseases on surfaces.

And fear of a toilet paper shortage may be driving a spike in sales of bidets. Still, Mr. Nicklas added, “This pandemic is so relatively new to all of us that it’s hard to see instant trends.”

Homeowners have to consider the risks of COVID-19 transmission when planning renovations — and so do the workers performing them.

Mr. Nicklas said he was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of his company’s suppliers were proactively practicing virus protection protocols, and that most homeowners followed mask-wearing and social distancing requirements. Empire Roofing had initial trouble with finding hand sanitizer, Mr. Barentine said, but the company was eventually able to buy it in a bulk amount. The wife of an employee made some masks for workers to wear.

Mr. Rennekamp stressed the personal importance of keeping his employees safe from the virus. “I’m very protective of my people,” he said.