TOLEDO, Ohio — "It's definitely impacting how we work today. Compared to what it was before, it's thinking more ahead," said Dirk Novak, a salesman with Home Lumber.
The pandemic has forced most of us to be at home more than ever before, and after staring at that same color of paint on your living room wall, many of us have decided now is the time to make a change.
However, home improvement businesses need you to know, it's not like how things were 2 years ago.
"Overhead doors are 16 weeks out so almost either order them as soon as you sign your contract. That's the biggest thing. Plan ahead and don't get caught waiting for your product to come in," said Sales Manager with Home Lumber, Mike Jenkins.
Jeff Rowe with Next Day Access, which provides Accessibility & Mobility Products for homes says he's also having a hard time getting the products he needs fast enough.
"We're called 'Next Day Access.' We pride ourselves on our quick turn around and being a service orientated industry and right now our struggle has just been getting the ramps, from a raw material standpoint, from the factories," said Jeff Rowe.
Dave McWhinnie with Renewal By Anderson said window businesses have seen a major uptick since the pandemic started.
"We've had a lot of people that have been staying at home and they've been watching their windows and they've been seeing their faults so a lot of people have been putting a lot of money into their homes," McWhinnie said.
He adds Renewal is dealing with supply chain issues like everyone else. "There's been some shortages with aluminum and some different things. We've been working through it. Right now we're about 16 to 18 weeks out and that's about as quick as we can go."
Home improvement businesses ask you to please be patient.
"You know if they're telling you one thing, that's more than likely the truth because from the suppliers' standpoint, that's what they're being told and just patience helps everything from a stress level for everybody involved," said Novak.
The House and Home Show at the SeaGate Centre goes through Sunday.
You can find more info at this link.