Short answer – Expect the unexpected!
Did you put off remodeling during the height of the pandemic? Did you recently buy a home that requires some time and attention to make it your own? Were you going to move, but just can’t find a new place to call home?
Your home has become more than a place to come to after work over the past few years. It’s transformed into the center of most aspects of your life! Serving multiple purposes, such as an office, a school, a safe place to entertain, a gym, and your retreat for self-care. You’ve realized that the community where you live and the home you love is where you want to stay. But it needs to be more than what it is now, for it to function for your family.
We get it—a remodel of your kitchen, first floor, bathroom, or the whole house, needs to happen sooner rather than later—you want to do it now. At The Cleary Company, Remodel-Design-Build in Columbus, OH, we want nothing more than to start your project as soon as we meet with you. But there is a process and the challenges of our industry right now are creating delays in everyone’s timelines.
What do you need to know before you call a remodeler?
The pandemic brought forth many unforeseen issues, many of which, have challenged the construction industry. While we aren’t lacking for clients or new projects, (in fact, we’re busier than ever!) there are many factors right now affecting our schedules. If you have completed a project in the past five to ten years, expect it could now take double the time to complete.
- Supply chain issues continue to cause delays. Appliances, windows, doors, and other vital construction items are taking longer than normal to ship and arrive. The good news is if you’re willing to select an in-stock item vs a custom item lead times can be significantly shorter.
- Manufacturing of materials, as well as the distribution of them is taking longer. The semiconductor chip issue does affect some appliances, but beyond that most manufacturing plants are not at worker capacity, and some raw materials still are still in short supply. All of this means products are not being made at the rate they were before coupled with the higher than expected demands. Luckily, we work with some amazing vendors, that are doing everything they can to get us materials.
- Costs have continued to increase. We have all heard what has happened to lumber prices over the last two years, but other items we need, have risen as well. This means the bottom line for your project has increased. Keep in mind it’s never going to be cheaper than right now. Although some costs may stabilize or even drop slightly, overall most prices will continue at their current rates or even rise further.
- Labor shortages for skilled trades were an issue before the pandemic and since then the problem has only gotten worse and has started to lengthen the time it takes to complete a project. While we feel blessed to have such an amazing Team and trade partners, we are still hiring, as are most remodeling companies. Check out our open positions here!
- Utility companies (water, electric, gas) are suffering from the same issues as stated above. This trickles down to us when we need to do work that involves them. This means we could be waiting on them to come out to the site to take care of what is needed for your project.
- Surging home prices and lack of available inventory has made the decision for many people to just stay in their homes and remodel them, rather than try to purchase a new home.
Our Team will help you through this process.
Remodeling your home is important and we understand! Our job isn’t only to complete your project, but for us all to be a part of the same Team. We take what we do seriously and pride ourselves on having a solid, well-respected reputation.
When you work with The Cleary Company, you can expect:
- Honesty
- Transparency—we will let you know what we are dealing with and how it could affect your project
- Realistic expectations
- A positive working relationship
- An open dialogue
- Timely updates during the construction phase of the project
- Proactive problem-solving to keep your project moving forward
- Innovative ideas
- Your vision comes to life
How can you create a positive remodel experience?
- Do your research – be prepared with a vision and a budget
- Remain flexible and understanding when a problem or issue is discovered
- Be honest and forthright with our Team
- Keep realistic expectations for the timeline
- Be patient
With all this, we encourage you to start a conversation with our Team now and not wait. The sooner we talk, the sooner you get into the queue and the sooner we can build your project. The entire remodeling industry is in high demand, and we want to get your project ready to go. The phrase — “Together, we can accomplish anything” is the standard we work to achieve. Ready to set up that initial meeting so we can share in your vision for your remodeled home? Contact us here.