Gone are the days where you can build, remodel, or add onto your entire home in a few short months.
My neighbor remodeled their home in less than three months, why is yours taking so long? It must be my lazy contractor. They came highly recommended but clearly, they’re in over their heads with this one. My contractor keeps forgetting to put in the order for things, so now it’s going to take even longer to get in.
These are common assumptions going through homeowners’ heads throughout the process. While we can’t attest to other contractors, we can say that with River City Construction and Design LLC, none of these are true for us. The world is on backorder. It’s a subject we’ve touched lightly on other posts, yet still an ongoing issue.
Supplies are in an all-time high demand. With the natural disasters and adverse weather- resourcing wood, metals, and other materials is becoming an economic challenge. With recent container shipping issues, appliances and fixtures are on backorder as well. You may haBathve even tried to order something as simple as a couch and discovered there was a 4-6week minimum lead time.
Barry Oxley, executive officer with the Huntsville Madison County Builders Association: “In a standard build, you order windows six weeks out about the time you lay the foundation. Now it takes 16 to 18 weeks for windows and specialty windows take even longer.” Original post with Huntsville Business Journal
This unprecedented shortage has put a delay in remodeling, additions, and new builds. We’ve found that something that was as easy to find such as a door, is taking months to get in.
We often end up having to ask our clients to make the selections well before they think it’s time. “We have plenty of time” is no longer a luxury.
On top of the supply issues, we’re seeing a lot of struggle within the industry for employment. The demand for workers is greater than the available people who are able to, and/or want to do the job. Thus putting schedules and shipments further behind.
Manufacturers are struggling to get necessary chips made for vehicles, and appliances. Without these, the cars and appliances are just sitting shiny metal. We’ve seen some appliances take 6+months to get in. These aren’t custom appliance wait times. These times are typical for standard brands such as G.E., Samsung, Whirlpool, Viking, Cafe.
While it may feel like we’re putting pressure on you to make a decision, it truly is because we want you in and enjoying your dream home as much as you do.