Industry Update 2022
As a point of general awareness, I would like to express a current industry wide snapshot of what HomeTech Renovations, Inc. and our vendor partners are experiencing.
The impact of Covid-19 and worldwide shipping, coupled with labor shortages throughout the country has caused numerous and unpredictable material acquisition issues. Many of these issues impact almost every corner of the material pipeline as well as price increases across the board. Most recently our vendor partners have issued increases on the following materials, with more on the horizon:
Cabinet grade plywood
MDF used for paint grade cabinet doors
Premium drawer glides
3DL laminates
Copper wire and components
Know that most of our cabinet vendors are currently running between 20-24 weeks to process and deliver an order. In some cases, specific components of committed orders are additionally backlogged due to specific cabinet interior accessory unavailability. Our own custom shop is currently awaiting an order for Blum drawer glides and hinges to complete orders. HomeTech Renovations, Inc. has also been informed by our two major plumbing wholesalers that many specialty and popular finishes, such as black and brushed gold, are on backorder indefinitely. Major countertop quartz materials are also stuck in the production/shipping pipeline.
All of these issues have also caused a ripple effect as to when HomeTech Renovations, Inc. can accurately predict and forecast actual installation dates, as our policy is to not start a project until we have firm commitments of all key materials associated to a project. Our scheduling department can only issue approximate installation slots based on actual project commitments, coupled with the best guess, or commitments made to us from our vendor partners. Note the installation dates we issue may not be relative due to the ongoing supply chain issues. Additionally, our own certified HomeTech technician availably is also being manipulated by our scheduling department based on weekly updates on expected ship dates.
As the past President of the Southeast Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), I have spoken with many contractors and competitors who have also shared similar experiences. Please know that in my 39-year history, I have never experienced such a wide range of on-going supply chain and labor issues. I am proud that we perform the majority of our installations with our own employee staff and will remain committed to do our very best to accommodate our customer’s moving forward.
Please be sure to share this memorandum with all of our current customer’s as I do not want to misrepresent any original projections moving forward.
