Contractors Reap Benefit From Do-it-yourself Trend

Those television programs that make home remodeling seem easy are providing more work for professional handymen, who are often called to fix botched jobs.

(Thursday, August 19, 2004) - Reality TV may be all the rage these days, but fans of popular home improvement shows might be in store for a reality check when they try to tackle a project that looks simple on TV, according to home improvement experts.

Shows such as "Trading Spaces," "While You Were Out" and "Weekend Warriors" often motivate homeowners to try their luck at installing a door or putting in a patio, but many amateur handymen later find out that they've underestimated the work it takes to complete a project, contractors say. Others simply bungle the job.

When weekend projects turn into weeklong disasters, do-it-yourselfers often defect to the let-someone-else-do-it camp. Their next step is to call a professional to complete the work, according to House Doctors, a national chain that provides home repair and "handyman" services.

Barry Cohen, owner of a House Doctors franchise in Chanhassen, said he's had "many" calls from would-be do-it-yourselfers in recent months.

"I don't document exactly when that situation occurs, but we've definitely had them," Cohen said. "Trend-wise, we've had quite a few more calls in the last 12 months or so than we had previously."

Cohen recalls a recent phone message from a woman who expressed interest in having a home improvement project completed. When Cohen called back, a man answered.

"I could feel the guy pull the phone away from his ear and he said, ‘You actually called these guys?'" Cohen recalled. She replied that he didn't get the job done so she had to "call someone who could."

Cohen said his licensed and bonded business does small- to medium-sized jobs, ranging from hanging pictures or putting in a new outlet to finishing basements or replacing kitchen floors. Bigger jobs, such as roof work or major plumbing projects, are referred to other contractors.

Business is good throughout the year, Cohen said, but summertime is "probably the heaviest." He has six employees, including a full-time estimator.

"I don't target specific skills like a carpenter or a sheetrock guy, because we get requests for so many different things," he said. "You need to be a jack-of-all-trades."

Stores that cater to amateur jacks-of-all-trades are also staying busy. The Home Improvement Research Institute anticipates that consumers will buy $263 billion worth of home improvement products this year, up nearly 10 percent from 2003. Sales are projected to reach $313.5 billion by 2008.

Tim Carter has seen the home improvement business from a number of angles. A former Ohio remodeling contractor with 20 years of experience, Carter currently writes a nationally syndicated home improvement column and has a Web site at http://www.askthebuilder.com.

Carter said television tends to oversimplify home improvement projects, giving the viewer a false sense of confidence.

"Many of the shows on television do not tell the truth with respect to the degree of difficulty, the amount of time it takes, the amount of skills required and the amount of tools you need to do the job," he said.

Television tends to ignore the physical challenges, too. For example, Carter said, viewers often have no idea how difficult it is to carry a bundle of shingles up to a roof or to push a wheelbarrow loaded with 500 pounds of concrete.

"You can't show in real time how to do it. They skip so many important parts. It's the nature of that venue — they want everyone to feel good, everyone smiles. In the real world, there are problems on just about every job."

Unfortunately, once an amateur runs into problems and needs a professional contractor, it's not always easy to find one. Carter said most good contractors have a long backlog of work and can't come out to a job on a moment's notice.

Cohen agrees.

"We can't just drop everything and help them," he said. "We've got jobs booked out three to four weeks in advance."

Cohen said he tends to stay busy even when the economy is down.

"If the economy is good, we get a lot of business," he said. "If the economy is bad, we still get a lot of business. The house is a person's most valuable possession, so they usually want to take care of it."

Brooklyn Center showroom completed

DLR Group's Eden Prairie office announced that it has completed planning and design work on a showroom and distribution center in Brooklyn Center for Global Industries, an international furniture manufacturer.

The facility includes a 19,000-square-foot warehouse, 3,500 square feet of office space and a 4,000-square-foot showroom for the company's regional operations.

Anderson Builders, a St. Louis Park-based design-build and remodeling company, worked with DLR on the project.

The design and construction team had its hands full because of the site's size (only 29,000 square feet of build-able area) and unusual shape. The entry canopy, constructed with rolled-steel tubes, creates a shadow on the walls and gives the entry "a sense of depth and prominence," according to DLR.

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