We are all surviving The Great Recession, more or less.

In Colorado, most any wholesaler or competitor that we know will disagree that we are not still in a recession. We still hear widely varying reports from contractors on how much work is out there. I am interested in how the times have changed us humans, so I will share some of my observations. Homeowners are interested in incredible deals for cheap. This is hard on everybody. There are hidden ways that manufacturers are cheapening their products to survive, e.g. narrowing their warranty, making their products smaller, or reducing staff. It drives wages down and forces contractors to cut corners. We know one contractor that removed the word “Quality” from his company name as he felt that potential customers would assume his prices would be too high. Many contractors get a job, and since they and their crew have been idle, start the job immediately. Any delays due to weather, special orders, etc. are painful. We hear of many job cancellations, even after homeowners have signed contracts.
Oddly, though people are intensely careful about their spending, careful planning is not common. Siding choices many times change after one type has been purchased and delivered. Homeowners often become angry if they have to pay for their own mistakes. Many contractors and homeowners are trying to shift the design portion of jobs to us, because we are “free” and then it is our fault if the material list is incorrect. PDF’s have replaced blueprints, that just a couple of years ago were an automatic part of the deal. This makes it easy for the building owner to transfer any printing prices to bidders.
One profound change that has occurred is that many people’s time has lost much of its value. To me this is a disturbing change, as many we meet will get twice as many bids for labor and material, for jobs that they may not even be serious about! This puts pressure on contractors to quote lots of jobs hoping to get a few. It puts pressure on us to split our time between serious business and unprofitable efforts, without appearing rude.
Luckily most of the people we meet are friendly and honest. We appreciate your loyalty; it keeps us here!