Even minimalists hope to receive SOME furniture within weeks of moving in. We promise to do the best we can to help! (Project Architect: Rick & Cindy Black, Builder: Enve Builders)
Have you started a home improvement project or attempted to purchase new furniture in 2021? If so, you’ve likely found that resources are limited (both products and labor), and patience is a virtue. It’s an environment unlike anything I’ve seen in our industry, and it’s a result of a perfect storm of global issues. Read below for a better understanding, and tips to help avoid frustration…
THE STORM - WHY IS IT LIKE THIS?
COVID – Of course you would guess this, but the results of the pandemic have been far-reaching in ways beyond what might seem apparent. Not only did factories shut down and in many cases staffing reduced, but the quarantine created a situation where homeowners have been using their homes in different ways than before (ex: multiple family members working from home & looking for quiet and efficient spaces to work or do homework, cooking at home rather than eating out, etc.), and inefficiencies have been highlighted. In some households, limitations in travel resulted in an increased budget for luxury spending, and home projects have become prioritized. These conditions resulted in unprecedented demand in the building industry.
Freight and Shipping Delays – Several conditions have prompted shipping challenges, but the primary cause is a combination of soaring consumer demand, creating mountains of freight at ports and warehouses, and too few employees to move it. For example, there is a shortage of truck drivers in the US, so even when items are ready to ship, the truck with your items will take longer to arrive. To exacerbate the problem, in March there was a cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal and billions of goods were held up. Delays at the receiving ports (already existing due to COVID affects) became even more extreme.
The Texas Freeze – in February there was a historic freeze in Texas (being based in Austin, most of my readers are familiar with this unusual event) with power outages and unexpected setbacks across the state. What you might not realize is that the chemical plants that provide necessary ingredients to create foam needed nationwide are located on the Gulf Coast & were shut down. This affected many products in our industry: spray foam insulation, cushions for upholstery, and mattresses, just to name a few. We learned from one furniture manufacturer that they have been on an allocation of 50% foam for months! Weird, right?
Industry experts predict that catching up on the backlog of orders, and getting closer to pre-Covid lead-times, will likely take until late 2022.
WHAT CAN I DO?
To minimize frustration, I suggest planning ahead, being flexible, and keeping your expectations in check. If you absolutely want a specific sofa in a certain fabric, be prepared to wait. If you want something faster, adjust your requirements, such as defaulting to a different frame, a stocked fabric, or an item off the showroom floor (we received emails from vendors in May warning that upholstery lead-times were 4-6 months out, and to place orders asap for furniture needed by Christmas). There is a similar situation with lead-times on tile, lighting, plumbing, and other building products. In many cases re-selections have been required to get projects to the finish line, and some vendors have reduced their offerings in an attempt to catch up.
If you are building or remodeling, start putting your team together months in advance. Most designers, builders, and architects are booked out in time, so begin reaching out to the professionals you hope to work with and get on their calendars. Plan at least 6 months buffer for getting started (in addition to your team’s availability, the permit process is also bogged down), and prepare for budget adjustments and selection changes due to product shortages and price increases.
CONCLUSION
Hopefully a lesson we’ve learned from the new world of COVID is to be flexible, and to realize that the frustrations of our project delays pale in comparison to challenges being faced by others in the world. We’re all in this together folks! And patience, as always, is a virtue…
Thank you to Christy Caffrey (co-owner of Caffrey Co Furniture) and David Burton (co-owner of Enve Builders, AND my husband, so we get to whine about these things together in the evenings) for collaborating with me on this article.