Confidence building in remodeling industry as Home Show arrives

Cris Keeter said hes seen tougher times in the home remodeling business.

He remembers how the housing boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s would convert potential customers to home buyers.

Keeter, owner of All States Exteriors, recalls instances in which his company would bid jobs for replacing windows or siding on a home, and the customer would instead opt to buy a new home because they were so easy to get.

As a remodeler, weve made it through the harder time when interest rates were low and housing was going through the charts, said Keeter, who started the company 21 years ago.

Still, the past few years havent been great for those in the remodeling and renovation business.

During the recession and through the slow recovery, home remodeling activity has changed from whole-room remodels to smaller projects, such as just replacing kitchen countertops and backsplashes rather than redoing the whole kitchen.

After the market crashed, it was pretty tough out there for us and, I think, for a lot of remodelers, said Michael Gatschet, owner of Heartland Home Improvements, a 13-year-old company.

But on the eve of the Wichita Area Home Builders Home Show, which starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, Keeter and Gatschet said they are hopeful that demand for their companies services is on the upswing after several years of flat to declining business that started with the recession in December 2007.

And at least one national report on remodeling activity supports their optimism.

Keeter said that in the past three years, remodeling business at his company which does replacement siding, windows, doors, gutters and roofs has been flat to slightly declining. Before the recession took hold in Wichita, he said, his companys remodeling business was increasing annually.

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Confidence building in remodeling industry as Home Show arrives