Oconee home and remodeling show goes on despite ice

SENECA Sleet fell and roads were icy Friday in Oconee County, but the Oconee Home Builders Association home and remodeling show went on.

Builders, suppliers and service providers at the event expressed optimism for their industry.The association's ninth annual show opened Friday afternoon at Seneca's Shaver Recreation Center, offering visitors a glimpse of a wide range of new home and remodeling products and services as well as landscaping and gardening exhibits.

"I just like to wander through and see what's new and different," said Phil Soper, who lives in a lakeside community in northern Oconee County.

Russell Price, executive officer of the Home Builders Association, said the weather made it uncertain how much company Soper would have in visiting the show this year. But Price said over the two days of the show, which ends today, he still expects attendance to be strong.

Past shows have seen more than 2,000 visitors over the course of the weekend.

About 40 builders, suppliers and service providers booked to display their wares this year, which is about average, Price said.

Among displays of vinyl siding, new flooring, bathroom fixtures, gutters, new plumbing apparatus, carpeting and tankless water heaters was a display for Neat Freaks garage organizing experts. That novel service is surprisingly in demand, said Brad LeCroy of Integrity Builders.

"A garage can look like you couldn't get another thing in it," LeCroy said. "But once you create a space for all your items, it's easy."

Photographs in LeCroy's display show once-cluttered garages rearranged to a museum-like neatness.

Edward Gravely, with Archadeck of Clemson, demonstrated his company's line of sunrooms, decks and other home add-ons.

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Oconee home and remodeling show goes on despite ice