Remodeling Business

When Southwest Florida’s construction industry churned out new homes at a turbo pace, few contractors and subcontractors wanted to downshift into the slow-lane of remodeling. But since new home construction hit the skids last year, more construction companies are looking to remodeling work to fuel their businesses.

"In the past, everyone was so darn busy they didn’t want to fool with it," says Joe Trupiano, owner of T.B.I. Electric Inc. Now builders and subcontractors are eager for work, and they’ve noticed that remodeling contractors still have plenty.

 

In response, major new homebuilders have launched divisions or spun off related companies to break into the remodeling market.

"It’s helping employers keep good employees and keep good subs in business," says Brett Fix, who heads up Kaye Homes’ new Home Makeover Division, which launched in June.

Michael Peel, a co-founder of Gulf-stream Homes with his brother, Stephen, says remodeling made up less than 1 percent of Gulfstream’s business a few years ago. In the near term, he expects the remodeling division Gulfstream launched in September to account for close to 40 percent of revenues.

Gulfstream, like so many area construction companies, has had to respond to the housing-market slowdown with extensive layoffs, cutting its staff from 60 to 13 in 18 months.

When the new-home market sizzled, builders shied away from remodeling because it’s a much less certain business. As Trupiano puts it: "In remodeling, you expect to open up a can of worms. You don’t know what you’re going to get until you open up the walls."

It’s just those kinds of risks that prompt homeowners to turn to general contractors to manage remodeling jobs now instead of going it alone with subcontractors, says Albania Crosbie, general manager for Remodeling Solutions by Frey, a remodeling company Frey & Son Homes launched in July.

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