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By David Opinko

Lethbridge contractors extra busy during pandemic as more people renovate homes

Jul 15, 2021 | 1:46 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on most businesses, but one sector has seen a notable increase in work.

Contractors handling home renovations have been extra busy over the last year-and-a-bit.

LNN talked to two local companies with expertise in this area.

David Jackson, Owner and Operator of Lealta Building Supplies, says a lot of people have essentially been on a long staycation, so they want to make sure that the one place they can be is as nice as they can make it.

“People are spending a lot of time in their homes, and if they’re not going out and they’re not travelling and going to restaurants and stuff like that, obviously, the savings accounts grow and they look to spending some of that money on making the house look nicer – putting new flooring down, repainting, doing some work in the yard, that sort of stuff.”

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Lealta provides the materials necessary for a lot of renovations and additions for contractors and individual homeowners.

Jackson has noted large increases in sales for projects like fences, decks, flooring, and painting. He saw these becoming exceptionally popular during the earlier months of the pandemic.

At Galko Renovations, President and Owner Bruce Galts says they have been doing more basement and bathroom renovations, as well as decking.

With the city seeing record home sales over the past several months, he is optimistic that this will continue.

“People either want to fix their house up to sell it or they buy a house and they want to get that basement finished or redone – that’s good for the renovation business, but also just having people moving to town because they got a job.”

READ MORE: Home sales double in Lethbridge this year to record levels

Galts says projects on the lower-cost end have become increasingly popular while they are seeing fewer ones that are more pricey.

From Jackson’s perspective, people shied away from work that involved wood.

“This year, we saw a fairly distinct slowdown with the price increases. People started not doing projects because the price increases were far too substantial.”

One thing that Galts is worried about going forward is that he has struggled to find enough workers.

He believes that programs like CERB and other COVID support programs have lead to more people being comfortable with taking extended absences from work. As a result, he tells LNN that they are seeing far fewer resumes any time they have a job posting.

With lumber prices coming back down, COVID restrictions being lifted, and more people getting back to work, however, both business owners are optimistic that the flow of work will continue to be steady.