WAYNE COUNTY, Pa. — Major home improvement projects have been on the list of lots of homeowners. If you can't do the job yourself, you'll need to hire someone.
Scott Blaine owns For Him Contracting and says his schedule is packed, and his phone has constantly been ringing with customers hoping to squeeze in their projects.
"I quit taking work just because I know I don't want to be the guy that says, 'I'll be there,' and then can't show up. I'm extremely busy right now," Blaine said.
Blaine says several of his jobs were put on hold because he couldn't get all the supplies to complete them in a timely fashion. He believes it all stems from one thing.
"Everybody we talked to—distributors, manufacturers—say all their guys aren't coming back to work. If you don't have workers, you can't make the material."
Garry Sheard owns Boyds Mills Builders and says he has also been busy, and his biggest problem isn't necessarily getting materials. It's the cost, and that may force customers to back out.
"Fluctuation of the price. It'll change in a day, you know, so you can't really lock in too much of a price for any customer at one time, but everybody seems to be aware of that, and everybody seems to be working with it."
Sheard says he's had jobs when getting the materials took some time, but Mother Nature hasn't exactly cooperated, especially when he's doing outside jobs.
"I have a lot outside stuff. I'd like to be able to do it, but you're stuck inside, you know, the rain, and we're going to be dealing with that this afternoon and tomorrow and possibly Friday. So it is what it is. I just don't have a lot of inside work right now for customers. But it is what it is, and I can take a day off."
Sheard and Blaine say they have also heard of contractors not returning calls and say while it's not their practice, they believe it's because those companies are also backed up with work.