By Ben Lawson - bio | email
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - It appears more and more people want to redo what they have rather than look for something new when it comes to building in Lubbock.
As we first told you Sunday on NewsChannel 11 at 10, new home construction permits in June were down more than 25% when compared to the same time last year, but remodeling and new additions increased more than 600% in the same time period.
We took a closer look at the blueprints behind this rise in renovations. "Summer is normally busy anyway, but it's been extremely busy. I'm getting four to ten phone calls or emails a day for requests for new bids," handymanoflubbock.com owner Brent Staggs said.
The remodeling rise has many contractors keeping busy. Staggs has multiple projects in the works for existing clients and an increasing number of new customers. "Definitely, there's a huge increase in new customers. There are a lot of people remodeling just to stay in their home to keep from getting out on the market," Staggs said.
"We have to be careful," Johnnie Barton said. Staggs just finished up work at the Barton home. They say redo rather than build new makes sense to them. "That wouldn't be an option for us right now, so we just try to take care of what we've got," Barton said.
Back on the job, Staggs says he appreciates his rise in clients, but also feels for new constructions teams who've seen the opposite. "Normally there is plenty out there for all of us. I used to work for some home builders, so I can appreciate their end as well," Staggs said.
©2009 KCBD NewsChannel 11. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
All content ©Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and KCBD, a Raycom Media Station. 