It was only a matter of time before the Internet got into the home repair and remodeling business in a major way.
Not only are there Web sites for contractors and Web sites about contractors, but there are places to locate hard-to-find materials. There are sites with chat rooms to hash out those curious house problems for which there seems to be no cure.
Soon, someone may come up with a computer that can hold a hammer. Sound far-fetched? Not at all. Ever since Robbie the Robot made his film debut in “Forbidden Planet” in 1956, humans have held out hope for mechanical assistance with household chores.
Robotics is making inroads in the automobile industry. Major builders are also using computers to design houses and to drive the assembly-line machinery that mass-produces the parts they design.
Until the day of the household robot, the computer’s primary contribution to household maintenance will be information–who does it, how to do it and where to buy it.
That’s where the Internet comes in.
For contractors, the Internet may be a godsend, a relatively inexpensive and efficient way to run a business that will leave more time for construction and require less time to track down leads, deal with materials, vendors, and manage finances.
The National Association of Home Builders believes that remodeling may outpace residential construction in annual volume of business by the end of the second decade of the new century.
But it also emphasizes that historically, contracting businesses, except for the successful few, are not being run on a sound business footing.
The remodeling industry is incredibly fragmented, according to Kermit Baker, who conducted a survey in 1998 for the Joint Center on Housing Studies at Harvard University.
Of the 880,000 businesses that can be considered involved in remodeling, 550,000 are single contractors with no payroll, Baker said.
About 40 percent of those 550,000 had gross receipts of less than $100,000. More than half the firms that were around in 1987 were out of business in 1992.
“Excessive competition makes it difficult for smaller firms to stay in business,” Baker said.
But remodeling is big business, with revenue that looks as if it could keep a lot of men and women in power tools. For example, in 1994-95, the latest year for which Baker has data, 35 million homeowners undertook $172.4 billion in home improvements.
Even that may be an underestimate, because the Bureau of Census has only recently decided to keep official track of remodeling expenditures.
The Internet may offer a solution to helping contractors effectively manage their businesses. One recent entry is Contractor.com, which was launched at the Remodelers Show in Philadelphia in November 1999.
According to Kurt Reuss, the president and CEO, there are many sites that help consumers find contractors. But there aren’t many sites that are also designed to assist contractors with their business, he said.
The site was designed to be navigated easily by contractors, “no matter how Internet savvy they may [or may not] be.”
Contractor.com builds a Web site for a contractor free of charge. By providing a profile, the contractor will be listed in a professional database.
The Web site will forward “referral-quality” sales leads for jobs the contractors want. The Web site has a directory of 800,000 contractors that can be used as a source for labor.
Contractor.com doesn’t charge a fee for leads or sales resulting from leads. But contractors can pay a small monthly fee for higher placement in the directory.
The site provides contractors with a personalized newsletter service for customers, e-mail, business software, forms and templates, marketing tools and discount Internet service.
There’s also “Contractor University,” in which contractors can enroll in Internet and teleconferenced classes covering estimating, production and scheduling and sales and marketing.
Obviously, Contractor.com can be used by consumers, too, especially with a list of 800,000 contractors nationwide, divided into categories such as remodeling and “fun extras.”
As Reuss discovered as he was setting up Contractor.com, the number of consumer sites for locating “reliable” contractors is growing.
One is ImproveNet.com, a Web site based in Redwood, Calif. ImproveNet matches homeowners to not only prescreened contractors, but to architects and designers as well.
It, too, offers services to contractors on its ProSite, which made its debut at the Hardware Show in Chicago in August 1999.
ImproveNet also lets retailers and manufacturers use its site to market their products and services.
ImproveNet offers some cutting-edge consumer aids, such as a “lavatory laboratory” which allows homeowners to experiment with combinations of flooring, built-ins and fixtures to create the bathroom designs to fit their budgets.
While Web sites such as Contractor.com, Handyman Online, (www.handymanonline.com) in Beaverton, Ore., and ImproveNet try to make contractor-consumer matches on a national scale, others take a regional approach.
Among them is HomeNet Solutions, in Elkins Park, Pa., which was the creation of Jamie Adler, onetime marketing manager at Philadelphia’s WCAU-TV, and her husband, Steve Adler, a partner in a real estate services business.
The business was launched in March 1999, and was based on the Adlers’ personal experience with obtaining contractors to work on a house they had purchased in Blue Bell, Pa.
Among the problems they encountered were no-shows or contractors who never followed through on estimates. The problems resulted in missed work, wasted time and endless frustration for the Adlers.
In addition to the Web site, the Adlers have a toll-free number for consumers, which already averaged 400 calls a month by the end of 1999.
The Adlers, who say their business is growing by 200 percent each quarter, say they had turned down lucrative offers for their company in the first year in operation.
Contractornet.com in Malvern began several years ago as a telephone clearinghouse for local contractors, but grew into a major national site once it developed its Web site.
The Internet also is providing help for people interested in doing things themselves.
Repairclinic.com in Canton, Mich., offers parts for major home appliances including washing machines, freezers and water filters.
The site has the RepairGuru, an experienced appliance repairman full of sage advice, including placing a tablespoon of liquid bleach on the bottom of your dishwasher before leaving town for a week or more (so it won’t smell), and warnings not to try mulching 2-inch tree branches in your garbage disposal (one of his actual service calls).
There is also Cornerhardware.com in San Francisco, designed, according to spokesman Mark Richardson, “to marry the services of the old-fashioned corner hardware store with the selection and convenience of the Internet.”
The site features live 24-hour and real-time e-mail chat support, how-to articles from home-improvement experts, and easy-to-follow animations.
These sites are virtually just the tip of the iceberg, with more coming on-line every day.
Who needs Robbie the Robot when they have a computer?
