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With an unprecedented number of Americans staying at home, many homeowners realized the inadequacies of their current homes, which opened up a demand for remodeling projects. But who’s doing the remodeling? Home Innovation Research Labs sought to discover whether or not homeowners opted to do it themselves more or left it to the pros. After tracking the DIY and Pro segments of the remodeling markets for decades, Home Innovation knows these segments are non-linear and respond greatly to economic and demographic conditions. Generally, Home Innovation says younger households are most likely to undertake a DIY project and that economic uncertainties are connected to an increase in DIY projects. Keep reading to see the breakdown for each type of remodeling activities.
For example, the Pro segment grew sharply during the housing market boom in the early 2000s, but fell during the great recession, bottoming out in the late 2000s. Since then, the Pro segment has expanded at the expense of the DIY segment — a reflection of economic prosperity and the gradual aging of households.
Do does the past dictate the unique future we now face? Fortunately, our 2021 Consumer Practices Survey has just returned from the field and its 40 standard reports are being finalized now. This allows us to ascertain the trajectory of markets so the industry can calibrate its marketing efforts to address the post-pandemic reality. The graph below compares the percent of total remodeling projects undertaken in 2020 that were do-it-yourself to those in 2018. Categories are ordered, top to bottom, by greatest percentage point increase in DIY activity.
