OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – If you work in the construction industry, you already know the supply chain crisis has been an issue for months. Omaha homebuilders continue to be impacted by high prices and slow shipping as the pandemic drags on.
At KRT Construction, President Kent Therkelsen says things seem to be slowly leveling out, but that it is still impacting business. He says more than anything, it’s just a pain.
“It’s certainly been interesting, that’s for sure.”
Before the pandemic, Therkelsen didn’t have to think about how to build a home without having any windows or garage doors to install into it. But times have changed, and the supply chain nightmare continues, he says.
“It started with lumber pricing going crazy, quadrupling at some point, so that made it a little bit tough,” Therkelsen says.
Lumber was at its highest price more than a year ago, and companies even faced shortages of the product. Since then, the price has gone down, but it is still higher than pre-pandemic levels, Therkelsen says.
Now, other products are being impacted.
“It really kinda started with appliances, most people had heard about [that], then it went to windows,” Therkelsen says. “Windows used to be two to four weeks, and now they’re 16 to 18 weeks, so that’s a little bit of a troublesome problem. Garage doors, they don’t tell me when I’m going to get them now so I don’t know when that shows up.”
These issues mean it takes longer for Therkelsen and his team to finish a project, which can lead to impatient clients.
But for the most part now, he says people have been more understanding.
“I say to them, you’re seeing the TV and reading the newspaper just like I am, you can see that there’s issues out there we’re trying to navigate through,” he says. “We spend a lot of our day trying to figure out where the product is coming from, how are we going to get it, what ways can we change to get a better answer, so we’re trying. I wouldn’t say it’s getting worse now, I’d say we’re getting better, understanding how to navigate it.”
Despite the issues that have been caused by the pandemic and supply chain issues, Therkelsen says business has never been stronger.
His team is booked out for months.
“We are extremely busy so that’s the good part, I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to go to work, what am I going to do next, this is worrying about, how am I going to get my product, when am I going to get it, when can I get the project done so I can tell my clients a realistic timeline of when I’ll be out of there.”
Therkelsen says it’s been challenging, but part of being a business owner is learning to navigate and grow, and that’s what he says will continue to do.
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