Looking For a Blogger

I set this blog up but find that I don’t have time to contribute to it. Would you like to start blogging here about home improvement? The position pays $1/100 word post – maximum 1 post per day, minimum 4 posts per month – and $2/thousand unique visitors. Paypal account required.

If you’re interested send an email to diamondrocketarticles (at) yahoo.com. Writing and home improvement experience isn’t necessarily required but it will help so mention that in your email.

The Rising Price of Home Improvement

This will come as no surprise to anyone who’s priced a home improvement project recently – the costs are going way up. But is this really news? Prices are going up everywhere, right?

Well, the home improvement industry is especially positioned to be hit harder by today’s specific economic factors than some other industries.

One obvious problem is the price of gas. If you think unleaded prices are bad then have you taken a peek at diesel recently? Its meteoric climb over the recent quarters has vastly outpaced consumer gas. The sometimes big, bulky materials needed for home improvement have to be shipped to your local hardware and lumber store on those trucks. And when their prices go up so do ours.

Gas prices have hit contractors, too. A job 60 miles away might have been no big deal a couple of years ago but today the cost of driving to that same job every day for a week or two could very well be impossible under the same prices. So the contractor is forced to raise his prices or just turn down the job.

Material costs are going up, too. When you’re involved in a home improvement project and you need to cut costs what material do you fall back on? I’ve got one word for you – Plastics. But plastics and vinyl aren’t so cheap anymore because they’re made from petroleum.

Rough Time at the Big Store

Business Week is reporting that Lowes is getting hit hard with poor sales. Earnings are down 19% with same store sales dropping 8%. Even worse, the home improvement chain is off 30% from last year's peak. Numbers like these have led to a 2% drop in stock value.

Lowes is blaming the housing crisis but then aren't we all...for everything.