By Garage, Shed, & Carport Builder Staff
We just came back from the first- ever Post Frame Builder Show. One of the great things is the opportunity to talk to builders, dealers, manufacturers, and various professionals in our corner of the construction industry. One topic that always comes up is “How is the industry doing?” Is business up or down, busy or slow, and what is next?
There are a lot of factors that can affect the business climate short term, especially in an election year. The general impression was that Q2 was slower than Q1, with no specific reasons given for the decrease. The story seemed similar across the various markets we serve.
Since we are generating data for the industry, this presented an excellent opportunity to validate or disprove what people were saying. In late June, we sent a survey on business climate comparing Q1 and Q2. The results were interesting.
Garage, Shed & Carport Builder is about small residential construction. This includes post-frame, cold-formed metal, sheds, and portable buildings. Garage, Shed & Carport Builder also includes readers who are contractors or dealer distributors, or manufacturer stage of the construction process.
Despite what we heard at the Post Frame Builder Show, business is reasonably good across the audience for our subscribers. 40-45% were up Q2 vs. Q1, which reflects some seasonality. 57% of respondents with sheds and carports reported an increase in gross sales compared to Q2 2023.
Results seemed generally lower than expectations, which is interesting, with sales generally the same or up vs. Q1 and for Q2 year over year. GSCB
