Each year, Home Innovation Research Labs surveys more than 100,000 U.S. and Canadian households and get very detailed information on their home remodeling, repairs, and upgrades. You may assume that most remodeling or home improvement activities are conducted primarily by those who’ve either been in their house a long time and are looking for/need a change, or those who recently bought an existing home and want to do things to make it more “their own.” Our robust consumer data challenges that assumption.
There’s a mystery surrounding wood floor joists in new homes that keeps getting deeper—literally! In 2004, more than half of wood floor joists in new homes were 10 inches or less deep. Now, more than 60 percent are 12 inches or deeper.
The housing rebound continues, but its effect hasn’t been evenly distributed across the spectrum of housing types and price-points. In 2006, Multifamily represented only 16% of residential starts but surged to 35% of starts in 2015, bringing a new character to the market for home building materials. In 2016, however, while we saw a modest return to pre-2006 markets when Move-up and Starter homes ruled, Multifamily began inching its way back down from its peak the year before.
Like most data points in the building industry, insulation material usage varies widely by geographic area, the size and type of builder, and types of homes. The national survey of builders we conducted in February, 2017 sheds further light on usage patterns—confirming some stereotypes about insulation usage in new homes, but it also seems to refute others, lending insight into the market for insulation materials and systems.
The results of Home Innovation’s annual survey of 110,000 U.S. households are in. Helped by declining prices in recent years (and the fact that Mother Nature knows how to produce some beautiful countertop material), granite is still the best-selling kitchen countertop by a sizeable margin – accounting for about 40% of home countertop replacements in 2016.
Recently, I shared results from our builder survey on foam wall sheathing and how its use varied by builder type, price point and type of home, and geographic areas. Now I’d like to share a few things we learned about usage patterns in thickness of foam sheathing in the same survey.
While we're all happy to see the rebound of the housing market underway, smart companies aren't just watching the volume of housing starts, but also the mix of home types built. In many ways, the mix can have a bigger impact on building materials purchased than does the total number of new homes.
Over the past 12 years, Home Innovation has been closely tracking the many changes in the popularity of flooring types in new homes. The biggest winners have been Solid Hardwood and Engineered Hardwood. While carpeting still remains the leader, it has fallen from 60% to 40% overall share. Vinyl flooring has also lost much of its former market share—primarily sheet vinyl—but vinyl has received a boost from the growing popularity of the luxury vinyl tile market. The market for ceramic tile in new homes has increased modestly over the past decade.
While we're all happy to see the rebound of the housing market underway, smart companies aren't just watching the volume of housing starts, but also the mix of home types built. In many ways, the mix can have a bigger impact on building materials purchased than does the total number of new homes.
Keeping up-to-date is critical in order to capitalize on trends and avoid being stung when your product category takes an unexpected dive. Data from our 2016 Builder Practices Reports shows some changes underway that you need to know.
Keeping up-to-date is critical in order to capitalize on trends and avoid being stung when your product category takes an unexpected dive. Data from our 2016 Consumer Practices Survey shows some unexpected changes underway that you need to know.
For the first time since 2013, Home Innovation Research Labs is conducting the Canadian Builder Practices Survey, a study that quantifies home builder purchases of building materials. With the Canadian new home market shifting strongly from single- to multifamily, it's more important than ever to keep up on building products purchases there.
According to Home Innovation Research Labs' Annual Builder Practices Survey, a shift in homebuyer demographics and builder buying and building habits has created a significant shift away from spray foam insulation across the board — in walls, floors, and roofs and in each of the four Census Regions. While a one-year shift in building product usage data does not constitute a real trend, this may be signaling a change in the home insulation landscape.
The overall residential construction market is heating up, and experts forecast expanded activity in the green housing industry. McGraw-Hill's recent green home SmartMarket report can help builders and building product manufacturers refine their business and marketing plans to remain competitive in the changing market.
Despite having tens of thousands of green home certifications under out belt, the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) and Home Innovation's NGBS Certification Program are still not as well-known as LEED. Find out why NGBS is still the best choice.
Fear of the unknown may discourage you from trying a new or innovative product, but the reward may far outweigh the risk. Find out the key questions you should ask to try to minimize the risk you are taking, and weigh the costs versus the benefits of making a product switch.
After a two-year field investigation, the NAHB Research has identified some optimal building practices for preventing excessive moisture content in wood framing members and structural sheathing.
With ever-increasing energy costs, homeowners are worried about their skyrocketing utility bills and looking for ways to save energy and money. With all of the talk about "going green" and energy efficiency, people are paying more attention to environmental concerns such as global warming and smart growth. As a result, solar energy is fast becoming an option to which consumers are paying close attention. It is one of those renewable sources of energy that is viable in most parts of the country, limited only by clouds.
Consumers’ expectations of energy performance have changed. They are demanding a higher level of energy performance than ever before. To maintain a competitive edge, there’s no better time than now to figure out how your current cadre of home designs stacks up for future needs.
Creating a tight building envelope is only one part of the equation in creating a high-performing, energy-efficient house. If the strategies for creating a tight building envelope are not coupled with strategies for letting accumulated moisture out of wall cavities, it can be a recipe for disaster.
Today’s homebuyers want energy-efficient, low-maintenance, well-insulated and well-sealed homes. Data has shown that consumers are willing to pay a premium for these types of homes and that they are typically more satisfied with them than with their previous, less efficient homes.
Five common roofing “hot spots” are identified as well as common sense solutions to implement with roofing trades.