Carpentry business branches out

By Gabriella Dunn, The Gazette

IOWA CITY Carpenters arent just only, well, carpenters anymore.

Today the term carpenter can be used to refer to someone who is employed in a broader spectrum of woodworking including furniture craftsmanship, construction and remodeling, among other professions.

And a sub-area of carpentry, remodeling contractors, refers to carpenters in charge of home remodeling projects that involve many disciplines beyond simply woodworking.

Oddly enough, said Chris Weckmann, remodeling contractor and owner of Iowa City-based Carpentry by Chris, the things we do involve very little wood anymore,

Weckmann said much of his job as a remodeling contractor involves orchestrating various disciplines involved in remodeling homes such as plumbing, lighting, tiling, drywalling, exterior home work and, of course, carpentry itself, which can include constructing cabinets, doors and trim.

The remodeling market nationwide has increased steadily since 2011, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University that studies home-improvement spending.

The same report projects a 9.9 percent increase in home-improvement spending by the end of 2014 up from 5.6 percent in 2013.

But the remodeling group anticipates spending to drop to 7 percent during the first quarter of 2015, which would be the first quarterly drop since the beginning of 2012, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. WHY?

In the Iowa City area, some remodeling contractors and carpenters had a defense against the recent recession.

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Carpentry business branches out