It probably goes without saying that door and window manufacturers learned a lot in the past few years, as we dealt with the pandemic and its aftereffects. Supply chain issues, hot demand, sky-high lead times … you probably don’t need me to remind you. We worked through it together. And amidst these challenges, there was […]

A year or two ago, buying doors and windows was all about availability. Due to insane levels of marketplace demand coupled with supply chain issues, lead times were stretched out to six to 12 months. Selling fenestration products was all about availability. If your lead time was faster, you could easily prevail over your competition […]

With all of the supply chain issues and labor shortages we have seen during the last few years, manufacturing costs have risen dramatically. While things are settling down in the supply chain for the most part, the higher costs of materials, components and labor seem like they are here to stay. Because of this, coupled […]

The State of the Nation’s Housing 2022 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, released on Wednesday, June 22, found that soaring prices keep prospective homebuyers in rentals. While residential construction starts are at levels not seen in decades, affordability and supply-chain issues could see a cool down in the market […]

Right now, window and door fabricators live in a world where creating demand for their products is no issue. The day-to-day challenges of their business are driven by supply chain issues, labor shortages and long lead times associated with new equipment. But with inflation on the rise, interest-rate hikes being doled out by the Fed […]

With the same challenges carrying over from 2020, you might expect door and window sales to suffer, but not so. Despite labor shortages and supply chain issues, the industry’s best sold more than ever in 2021—averaging more than 30% increases over the prior year. “We grew 50% last year organically, from $40.5M to 65.9M,” says […]

It’s no surprise that when [DWM] editors looked at web stats to gather its top five stories of the year that supply chain issues—lumber specifically—were among the most read. Perhaps surprising, however, was that a [DWM] blog was the number one story. Then again, when you look at the topic (pricing) the surprise wanes a […]

I was in the woods in my hunting blind earlier this week and, of course, checking my emails when all of a sudden, my cell phone died. I plugged it into my portable charger only to discover that battery power wasn’t the issue. It was just plain broke. I was hunting alone, so this made […]

The general situation for manufacturers of residential windows has remained constant for some time now: high demand, labor challenges and supply chain issues. As of late 2021, these are things that window manufacturers may be accustomed to, but that doesn’t make them any easier to deal with—especially considering other factors my colleagues have noted in […]

After a subdued period led by supply chain issues and inflated pricing for materials, numerous indicators for home building and builder confidence rebounded in recent weeks, filing in with architectural billings. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) recorded its seventh consecutive positive month, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The ABI score for August […]