Gorham's Home Remodelling Fair a success

SATURDAY, JUNE 25: The recession is fuelling a home improvement boom as householders opt to stay put and remodel their houses rather than move.

The news came as hundreds of home improvement fans flocked to a special home remodelling fair today (Saturday).

A total of 17 stands featuring everything from island tradesmen, specialist tools and loans and insurance specialists were on show at the Gorham’s store in Pembroke.

Gorham’s director Rod Farrington said: “The idea of the fair is to focus on local contractors and the customers – we want to get people together. People who want to remodel their homes can talk to the people they need to.

“We’ve brought in some new products this year, like commercial duty tools and domestic duty tools and a lot of the people here and contractors have been trying them out.

“The Bank of Butterfield are here too and they were quoting on loans for major works – they also prepared loan quotes for big ticket items like ride-on tractors, which were on display alongside the products.”

Colonial Insurance were also on hand to advise home owners on how best to protect their investment – with people signing up for home insurance policies on the day receiving a $200 voucher for the store.

Mr Farrington added: “It’s been one on those record days as far as customer counts go. We’re well into the thousands, that’s for sure.”

Mr Farrington said that – in light of the economic climate – there was a definite trend towards improving existing homes rather than moving up the housing ladder.

He added: “We’re seeing lots of people opting to remodel rather than move and we’ve brought in new products like different lines of hardwood flooring because of that.”

The show also featured a green alternative to timber used for decking and docks – Trex, a product made out of recycled plastic trash bags and wooden pallets, which comes with a 25-year guarantee.

Mr Farrington said: “The public’s been really excited and the weather certainly helped. Customers have been bringing in lists and quite a few of the contractors have been picking up the chance to quote on jobs as a result.

Tyrone and Andrea Webb, who own Webb’s Carpentry, were among the exhibitors.

Mr Webb said: “We’ve got a lot of customers from being here today – it’s definitely been worthwhile for us. Everybody is hanging on to their houses, rather than looking for a new one.