Inflating Costs In The Window Installation Industry
Installing new windows or having your windows replaced while necessary can be an expensive undertaking. While the price of window installation and repairs rises and falls based on the cost of living, the cost of the windows themselves can seem expensive. This is nothing new in the industry. The problem lies in transparency and margin padding. What is the actual cause for such high window installation costs? As experts in the field, we at Champagne Installations have written down our perspective on this debate.
Transparency
The lack of transparency on overall highly inflating costs is a tough subject to breach. At our level of the industry, we only see fixed costs from our manufacturer partners. Our variable cost is the labor component of the installation. We have no control over the cost of the actual product we are installing. Labor costs are through the roof just with the costs of doing business. Gas prices, insurance, and taxes have all increased, making it more difficult to keep costs low to reflect on our proposals to the client.
Margin padding
The common thought in the industry is that the industry is very busy, which means dealers/installers can “pad” their numbers. This is hard to disprove without complete transparency on product costs. We know a business requires a minimum of 20% margin to maintain its health going forward. Our business aligns with this model. We have to allow for the unknowns and the bad customers outside of our standard overhead.
Takeaway
In today’s digital age, customers are sometimes very “untrusting” as they don’t understand how this business model works. This can make for a very uneasy process. This affects the industry as a whole. Each company is under the same magnifying glass. It all depends on who is holding the magnifying glass to see how hard it is to communicate the situation. It really wears on our office staff and installation teams as sometimes the customer’s reality of what is acceptable is completely impossible. If the customer waited twenty-two weeks for a door installation, they are usually very tired of the process and become difficult to deal with when signing off on the final product. Overall the global pandemic has caused high increases in raw material costs, also inflating labor costs. This unease that clients and companies have gone through over the past two to three years has been grueling and tiresome. We are hoping that with the settling of the global economy, clients and manufacturers alike will settle in and get back into a normal, predictable way of doing business.
If you are looking for window installers in Barrie and Kemptville, Ontario, reach out to us at Champagne Installations. We install every type of window and exterior door. We’ve partnered with Canada’s best manufacturers to ensure your pricing and warranty are second to none. Whether it’s a single window or an 8’ sliding door, we have you covered. We are confident our service, pricing and warranties will make you smile. Your peace of mind is important to us. We are fully insured, and our crews are trained and monitored to ensure they provide the service and quality that is up to the highest standards. We offer services like window and door installation, shelving and storage, bedrooms, kitchens, bar and shop fitting, laminate and wood flooring, garden sheds, summer houses and gazebos, ceiling and roofing, loft and garage conversion, gates, fences and garage doors. We offer our services to clients across Smiths Falls, Perth, Carleton Place, Kanata, Barrhaven, Winchester, Prescott, Brockville, Gananoque, Innisville, Barrie, Collingwood, Midland, Bracebridge, Huntsville, Parry Sound, Orillia, Muskoka and the surrounding areas. To learn more about the services we offer, please click here. To get in touch with us, please click here.