Home improvement projects became more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as people spent more time at their homes.
Garret Hergert, the owner of home renovation company GRO Outdoor Living, said he observed people who wanted to remodel their bathrooms, add new entertainment rooms, and install fireplaces and firepits.
“A lot of people are trying to figure out how to spend more time outside their homes, how to create an outdoor living approach with their properties,” Hergert said. “Especially with people coming out of the pandemic, a lot of folks were cooped up in their houses. They were limited with where they could go and what they could do, and a lot of people realized they didn’t really enjoy a lot of parts of their houses.”
Hergert said many people get overwhelmed with the complexity of larger projects, since heavy-duty remodels and makeovers can cost a lot of money. He advises people to focus on smaller projects that can be completed within a couple of months.
“I would say focus on putting that larger patio door in, an outdoor covered patio to create an outdoor living space,” he said. “Those types of projects can be done where they’re not invading, say, their master bedroom area where they use it all the time. If people can hone in on more of those smaller two-to-three-month projects, creating those outdoor living spaces where they’re not doing a full remodel like a kitchen or master bedroom, that might be a way to make a smaller project that isn’t overwhelming.”
Hergert’s Vancouver-based company serves all of Clark County as well as the surrounding areas. His business is the title sponsor for the Parade of Homes in September.
“We’ve seen people where they had a back patio behind their house and it wasn’t covered, and so a lot of people wanted to add patio covers and outdoor living spaces to just create cool indoor-outdoor areas where they can go from inside their house to outside their house without getting wet,” he said.
During the pandemic, his company helped create home offices with intimate spaces for clients.
Hergert highlighted the annual Parade of Homes event, which can provide people with ideas on what they would like to include in their own homes.
“The Parade of Homes is a construction industry show that showcases custom builders in the (Pacific) Northwest and it showcases custom homes by the builders,” he said. “Some of them are pre-sold, some of them are spec houses. We’re going to be showcasing our landscaping design and some of our landscaping projects as well.”
At the event, GRO Outdoor Living will showcase its specimen trees and shrubs, some of their outdoor lighting, hot tubs, saunas, “and all the new trends in the construction industry with the houses that will be there.”
The Parade of Homes will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 9 through Sept. 25. It will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Locations of the homes will be disclosed at a later time. More information can be found online at clarkcountyparadeofhomes.com.
GRO is located at 5800 NE 88th St., Suite 101, Vancouver. The business plans to open a new storefront that sells landscape materials and tools at 7208 NE 101st St., Vancouver. It is tentatively set to open at the end of July.
More information on the business is available online at grooutdoorliving.com.
