Weather, economy put a dent in summer profits

Outdoor tradesmen say between the economy and the weather, this has been one of the most challenging summers in recent history.

After a soggy, jungle-like June, July has seen little improvement and August doesn’t look good either.

The owner of Craig Painting of Milton said people have a mindset to get their house exterior painted in the summer and don’t normally consider interior painting, so when the weather turns south, it’s often hard to line up interior jobs to fill the days.

According to Accuweather.com, only five rainless days are predicted in the next four weeks, with thunderstorms predicted to pop up the majority of days.

Ron Grenier Painting of Rochester agreed there is a psychological component, but a lot also has to do with timeframes.

“What happens is when it gets close to snow season, people know they got to get the exterior work done,” Grenier said last week. “The same thing happens in the spring when people want to hurry up and get their houses looking nice for the summer.”

He said he spends a lot of time in the spring lining up summer interior jobs in case the weather isn’t conducive for exterior work.

“If you’re not booked by now, you’re screwed,” he said, adding with hectic summer schedules it’s tough to line up appointments. “Spring is when you book all the work for the summer,” he added.

He said he had plenty of work to do during this summer’s rainy weeks.

Meanwhile, Dennis, the owner of Interstate Roofing of Milton, said it hasn’t been the weather as much as it’s been the economy that’s hurting this summer’s gross.

He said people don’t have the money and are putting off all but emergency work. He doesn’t believe the economic rebound experts are talking about is really happening around here.