NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — With the White House announcing sweeping tariffs this week, everything from electronics to clothing and food will be affected, and it includes materials you might need for home improvement projects.
Taylor's Do-It-Center on Colley Avenue in Norfolk hasn't been affected jus
t yet.
"We received lumber before the tariffs started, so we're kind of good right now," said assistant manager Doc Price. "And then, when it comes in, management down there will take care of it."Price says lumber is always in demand."They buy lumber every day for something, whether they're building cages, fixing a house, fences," Price said. Bob Rex, a former contractor, is in town helping his daughter with her historic home, and he remembers when builders were hit hard five years ago."I don't know if it'll go as high as when COVID was here," Rex said. "I mean, lumber was crazy. You couldn't even get windows for six months. And I was doing apartment buildings, so they sat there with no windows for a long time."With new tariffs going into effect Wednesday and in the days to come, people might either jump on those home improvement projects or put them off."Everything's from China," Rex said. "I mean 90% of this store, go read it all, a lot of it's from China and we don't do it here. Why don't we do it here? Because it's too expensive."Rex believes the push for domestic production is far-fetched."It's too expensive here," Rex said. "I mean, even for companies to just hire people, look at 7-Eleven, they were closing during COVID. They weren't paying enough to stay open and the employees aren't being paid enough."
With the price of materials going up, new home prices are expected to go up as well. Experts estimate that home prices could rise by as much as $7,000 to $10,000. ...read more read less
