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Remodeling companies
look to capitalize
on housing boom

HAWAII'S booming housing market has exhibitors rooting for a jump in attendance at the upcoming Building Industry Association of Hawaii Home Building & Remodeling Show, Feb.3-6 at Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall.

One hundred twenty-five exhibitors, from Access Lifts of Hawaii Inc. to Wire Products of Hawaii, will greet what could be a larger crowd of attendees than the 21,000 who showed up last year.

One factor is Vern Yip, president of an Atlanta interior design company bearing his name and a former cast member on the Learning Channel show "Trading Spaces." He will make several appearances on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4 and 5.

Other draws include the third annual Steelman Competition between steel house framers; seminars on a range of topics including building -- both buildings and financial security; and cooking demonstrations by local chefs.

But the overarching reason attendance could be up this year is the absolutely bonkers housing market.

"If you look at the values of homes, they've gone way up," said Sam Shenkus, the event's publicist. "I think a lot of people are putting more into their homes. They see that not only are they going to enjoy their home more, they're going to make it back at resale."

Not all the exhibitors are about remodeling, though. Some are businesses focused on maintenance, such as Encompass Professional Services LLC.

Founder Kirk Hovious used to own Spectrum Termite & Pest Control but sold it years ago. Last year he started up again after his noncompete agreement expired, but added a twist to his new company. Encompass provides termite and pest control in addition to handyman services.

His concept was to put uniforms on his workers and cross-train them. "The idea being, when we go to a home to do general pest control, say, quarterly, they can ask if (the homeowner) needs any fix-ups, any honey-do list things," Hovious said.

Things honey hasn't done yet?

"That way we help keep the honey, honey and get things done," Hovious laughed.

Clients who call for handyman service often sign up for the termite and pest control service as well.

Many of his employees received training in flooring, light electrical, light plumbing and other handyman-kine stuff while assisting in construction at Hovious' other business, Keiki Kuts. The hair salons for kids are in Kaimuki and Kailua.

Encompass offers islandwide regularly scheduled and emergency response services.

"It's gone better than I ever expected. Contractors are so busy, they don't want to do the small stuff," he said.

Hovious sees the company growing, mostly through word of mouth, but also through events such as the BIA Home Building and Remodeling Show.

"It's unbelievable, the volume of work that we've got coming in on a daily basis," he said.

Despite the busy schedule, Hovious is a service-above-self Rotarian, so the company spends one weekend a month doing community service work. Last weekend, it was a round of fix-up jobs at Winners' Camp on Kamehame Ridge.

Encompass will be in booth 761C at the BIA show. A list of the other exhibitors and their booth locations are included at www.bia-hawaii.com.