CAPE CORAL, Fla. — We've been dealing with supply chain issues for a little more than a year. Shingles are not hard to get, but they're hard to get quickly.
With more people coming to Southwest Florida for a slice of paradise, demand rises. It's taking nearly two to three times as long for roofing companies to get ahold of materials.
"You can see that every street that you drive down in Cape Coral there's new construction," said Tristan Starbird, CEO of Trademark Roofing. "I think what people are not realizing is, yes, there is a shortage, but it’s due to the overwhelming unprecedented demand."
The shortage has pushed back projects for Trademark Roofing. Normally, it would take about a month to put on a roof between materials and installing it. That's for a brand new home. Starbird says it's taken up to four months to get shingles to the warehouse.
"We probably had to order these shingles in February and we did this install in April," he said about a project.
He says supply and demand are the driving factors.
"It doesn’t matter if it’s a shingle roof, a metal roof, a TPO roof, a tile roof materials are getting scarce and it’s really due to the demand more than anything," Starbird explained.
However, he says factories temporarily shutting down did not help the situation.
"For this year, we were notified that a couple of the plants that actually make the shingles were going to shut down just for a couple weeks so that they could improve and increase efficiency," Starbird said.
Permit numbers also tell the story of demand, he says.
In May, the City of Cape Coral saw 750 roofing permit applications. In Ft. Myers, only 87 came through.
The shortage goes beyond shingles, too.
"A few months back, we were having trouble with fencing, tile work — stuff like that," said Danny Ruela, a construction worker.
Starbird says his company has been able to move forward and put roofs on houses. He is anticipating what could happen if Southwest Florida gets hit by a hurricane.
"There’s going to be a lot of tarps on roofs," Starbird said. "There’s going to be a lot of shrink wraps on roofs waiting for materials."
It's hard to tell when the shortage could level out, but Starbird believes it's going to take some time.
"I think we’re going to see improvement before the end of the year, but it’s hard to forecast that," he said.