Bathroom refurbishment: How well prepared are we for the renovation wave?
The
renovation wave is in full swing – that’s undisputed. And as a study by B+L
Marktdaten (presented by Managing Director Martin Langen of B+L Marktdaten in a
video) confirms, the bathroom is leading the field, accounting for close to 42%
of refurbishment measures. What’s more, the budgets deployed for renewing
bathroom furnishings and sanitaryware have been increasing continuously since
2014. Which, as presenter and Managing Director of VDS Jens J. Wischmann, remarked
in his introduction, is a clear indication that Germans’ interest in their
bathrooms has greatly increased.
The market
outlook is definitely positive, then. Up until now, the bathroom sector has
come through the corona crisis well. Jörg Pütz, owner of Puetz Marketing To
Grow, agrees: “I’m in constant contact with tradespeople, and in some cases their
companies had up to 30% more contracts than in 2019.” According to the market
data that the VDS gathered together with Messe Frankfurt and the VDZ (Germany’s
umbrella association for building technology), the sector as a whole reported a
5% increase in turnover for 2020.
But is the
sector sufficiently prepared for the renovation wave – especially in view of
trends like sustainability and the smart bathroom? “To be honest, no,” answered
Jörg Pütz candidly. “Because of the lack of skilled workers and insufficient
capacities when it comes to fitters, the implementation side of things is a
limiting factor right now, unfortunately.” Support could come from firms that
are otherwise more active in the public or semi-public sphere. “We’ll have to
see how things develop after Covid,” said Dirk Engelhardt, Regional Sales
Director Technology at Geberit, with a cautious eye to the future. “Perhaps
companies from the skilled trades sector who are more active in this area will
have more capacity – even if they tend to be set up to deal with large-scale
projects,” said Engelhardt, hoping for support from this quarter.
Pop up my Bathroom Magazin | Bathroom refurbishment: How well prepared are we for the renovation wave? How are bathroom planners, the trades and dealers responding to the renovation wave? Which systems can provide support for the trades? These are the issues we’ll be focusing on in the Pop up my Bathroom Magazine on day four – together with our guests.
As for the
issue of smartness in the bathroom, Pütz is confident that the processes involved
will become smarter too: “Nowadays a lot of fitters are digital-savvy
themselves, up to the point where they create digital platforms for bringing
the different trades together so that bathroom projects can be coordinated
better. That can mean a time saving of up to 70% in the planning phase and up
to 20% in the construction phase.”
Integrated
solutions are also available on the product side, especially when it comes to
the interfaces – such as between installation and tiles. Prefabrication is
another important aspect and plays a particularly important role in large-scale
projects, although it’s also a great way for smaller companies to excel when
fitting out individual bathrooms. “I can make up a GIS wall in the company
workshop, load it into my van, drive to the client and screw it into the wall,”
said Engelhardt of the benefits such solutions provide. “That’s a lot more
professional, faster and more likely to achieve the desired result than sawing
the profiles to size in the customer’s garden.”
A lot of
users find inspiration for their new bathroom in hotels, where interesting
bathroom projects are often implemented in the smallest of spaces – and then
serve as models for upscale private bathrooms. “Even less expensive hotels are
well equipped these days; they often feature solutions that stay in guests’
minds when they go home and provide them with ideas for what they want
implemented in their own bathrooms,” said Stefan Hoske, Senior Consultant
Architecture + Design at Axor.
All in all,
it seems as if the HVAC and bathroom sector has every reason to be optimistic
about the renovation wave, and that both the trades and manufacturers are
making every effort to resolve the shortage of skilled workers.
All the
programmes can be viewed in full length on our new YouTube channel.
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