Welcome to the blog
Home of our portfolio, press releases, and employee blogs
Here, you’ll find a library of blog posts dedicated to different aspects of the commercial construction industry -- news and updates, upcoming trends, and past projects built by us at The Douglas Company.
Usually March is good for two things in the North, March Madness and spring weather. This spring is a little slower than years past as construction material pricing has been surging for some time and now oil pricing is also surging which is only adding more fuel to the fire. So just like my March […]
March 31, 2022
There have been many challenges in the construction industry over the past 24 months, but one that has surprised many developers and builders is the unavailability of wood trusses. A problem that seemingly started to appear at the very end of 2021 has now shockingly escalated into lead times measured in months and even years. […]
March 17, 2022
Herbert Spencer coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” to describe and broaden Charles Darwin’s famous evolution and natural selection theories. The term could undoubtedly be applied to today’s construction and development industries as the challenges of material and labor shortages, increased lead times, rising costs, and the likelihood of increased interest rates continue to […]
February 10, 2022
Remember when the pandemic hit, and everybody collected toilet paper? It’s happening today with subcontractors and vendors throughout the trades (not TP; material like rigid insulation, ductile iron pipe, copper pipe, drywall, lumber, metal studs, coiled steel, etc., etc.). Material price surges, a continuing supply chain roller coaster, and the omicron variant have us all […]
January 27, 2022
The turn of the calendar has brought about an unfortunate turn for material pricing. At this point, it seems like nearly all materials have seen major increases. All of this is in line with some of the largest inflation increases ever. What’s going on? While each material has its own nuances, the primary driving cause […]
January 19, 2022
Reflecting on this year, it sure has been one of the more chaotic and challenging years that I can recall in my career. Just this year, the construction industry has battled everything from record-high lumber prices, rapidly changing material price increases, supply chain issues, increase in labor shortages, and many other challenges. The old adage […]
December 28, 2021
Everyone knows that inflation right now is the highest it’s been in 30 years, which is shocking. Nearly all of my friends who run businesses can’t find workers, and they are paying dramatically more for those they find. The Toledo Blade picked up a story that showed one in five workers expect raises of 10% […]
December 7, 2021
Earlier this month several of us from The Douglas Company attended the annual NIC Fall Conference, held this year in Houston, Texas. It was encouraging to see more than 2,500 senior living professionals in attendance (in person) and optimistic about the future of the Senior Living Industry post-COVID. NIC has also released the 3rd Quarter […]
November 19, 2021
It’s a topic we seem to be answering daily, “Where are all the workers?”. While it’s an issue that spans more than just the construction industry, unlike those other industries, we’ve been trying to answer this question for decades. For those answers, we have to look at more than just the last 18 months. […]
November 11, 2021
The disruptions and unpredictability of the current supply chain environment have been well documented, and unfortunately, the forecast is that these disruptions will remain with us for the foreseeable future. While there is no silver bullet to insulate a construction project from the potential impacts, strategies can be deployed to mitigate delays caused by this […]
October 28, 2021
“..white lace and promises, a kiss for luck, and we’re on our way”. Yes, that is the opening lyrics by Carpenters, but what a common association when most people hear the word DESIGN-BUILD. If done correctly, Design-Build can be all sunshine and rainbows; however, We’ve Only Just Begun! DBIA forecasted that by 2025 design-build is […]
October 15, 2021
Developers often think of the actual construction schedule when the word “schedule” comes to mind. But before that, it is just as crucial that a project has a solid pre-construction schedule to even have the feasibility of breaking ground when desired. Of course, many things go into getting to that point of starting construction. Still, […]
