.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Though the housing market has been cooling, Mike Kinter has seen the workload jump nearly 20 percent since last year at Kinter Construction Services Inc. In fact, with gloom and doom a regular part of housing market forecasts all over the country, Kinter expects his business to keep going up.

“We’re optimistic enough to be in the process of building a new headquarters,” he said. “We see even more growth next year.”

Kinter’s business, however, isn’t in new home building, one of the sectors of the housing industry taking a big hit now. Kinter’s sole focus is on remodeling, and in the remodeling world, the good times have just begun.

“That market is doing very, very well right now,” said David Vollmar, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines. “When the market gets shaky for new homes, people decide to just fix up what they have instead of building or buying a new home.”

Vollmar said this isn’t unusual. It happens every time new housing takes a tumble. So the current market made it a perfect time for the HBA’s “Tour of Remodeled Homes,” which took place last month.

“We had a great deal of interest this year,” he said. “People are really taking a hard look at fixing up their homes.”

Devan Kaufman, president of Kaufman Construction Inc., said he too has seen a huge increase in his business this year.

“A couple of years ago, people were really motivated to build a new home,” he said. “But today, the interest rates aren’t favorable to that. So those who would normally be in the market for a new home have instead decided to try to make their existing home how they want it.”

Kinter said he had several jobs this summer for people who had been considering buying a new home, but instead decided to spend the money on their current home.

“It’s a tough time to sell a home,” he said. “There is plenty of new inventory out there, but many people are afraid they won’t be able to sell their current home.”

Kinter has participated in the Tour of Remodeled Homes before, he said. The crowds were pretty typical, but the motivation wasn’t.

“People weren’t out just to do some sightseeing,” he said. “They came out because they wanted to do something.”

And sure enough, on the Monday morning after the tour finished, there were already several messages waiting for him from interested customers.

Another trend emerging from the cooling housing market is the scope of projects people are interested in undertaking.

“We are doing a lot of larger projects this year than in previous years,” Kaufman said. “Before it would be people remodeling individual rooms, but this year we are doing a lot more whole-house remodels or significant additions.”

One such project, Kaufman said, was a recent “face lift” his company gave an older home in Des Moines, redoing the entire façade of the structure.

Kinter said he has heard of several developers and new home builders who are trying to get into the remodeling business to offset some of the downturn in new construction, but for many, it just doesn’t work out.

“It’s really two different businesses,” he said. “When you’re remodeling, you’re basically living with someone until the job is done. That takes a whole different set of responsibilities to make sure you keep the customer happy.”

Responsibilities such as cleaning up the job site every night, something that isn’t necessary when building a new home but could ruin the relationship with a remodeling customer if not done.

Overall, Kinter said the remodeling business is much more stable than new construction.

“We see fewer peaks and valleys,” he said. “We’re more insulated, I guess.”

For many customers, it comes down to wants vs. needs.

“There is always going to be a certain level of business for us that people have to do, like a new roof,” Kinter said. “And when the market is right, people turn to the things they want to do as opposed to the things they need to do.”