Providing data-backed insights covering the most important trends in the home improvement industry, the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) shares that purchases of interior wood care products are growing.
Data from HIRI’s 2022 Product Purchase Tracking Study shows growth in product purchase incidence has been steadily occurring in the wood care products market since 2017 and provides insights into who is purchasing.
HIRI’s study shows that younger demographics are more likely to make wood cleaner and stripper purchases, and a majority of these purchases are made by male customers with children in the home. Older generations actively purchase interior stain products, but are comparatively inactive in purchasing wood cleaners.
These data points suggest that in lieu of replacement, younger generations embark on refinishing projects to improve their interior wood elements like flooring, cabinets and furniture.
About Dave King
Dave King joined the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) as executive director in 2022. King has spent the past 25 years in the strategy, research and advanced analytics space. The last 10 years he has focused solely on the home improvement industry. HIRI’s insights are hyper-focused on the contractor and homeowner trends most impactful to the home improvement industry.
Floored by Wood Care
According to HIRI’s Q2 2023 Quarterly Home Improvement Project Activity Tracker, a variety of flooring projects—from installing, repairing or replacing flooring—have been consistently undertaken as the second most common project type in living and family rooms, second only to painting projects.
In the kitchen, replacing or repairing flooring is also the second most common project that homeowners tackle, but homeowners undertaking kitchen flooring projects tend to have an annual household income greater than $160,000. HIRI tracks the percentage of homeowners engaging in flooring refinishing projects on a biannual basis, which was 19% in 2019 and 17% in 2021. The 2023 findings of the Product Decision Study will be released to HIRI members in November 2023. These findings signal to what degree homeowners will demand interior wood care products and educational materials from manufacturers.
HIRI also tracks the incidence of homeowners choosing to install wood flooring during replacement projects, which signals the future demand trajectory for wood care products. The incidence of wood flooring being used during projects has increased each year since 2015. In 2021, 41% of homeowners opted to install new wood flooring, up from 24% in 2015.
Explore Further
For more insights on homeowner behaviors driving the future of home improvement product sales, review the research and resources available at HIRI.org, including upcoming updated reports from both the Product Decision Study and the Quarterly Home Improvement Activity Tracker, available to HIRI members in November 2023.
