Fixed-Fee Home Repairs Are Here
A new feature from Angi to bring price transparency and standardisation to booking household services.
A new feature from Angi to bring price transparency and standardisation to booking household services.
Angi Inc., the home services company formerly known as Angie’s List, is rolling out a feature that allows consumers to browse and buy common household services at set prices. Its goal is to offer tasks such as mounting a television, painting a room or repairing a roof in a format that mimics models in industries already transformed by tech, like ordering a taxi via a ride-share app.
The new option, which is available first for certain Angi subscribers, supplements the current system for booking services on Angi in which consumers browse vetted professionals or submit a project request, then take up details such as cost estimates directly with contractors.
Angi executives said they are trying to bring the price transparency and standardization of other businesses to home improvement.
“There’s all these barriers in buying service that we’ve been breaking down piece by piece over the last nine years, pretty much to get to a place where we’re now able to offer a productized service experience across hundreds of different service categories across the country,” said Oisin Hanrahan, chief executive of Angi. “And that’s the big shift that we’re making, so that you can essentially go and buy home services the same way you can buy products for your home.”
The feature comes amid a housing boom as well as a surge of growth in home improvement. Sales of home improvement materials, such as tools, lumber, paint and lawn and garden supplies, totaled $86.4 billion in the 12 months ending this May, an increase of $8 billion from the year before, according to NPD Group, a market research firm.
The Covid-19 pandemic opened consumers’ minds to digital services in areas that had still been largely analog, from car sales to home improvement, said user experience designers, who focus on product usability.
“More people across the board, not just millennials and Gen Z, are going to be more comfortable just going online and using an app to find a service,” said Janvi Jhaveri, founder and chief executive of Jack Strategy LLC, a product design and strategy studio.
Angi added language to the booking process to ensure people understood they weren’t scheduling an estimate with a contractor, but actually employing their services, said Mr. Hanrahan. The layout, designed to resemble an e-commerce store for more traditional goods, also helped, he said.
“The more we can merchandise and display to the user in a visual way, like the same way you’d scroll an Amazon or a Target catalog online, the more we can make it easy for people to digest,” said Mr. Hanrahan.
Other companies have taken different approaches to modernizing home contracting.
Home service platform Thumbtack Inc. in February introduced a feature that lets consumers book professionals for small service jobs like a television installation or to receive estimates on larger projects. The company previously offered information on professionals and their services but left it up to customers to schedule a day and time for the project.
It has stayed away from a model like Angi’s for larger, custom projects because the company believes it is impossible to reliably price many home jobs remotely, said Marco Zappacosta, co-founder and chief executive of Thumbtack.
If a professional arrives at a home and a customer asks for additional services, such as mounting two televisions instead of one, Angi will update the price, the company said.
Not all services lend themselves to pricing ahead of time because every home and homeowner is different, said Liz Young, founder and chief executive of Realm Living Inc., a home property analysis company.
But for tasks that don’t require extensive financing or massive renovations, some homeowners will forgo a human touch, or vetting process, she said.
“For the smaller projects, like a paint job or an installation of a ceiling fan, all consumers care about is this relatively accurate price instantly,” Ms. Young said.
Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: July 6, 2021
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
The enduring appeal of marble has gone into overdrive as designers explore the beauty of coloured stone to create truly inviting and indulgent interiors.
Like all design movements, the return of marble to interiors started quietly enough with the rise of ‘greige’ as the dominant colour palette. A warm version of grey, for a while there, you could barely step into a well-considered residential space without being confronted with the ubiquitous neutral tone.
However, to be successful, this look depended on texture, layering and patterning to provide truly heartfelt spaces with genuine depth. And so Calacatta and Carrara marble entered the room, literally making itself at home in kitchens, bathrooms, and living room hearths, as well as in a myriad of accessories and furniture from small bowls and coasters to coffee and dining tables.
As greige made way for a return to colour in interiors, in recent years designers have turned their attention to bolder choices, moving on from the classic tones of Calacatta, Carrara, and Pietra marbles to Verde Indio, Spanish Gold, and Calacatta Viola.
Not that there is anything new about marble. First documented for use in construction in 3rd century Greece BCE, with evidence it was also used in ancient Turkey and Rome, it was originally chosen for its strength and beauty, as well as its accessibility, extracted from quarries using hammers and wedges and removed using pulleys, levers, and winches rather than the more difficult process of mining. While extraction methods have improved, especially in recent years, the nature of this popular stone is unchanged.
A metamorphic rock composed mostly of calcite, it is formed when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure. When the calcite in the limestone recrystallises, it forms a rock that is a mass of interlocking crystals, creating what we know as marble.
While many countries, including Australia, have marble deposits, about half the world’s supply is sourced from just four countries—Spain, Italy, India, and China. Strong enough to endure extended use, it is also soft enough to be relatively easy to carve while its natural beauty allows it to be polished and honed, giving it a glow that adds depth—and a sense of luxury—to any space it inhabits.
Australian designers have been quick to embrace the use of marble, offering, as it does, the opportunity to create truly unique interiors. Creative director of Mim Design, Emma Mahlook, says while budget is always a consideration, a greater variety of marble has become easier to source in recent years.
“Coloured stones provide an opportunity to create distinctive and striking spaces,” she says. “As such, we are finding that there is a slight shift to bolder and braver choices of coloured stone than the traditional whites and greys.”
For homeowners interested in creating distinctive, outstanding spaces, it is hard to beat, with each piece different from the other.
“No batch of stone is ever the same, which makes it so unique and such an interesting and visually appealing product with colours, textures, and patterns that are sometimes as complex as intricate works of art,” says Mahlook.
She cites a recent commercial project her studio realised for Enoteca Boccaccio, an exclusive Italian restaurant in the heart of the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn, where she specified a selection of coloured marbles to create an intimate and luxurious dining experience that looks to the past, as well as the future.
“The choices of natural stone in Enoteca Boccaccio, which featured marbles Rosso Levanto and Carrara as well as a granite called Domino, were selected to reflect Italy’s streets and embody genuine durability and commitment to the art of preservation,” says Mahlook. “Rosso Levanto and Carrara are archaic marbles with such strong significance connecting to Italy’s rich heritage.”
Colour and Communications Manager at Dulux, Andrea Lucena-Orr, says the interest in coloured marble in Australian design has its origins in more transient hospitality spaces like bars and restaurants, where design is traditionally riskier.
“Typically, it starts in hospitality and commercial environments,” she says. “You tend to get it in high-end homes because it is expensive, but it’s beautiful.”
“That whole natural palette is a huge phenomenon—people are celebrating those imperfections in patterns and shapes now.”
Because no two slabs are the same, Mahlook says there’s the ability to create truly distinctive, personal spaces for clients seeking genuinely idiosyncratic interiors.
“The movement towards coloured natural stones reflects a broader cultural shift towards individuality, sustainability, and innovation in design and architecture,” she says.
For those falling under its spell, Director of Studio Tate, Alex Hopkins, says marble pairs well with other materials such as timber and looks beautiful indoors, particularly in kitchens and bathrooms. However, she cautions there are some things to consider before specifying it at home.
“To ensure marble remains a timeless choice rather than a fleeting trend, we recommend using it selectively and pairing it with contrasting materials,” she says. “It’s crucial to understand its maintenance demands and consider the overall budget, including installation and upkeep costs.”
While it is susceptible to staining because of its porosity, Hopkins says using marble sparingly, for example, in a powder room vanity, can minimise maintenance.
“Different finishes, like honed surfaces, can also help reduce the appearance of wear,” she says. “Working with experienced designers or specialists ensures the marble chosen fits both the aesthetic and functional needs of your space.”
Professionally applied sealants can also make staining less likely.
For those bold enough to take the plunge, Hopkins says the rewards are great.
“Its diverse colour palette and natural veining offer a unique aesthetic that other materials can’t match,” she says.
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.