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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - High pressure and offshore winds continue Wednesday as we will be within the peak of this week's heat event.

High 70s and 80s can be expected again Wednesday with clear skies.

Mostly clear conditions will last through Friday as high pressure weakens and modest cooling arrives.

We will be back into the high 60s over the weekend with morning clouds and fog likely to redevelop.

There is a chance for another warmup next week.

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Hryshchyshen Serhii // Shutterstock

Throughout 2025, many industries have seen increased prices on goods due to changes in tariffs. Often, these price increases are passed on to the consumer, ultimately impacting the choices they make in their daily lives. In partnership with Pollfish, Eagle Woodworking conducted a survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners on Nov. 18 to determine how tariffs are affecting their renovation decisions.

Survey results show that many Americans are delaying their renovations until a more favorable time, while others are forgoing them altogether in the face of increased prices. Let’s take a look at the survey results to see where the economic tensions lie and how Americans are pulling back their renovation plans.

Key Takeaways

• Remodeling costs are on the rise. Over half of homeowners said tariffs increased their remodeling costs.
• Homeowners are hesitating to plan renovations due to costs. Nearly 70% of homeowners report concern that trade policies will make home projects unaffordable.
• Secondhand products are gaining popularity. Secondhand or upcycled goods are favored by 24% of homeowners.

What Renovations Are Americans Planning

Rather than get into large renovation projects, homeowners are trending toward buying new furniture and appliances, but even these purchases are getting put on hold. Among those planning a remodel, 39% were focused on remodeling and decorating a bathroom, followed closely by a third (33%) who are planning to remodel or redecorate their kitchen.

Twenty-four percent said they have other remodeling or decorating plans. Interestingly, almost a quarter (22%) responded that they weren’t planning any renovations for this year, and only 12% were planning to add an extension.

Eagle Woodworking

How Tariffs Have Disrupted Renovation Plans

The tariffs, either announced, enacted, or expected, have already had an impact on the homebuilding and renovation industry. In fact, over half (52%) of survey respondents said that tariffs have increased costs for their projects. As a result, 30% paused their projects in hopes that prices would level out or come down in the future.

In April, according to the National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), suppliers increased their prices by 6.3%. Some builders are preordering materials to keep costs down, but often don’t have a place to store them.

However, according to the latest HMI survey,

antoniodiaz // Shutterstock

Organizations across industries are actively investing in AI to streamline operations, boost productivity, and stay ahead in competitive markets. However, most proceed with caution when rolling out new AI solutions internally as they need to meet standards for AI security, compliance, and responsible use through rigorous testing and assessments.

At the same time, teams may occasionally adopt AI solutions outside formal channels to simplify their workload. Often, these are commercially available tools that haven’t been vetted and approved by IT teams, which raises the issue of shadow AI, Vanta reports.

What is shadow AI?

Shadow AI refers to the use of AI tools and services within an organization outside formalized IT, security, or compliance oversight. It has become a growing trend in recent times due to the increasing accessibility of AI solutions. Options like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Claude, and Julius AI are easily available online and require little to no tech experience. This means that stakeholders may adopt them to support their everyday tasks without notifying management.

Let’s clarify the difference between shadow AI and shadow IT, which are similar concepts. While shadow AI refers to the use of AI tools without approval or oversight, shadow IT is the broader term that encompasses the unauthorized use of all software, hardware, and technology systems in an organization.

Though different in scope, both increase the chances of risk exposure and security breaches. Still, shadow IT is trickier to detect and control because it involves off-the-shelf apps, cloud-based services, and employee-owned devices that are easy to overlook.

According to Vanta’s AI governance survey, although 59% of companies feel confident in their visibility into AI tools, only 36% have or are developing an AI policy—meaning many organizations overestimate their controls and lack the formal structures necessary to manage AI responsibly.

Why should organizations worry about shadow AI?

The primary reason to worry about shadow AI is the low entry barrier for cloud-based AI tools. Most solutions require no additional setup or company credentials, and workers can use them without the guidance of AI teams.

Some of the reasons why stakeholders may resort to shadow AI are:

• Perceived productivity gain: From the layperson’s perspective, these tools surpass human processing limits and seem to deliver fast and easy results across creative use cases with no apparent harm.
• Gaps in internal governance: Many organizations still lack clear, accessible policies on how AI should (or shouldn’t) be used or what risks it poses.
• Slow approval process: Formal evaluations and approval chains are often seen as bottlenecks, so shadow AI emerges as a workaround to avoid slow internal processes.

In some cases, shadow AI doesn’t originate from internal us