The pandemic affected just about every segment of the home-improvement business, notably delaying by a year or more residents’ upgrade plans.

It’s not a surprise, then, that new paint jobs are among the leading initiatives for homeowners – and the cost for paint is on the move upward.

Now is a good time to beat the price hikes, as on Tuesday, Sherwin-Williams said its products will be 7 percent more costly beginning in August because of the rising price of raw materials, post-pandemic supply-chain issues and other related factors.

The pent-up demand for residential paint jobs has been unleashed – more strongly than anticipated – as homeowners and landlords eagerly put into motion their home painting projects.

Sherwin-Williams CEO John Morikis said Tuesday more demand means more profit.

The Cleveland-based company raised its expectations for second-quarter numbers, to be released July 27, to reach sales in the “high-teens percentage” as compared to the second quarter of 2020, and increased its full-year 2021 sales guidance to be up a high-single to low-double-digit percentage over full-year 2020, it said.

It called for a full-year 2021 per-share profit in a range between $8.01 and $8.31. Analysts polled by FactSet expect the company to report it at $8.52 for the year.

“We outperformed expectations in the first quarter, and sales in the Americas group and performance coatings group have been stronger than expected in the second quarter,” Morikis said in a statement.

“Demand remains strong” in the company’s architectural markets, “led by residential repaint and new residential, with continued improvement in commercial and property management.”

The stock, at about $283 on Monday, was trading at $277 early Wednesday afternoon ET.

Shares are up nearly 50% since last year.

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