MARYSVILLE, Wash. — The Lund family of Marysville has had a year filled with big changes.
"At first, it was twins and then, all of a sudden, there's a third one," said Brandon Lund, who remembers the day he learned he and wife, Rebecca, were having triplets.
Brooklyn, Tyson, and Isla are now 11-months-old.
The growing family was preparing to move into a new house next month. Their current home sold quickly.
"We listed our home in March, and we literally got an offer same day," Rebecca said.
They were set to move into their new house in May, but now, so much is on hold.
"This is really devastating for us," Rebecca said.
Brandon's been furloughed from his job at Boeing.
Governor Jay Inslee's stay-at-home order halted most construction projects, including work on their new house.
"If we were to delay the sale of our house and say this isn't a good time, who's to say that we're going be able to sell our house which would mean that we would lose tens of thousands of dollars that we've put into the new home," Rebecca said. "I think I can speak for most families and say that we can't afford to lose that kind of money."
Jennifer Spall with the Building Industry Association of Washington says thefts and vandalism at job sites is making this time even more tough.
"Since March 25, we've lost $480 million in family wages at a rate of $23 million a day," Spall said. "Right now, we are behind restaurants in the hospitality industry as the second highest sector of unemployment new claims."
The stay-at-home order is in effect until at least May 4.
"For our members, their businesses are on the edge right now. We spent an incredible amount of time helping them navigate small business loans, IRS, unemployment. I don't think that many of our members can hang on for another couple of weeks until May 4," Spall said.
Gov. Inslee has received requests to resume residential construction, especially for homes sold prior to the shutdown.
"I've talked to any number of construction workers who do not want to go on the job, get infected, and go home and infect their families either. They are interested in getting this number driven down too," Inslee said, referring to Washington state's effort to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases.
It leaves the Lund family in limbo. They are running out of time in their current home, and they don't know when they will be able to move into the new house.
BIAW is part of a work group reporting to the governor's office. They are looking at ways to safely ease restrictions on construction.
"Everything from personal protection masks and having safe hand washing practices on all sites to keeping logs of visitors, who's coming and going in case someone is exposed so that you can track them down later," Spall said. "Just making sure that we are being extra cautious in every interaction."
