Homeowners have an advantage over those who rent: homeowners can hire contractors to modify their house in nearly any way that they can imagine, and this even includes home additions such as a wooden deck, an enclosed porch, or even constructing a garage. Many homeowners with the budget for home additions will consider such changes as a basement remodel job, structural work if need be, or the most popular options of a new kitchen or remodeling a bathroom. Home additions can totally transform a home into something luxurious and person, and while it is mainly older homeowners such as Baby Boomers who hire crews for this work, more and more younger homeowners, such as the Millennials, are opting for home additions to make a house truly their own. How might home additions be put in place, and what might the end result look like?
Rates of Home Additions
Many adult Americans own homes, and the real estate market is enormous. This means that a lot of money is spent every year on home additions and other remodel work, so statistics are kept to see who pays for what home additions, and why. In fact, the remodeling industry is growing: experts believe that it will grow 2% per year at least until 2025, and in the meantime, the numbers show what kind of work is being done. Often, it is the kitchen and bathroom that are remodeled, and these popular choices often come up during home additions projects. Every year, homeowners collectively remodel around 10.2 million kitchens and about 14.2 million bathrooms, but other rooms may be remodeled as well, such as the living room, the bedroom, or even the basement. The National Association of Home Builders launched a survey recently and concluded that bathroom remodeling stands as the most requested remodel job in the United States, accounting for nearly 78% of all renovation job.
Remodeling a home is about more than good looks or putting in new furniture. Home remodeling can be costly, but a good job done by contractors can have a high return of investment, or ROI, as statistics show. A kitchen remodel is particularly efficient with this; on average, a minor kitchen remodel job has an ROI of 82.7%, an impressive amount. Similarly, remodeling a bathroom may have a ROI as high as 70%, and similar numbers may be found for other rooms such as the basement or the living room. Landscaping has a similar effect; hiring landscapers to remake the property’s front or back lawn can generate a high ROI, and features such as fruit trees, backyard swimming pools, garden paths, and more can make a property more attractive and boost its value on the market. Something similar can be said about indoor home additions too, and a home will feel fresher and more modern to buyers when the house is put on the real estate market.
The Job
The numbers show that home additions and landscaping can excellent investments when done by professional crews, but what perks will the homeowner enjoy while they still live there? The kitchen is a place for food, naturally, but a dirty or cluttered kitchen won’t be an appealing place for cooking. Remodeling can transform a kitchen in many ways, such as replacing or repainting worn out or damaged cabinet doors, replacing the old stove or fridge with a newer model, tearing up dirty old floor tiles and putting down fresh new ones, or even swapping out the kitchen counter top with a solid and attractive granite or marble model. In fact, many homeowners report that a fresh, renovated kitchen inspires them to do more home cooking and pursue a healthier lifestyle.
Bathroom remodeling is also common. Here, plumbers in a contractor crew can replace sinks, toilets, or shower heads (or even the entire bath tub) with newer ones that are attractive, have more features, and are water-efficient (this can save money in the long run). The tiles may be replaced, the walls repainted, or the lighting fixtures swapped out for appealing new ones. And once a basement is cleared out and cleaned, the possibilities are endless. It could become a TV entertainment lounge, musical studio, or hobby room if need be.
