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Top 7 Exterior Home Remodels with Best ROI, Plus Costs

Here are the top seven exterior home improvements to spruce up your home and your backyard:

1. Exterior Door

Choosing the Perfect Front Door: Top Brands to Consider

Your front door isn’t just an entrance; it’s a blend of style, security, and energy efficiency that adds curb appeal and protection to your home. With the right choice, you can improve your home’s defense against weather, increase energy savings, and make a statement. However, entry doors can be an investment—expect to spend between $1,400 and $3,500 or more. Explore the five trusted brands to find your ideal front door.

Top Entry Door Brands

Pella – Best Overall: Established in 1925, Pella is a leader in stylish, quality doors. Known for its extensive range of materials—wood, fiberglass, and steel—Pella offers customizable options, including elegant glass features. Many products are Energy Star certified, providing energy savings. Pella’s reputation is backed by awards and a limited lifetime warranty.
Unique Home Designs – Best for Security: Founded in 2003, Unique Home Designs brings style to security. Offering steel and aluminum doors with artistically designed metal lattices, these doors blend strength with curb appeal. Customers appreciate their durability and elegant appearance.
Therma-Tru – Most Energy-Efficient: Pioneering fiberglass doors since 1962, Therma-Tru remains a top choice for insulation. Its doors feature polyurethane cores, weatherproofing, and Energy Star certifications. Ideal for homeowners aiming to cut energy costs, Therma-Tru fiberglass doors are durable, low-maintenance, and resistant to warping and rust.
Andersen – Best for Storm Doors: Known since 1903, Andersen’s storm doors offer protection without hiding the beauty of your entryway. Options include glass panels, insect screens, and removable glazing. Andersen’s storm doors are praised for their style, durability, and weather resilience.
Jeld-Wen – Best Budget-Friendly: Operating in over 20 countries, Jeld-Wen provides a variety of wood, fiberglass, and steel doors at budget-conscious prices. Though more affordable, Jeld-Wen balances style and durability, making it a solid option for homeowners seeking value without compromising quality.

Additional Options: If none of these brands fit your needs, consider other reputable names like ProVia, Masonite, Stanley, Sierra Pacific, and Weather Shield.

Next Steps: Once you’ve selected your dream door, hiring a professional installer ensures a flawless fit and maximum longevity. Let your front door make a lasting first impression with a stylish, secure, and energy-efficient option from one of these trusted brands.

2. Outdoor Kitchen

credits HouseBeautiful.com

If you happen to live in a house with a nice backyard that gets plenty of sunshine, and you are the type of person who loves to entertain your guests and family outdoors, then investing in an outdoor kitchen can be a great way to make your home not only more valuable, but also more enjoyable. 😉

Cost-wise, an outdoor kitchen can cost anywhere from $7,500 to $35,000 for a fairly basic set-up, and between $50,000 and $100,000 for a more luxurious outdoor kitchen. On a per square foot basis, costs tend to run anywhere from $35 to $75 per sq. ft. depending on the choice of materials, the complexity of your design, and home’s geographic location.

ROI: If the upgrade you chose is appropriate for your area, and won’t price your home out of the market, then you can expect an ROI of up to 100% or more depending on the extent of work you had done and how suitable it’s for your particular house. To get the most bang for your buck, consider selling the home with an outdoor kitchen in the summer!

3. Deck

credits AbacusBuilders.com

A deck can make a major difference in terms of curb appeal and enjoyment value for your home.

Cost-wise: a typical deck will range in price from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the complexity of the design and the type of materials used. For DIY enthusiasts, a basic deck can be built for around $3,500. Average cost per square foot: $35 – $55, depending on the materials used, complexity of your design, and your home’s location.

ROI: Aside from a 100%+ return on enjoyment value and popularity with your friends and family, you can expect a return on investment of 80% to 100%, if you choose the right materials and appropriate design.

4. Pergola

Oh would it not be great to extend your home outdoors? That’s right, outdoors, where you can enjoy a bit of sun and fresh air, while also having a sense of shelter? That’s what a Pergola is! — An outdoor structure designed to shelter you from the sun.

There is not a better way to make your enjoyment of the backyard more stylish and fun. A pergola can be combined with a deck, or placed tastefully on your patio, with patio furniture right under the pergola. Pergolas can also be placed around outdoor kitchens.

Cost-wise: You can have a pergola professionally built for $3,000 to $5,000, depending on the complexity of your design. For DIY enthusiasts, a classy pergola can be built for around $1,000.

ROI: Like many other smaller outdoor home improvements, a pergola can have an ROI exceeding 100%, not too mention the enjoyment factor that a homeowner will derive from having a pergola in their property. 😉

The bottom line is that if your pergola is tastefully integrated with the rest of the features on your property, then you can easily recoup the cost of your investment. 😉

Roof Insulation Basics: Upgrading Roof Insulation – DIY Tips

There are two reasons homeowners want to make their homes greener; some people want to go green to protect the environment. Others will go green because it results in more green dollar bills in their wallet.

Fortunately, the two don’t have to be exclusive; you can protect the environment and save money at the same time. A big way to do so is to make sure that you have adequate insulation and ventilation for your roof and the attic space.

Heat rises, and that means most of the heat loss from your home goes out the top of the house. This is especially true if you don’t have adequate insulation and sealing in your attic’s floor space. To make sure your home is as comfortable as possible, to ensure minimal heat loss, to save money on your heating bills, and to help protect the environment, an upgrade in your insulation is in order.

A Wide Variety of Insulation Options

Making the decision to improve your home’s attic and roof insulation is the easy part. The hard part, however, is determining what type of insulation to use, and where to put it.

Attic Insulation

The easiest (unless you’re having a new roof put on the house), and most effective, way to boost the insulation in your home is to insulate and air seal the attic floor. Many homes have at least some access to this space, and because of the size attics can hold quite a bit of insulation. But where you put the insulation, and what type, can vary even inside the space.

Between the Joists – If you have an unfinished attic space, the most common area to insulate is between the ceiling joists but leaving the area between rafters uninsulated. This provides for maximum air flow through the attic while keeping the living space insulated.

Most commonly the spaces between the joists are filled with blow-in fiberglass insulation. However, the do-it-yourselfer may want to lay down fiberglass batting as it’s easier to work with and there is no special equipment needed. How much should you have? It’s recommended that the R value be at least R-38; or 10-14 inches of insulation.

Between the Rafters – Many homes have increased their living space by finishing the attic. But without insulating the ceiling, the space would be largely uninhabitable most of the year. If this is the case, then you want to insulate between the rafters.

Before you slap up insulation, however, you must remember that the house needs room to “breathe.” If your insulation is pressed tightly against the bottom of the roof decking, there’s nowhere for the air to go, and you can end up with major problems. To counter these problems, baffles are installed to keep a small space between the insulation and the roof deck. As the air in the baffles heats up, it can flow to the peak and out the roof vent.

How Solar Panels and Energy Efficient Appliances Can Achieve Synergy

Solar panels are generally installed with the goal of reducing power bills in homes and businesses. However, even better results are possible when a solar power system is combined with other sensible energy efficiency measures. In this case, there are two amounts that get subtracted from your bill: the kilowatt-hour savings achieved by efficient appliances, and the clean power produced by solar panels.

Keep in mind that solar panels don’t reduce the amount of electricity consumed by your property. They reduce the net consumption measured by the power meter, but your total energy usage remains the same.

For example, if a home uses 15,000 kWh per year and a rooftop solar system generates 9,000 kWh, the power meter will only register 6,000 kWh of net consumption. However, this doesn’t change the fact that the home is using 15,000 kWh.