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Top 6 Exterior Home Remodels with Best ROI, Plus Costs

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

1. Outdoor Kitchen

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!

2. 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.

3. 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. 😉

Growth in the geothermal heating and cooling market averages 12% annually, as demand continues to rise for highly efficient HVAC systems that leverage sustainable energy.

Today, Geo system pricing is more competitive than it was a decade ago because there are many more manufacturers selling ground-source heating and cooling systems and there are more experienced installers competing for projects.

Cost

The current national average cost ranges between $20,000 and $24,000 for the installation of a new mid-range Geo heat system. This is before the 26% federal tax credits for the geothermal home energy efficiency upgrades that were recently extended by congress through the end of 2022. The federal tax credit rebate amount will be reduced to 22% in 2023.

On a wider pricing range: Most homeowners can expect to pay between $18,000 and $30,000 for a complete mid-range geothermal heating and cooling system fully installed, before the 26% federal tax credits. This wider range captures 80% of all residential Geo installations.

High-end ground-source heat pump systems for larger homes can cost as much as $30,000 to $45,000.

The size of your home and its location, available land, the type of soil, local climate, condition and usability of current duct work, and the type of heat pump you choose will impact the overall cost.

Let’s itemize the cost of a geothermal heat pump system in the following table:

Equipment	Equipment Cost	Total Cost with Horizontal Loop	Total Cost with Vertical Loop
Packaged Water to Air Heat Pump*	$3,300 to $7,500	$12,000 to $20,000	$15,750 to $24,000
Split Water to Air Heat Pump	$3,850 to $7,500	$14,250 to $23,000	$17,500 to $27,000
Packaged Water to Water System**	$4,000 to $8,000	$16,250 to $25,000	$19,500 to $30,000

* Water to air systems are forced air systems. In winter, heat is collected with water circulating through the pipes in the ground and transferred to air being forced by a blower fan through your home’s ductwork.

The opposite occurs in summer. Heat is collected from the air in your home, transferred to the water in the pipes, which are then cooled by stable ground temperatures.

** Water-to-water systems are hydronic systems. Heat is transferred between the water in the loop system and water in an indoor radiant heat floor system or baseboard heat system.

Types of Asphalt Roofing Shingles: 3-Tab vs. Architectural: Costs in 2021

Like all products, asphalt shingles have advantages and disadvantages for home improvement. However, unlike all other home remodeling projects, a new asphalt shingle roof provides the most bang for your buck in terms of returned value over the short term (read as in the next decade).

In this guide, we’ll explain what makes for a fully installed asphalt shingled roof, how it gets done, but perhaps most importantly how you can be squarely involved in the selection process forc all the materials.

Nearly a century and a half ago, asphalt roofing didn’t exist. So, in short order, this product went from being a new kid on the block to the number one way people in North America cover their homes!

Really, it’s more like 1901 as the first implementation of asphalt shingles and roughly 40 years later is when hundreds of millions of feet of the product were being produced.

Since the mid 1900’s, asphalt shingles have maintained popularity and received some changes like fiberglass mat and multiple layers or laminates with dimensional shingles to keep up with an ever-evolving roofing market.

How popular are asphalt shingles? It’s estimated that 75% to 80% of all homes in the U.S. are covered with some version of them.

The industry generates over $10 billion in revenue annually and yet contributes over 20 billion pounds of waste each year. Their ongoing mass production though does have the significant benefit of being able to obtain bundles of the product at a price that no other roofing material can match.

And because the skill set, along with the tools needed for installation are relatively low, the DIY route is more plausible with this product than most other types of roofing materials.

Still, unless you are a professional contractor, the knowledge of what product to select may seem too challenging to go the DIY path. Fortunately, retail outlets such as Home Depot and Lowe’s make the process as easy as possible. Our goal is to help you along that path.

The Basics:

The basics of a traditional asphalt shingle are cloth-like paper or fiberglass mat as a base material, with asphalt layer on top of the base as the primary waterproof material, followed a protective coat of stone/mineral granules made of hard rock.

The stone granules are designed to meet the exact specs for a specific shingle. The granules can also be made solar-reflective to achieve Cool Roof certification ratings that are required in select markets like California (CA Title 24 home building standards).

The cloth-like paper base was traditionally used back in the day with the “organic shingles”, but today, almost all asphalt shingles are made with a fiberglass mat as the base material, hence the name fiberglass shingles.