Home Improvement Is Hot Right Now, but Who’s Doing What?

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You can see it in Home Depot, as homeowners cruise the aisles with overflowing orange carts, and in the offices of contractors whose phones are ringing off the hook: The home improvement industry is booming. Call it the HGTV effect, which has inspired millions of U.S. viewers to knock down walls, install kitchen islands, and outfit their living room walls with shiplap so they’re Instagram-worthy. Or maybe it’s because folks have more money in their pockets thanks to a stronger economy, and want to invest in their homes.

The average homeowner is taking on more improvement projects—and dropping more dough on them, according to the 2017 True Cost Survey from the national home services marketplace HomeAdvisor.

“A few years back, when things were rougher, when home values were not as high, people tended to take on projects like a new toilet and sink,” says HomeAdvisor’s chief economist, Brad Hunter.

Now that the economy and the housing market have improved, homeowners finally have more income, as well as more equity in their abodes—and so they’re taking on nonessential renovations to turn their homes into their dream homes.

“Nowadays, it’s ‘Let’s redo the toilet, sink, tile, and vanity.’ Instead of replacing countertop in the kitchen, it’s: ‘Let’s reface cabinets,'” Hunter says.

But not all home improvement projects are equally in demand—what homeowners want varies a lot depending on their generation, income, and where they live. We teamed up with the folks at HomeAdvisor to get a picture of who’s renovating what in America.

The company scoured the 14 million service requests it received from mid-July 2016 to mid-July 2017 to find out which projects are more popular than average among a given demographic group.

So read on to find out which generation is focused on swimming pools, where glass blocks are a must-have, and what people shell out for when they move up an income bracket. Maybe you’ll get ideas for your next home improvement project!

The generation gap in most-wanted improvements

We’re all familiar with the stereotypes: Millennials aren’t in any rush to settle down; they’re delaying traditional milestones of adulthood like getting married, having babies, and buying homes (whether you blame student debt or avocado toast).

Improvements based on age of homeowner

Claire Widman

True or not, the “kids” of this generation are growing up. And now that millennials are starting to tie the knot, even die-hard urbanites are starting to leave the cities for the suburbs, as they begin raising families. Unfortunately, they’re doing so at a time of record home prices in many markets. This means they’re often forced to buy smaller, older homes that are farther from the city center and need some serious work.

These younger adults gravitate towards home projects like installing outdoor play equipment for the kiddies and childproofing their homes. In fact, they’re 2.5 times more likely to request child-related jobs on HomeAdvisor.

“As soon as they have two kids, they’re going to move to the suburbs,” says demographer Ken Gronbach of Haddam, CT, author of “The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm.” Due to the housing shortage, millennials are going to take whatever they can get, he says. “Making the home safe for children will be their priority, and then the other things will fall into place.”

Aside from kid-friendly undertakings, the eight services that the youngest homeowners (34 and under) are most likely to request are related to expanding their living space, whether it’s remodeling a basement or landscaping the exterior. These are the kind of improvements that allow you to enjoy your home more, but they’re not exactly exciting.

Orlando-based math teacher and new mother Lisa Wray, 32, hired a professional to landscape her yard after a disastrous DIY gardening experiment resulted in a field of overgrown weeds surrounding her home.

“We don’t always have extra money to spend going out, so I want to go outside in my yard and sit and relax,” Wray says, adding that after the landscaping, it’s “not like there’s a dead bush over there, or I can’t walk through the backyard because the weeds have grown up to my legs.”

What about Generation Xers? Those in their mid-30s to mid-50s, sandwiched between attention-hogging millennials and baby boomers, are also spending on their kids and optimizing living space. However, with more equity and potentially higher salaries, they’re more likely to seek out high-end upgrades like new pools, outdoor kitchens, and professional holiday lighting.

“They’re [at] the age where they’re paid more money,” Gronbach says. “They’re going to spoil their kids.”

But it’s baby boomers who top the list of big spenders, forking out the most cash on nonessential improvements when they’re not repairing what they’ve already got. The top projects for them were fixing gutters, sheds, playhouses, gazebos, and freestanding porches.

Maintenance is important for boomers, who need to keep their property values up if they plan to eventually sell their homes and retire on the proceeds, Gronbach says.

“They have savings and stock portfolios, which millennials don’t have,” says HomeAdvisor’s Hunter. “Boomers are indulging in luxury purchases, large discretionary remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, stonework, remodeling swimming pools, hiring designers to do professional landscaping jobs.” And not just reining in the weeds, we imagine.

From essential maintenance to big-ticket splurges Projects based on income level

Claire Widman

Clearly, how much you’re raking in each year determines whether you spring for a fresh coat of paint in the master bedroom, install that drool-worthy outdoor hot tub, or build a landing pad out back—for your private jet. Or whether you make any improvement at all.

For example, installing or repairing swamp coolers is popular with those making less than $75,000. The coolers are like cheaper versions of air conditioners, which lower the temperature inside homes by adding moisture to the air. Plus, they only use a fraction of the electricity of A/Cs. Building new carports is also a priority—a project most likely to be requested by those earning between $50,000 and $74,999.

Earners in the $75,000 to $100,000 bracket indulge in some less essential projects like maintaining or installing above-ground swimming pools, followed by aerating their lawns.

“An above-ground swimming pool isn’t going to be in one of the magazines, but it’s going to serve its purpose and be fun,” says Houston, TX-area remodeler Dan Bawden, who also serves as the chairman of the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) Remodelers group. “And it’s probably 60% less [in price] than in-ground.” Take that, infinity pools!

It’s only when you get into the $250,000-plus category that the real luxury-ticket items appear—although some are weirdly practical. Homeowners in this bracket are most concerned with fixing their central vacuum systems. With these systems, it’s as if the body of the vacuum is inside the walls of your home; you just plug the vacuum hose right into the wall, and the dirt is sucked away. That’s right, Roombas are so middle-class.

Vacuum system repairs are followed by repairing outdoor lighting, and installing or resurfacing tennis or other sports courts or putting greens. Ready to hit the court, Buffy?

From coast to coast, different priorities stand out Geographic breakdown of popular improvements

Claire Widman

You may not have much in common with your neighbors (as can be seen from your holiday light displays), except when it comes to your home improvement projects. Certain home projects are favored in certain regions because of the areas’ environmental conditions.

Just look at the South, where hurricanes and pesky mosquitoes are major issues. So it makes sense that this is the region where requests roll in to prevent and fix storm damage, and keep those blood-sucking pests at bay. Pool enclosure jobs and security- or storm-shutter repairs and installations are also twice as likely to be requested in the South than in other regions.

“You get a lot of value from storm shutters, because you get a reduction in home insurance costs” if you have them, says real estate broker Marcos Fullana of Choice One Real Estate in Cutler Bay, FL, between Miami and the Florida Keys. The shutters keep storm debris from damaging your windows, he notes.

In the earthquake-prone western swath of the country, homeowners are ready. Retrofitting their homes with earthquake protection is the top project in the region, followed by installing or replacing those ever-popular and electricity-bill-lowering swamp coolers.

While desert residents seek to cool off, Northeasterners are trying to turn up the heat. Where winter temperatures regularly dip well below freezing, heating system installations and repairs take the lead.

But while much of the Midwest is just as cold, if not colder, than the Northeast, the top service requests there are not related to heat. Midwesterners spend on basements, installing egress windows, sump pumps, and waterproofing. But the No. 1 request in the region is installation of glass blocks, which let in light without sacrificing privacy, and also lose less heat than windows.

Jeanne Ladd, 60, and her husband had glass blocks installed in the bathroom window of their 100-year-old home 10 years ago. Originally framed with metal, which expands in the heat of summer, Ladd’s glass block window cracked last year. So she had the metal framing switched out for plastic.

“In Chicagoland, glass block is everywhere,” she says, adding that it is used in windows as well as walls. “It’s like meat and potatoes.”

Your home’s age can predict what you’ll improve next Improvements based on age of home

realtor.com

Because of the distinctive design trends and construction techniques of each era, a home’s age directly correlates with the kind of improvement jobs its modern owners need—and how much they can expect to shell out.

Take Realtor® Amanda Nickerson Toste, 37, and her husband, Jeremy Toste, 37. They scored a deal on their dream 1940 Craftsman-style bungalow in Little Compton, RI, which had been vacant for a year and a half before the sale. And no wonder: The home is in need of a black mold remediation and a kitchen and bathroom renovation, and the fuel tank had to go. Removing a fuel tank, which can cost a few grand, is the second most common project for residences built in the 1940s.

“We had to replace the oil tank, because it’s outside, and the legs were rusted off,” says Nickerson Toste.

Because the Tostes live in New England, which isn’t earthquake-prone, they don’t have to retrofit their home for seismic activity. That’s the No. 1 service request for properties built in the 1940s (most likely because the postwar housing boom was in the West and Southwest). They just have a few other costly problems to take care of.

For homes built before 1940, repairs of wood gutters and heating systems trend high on the list, along with abatement of toxic lead (hey, they didn’t know better!).

Jumping ahead, owners of properties built in the 1950s are most likely to request glass block installation, to go with those sleek Mid-Century accents. Meanwhile, the repair that stands out for groovy ’60s-era homes is mending or altering chain-link fences.

Owners of 1970s-era homes are fixing the solar water heaters that gained traction during the oil crisis, and repairing or removing popcorn ceilings. Those textured toppers are also a prime target of owners of homes built in the 1980s—in fact, that’s the top service request for homes built throughout that 20-year span.

The synthetic stucco, pool enclosures, and Mediterranean tile roofs favored by subdivision builders in the 1990s are now hitting life expectancy, putting those repairs at the top of the list for owners of those homes.

Newer houses tend to need fewer major fixes, of course. For houses built between 2000 and 2005, pool enclosure, repairs of prefabricated gas fireplace units and exterior shutters crown the list of service requests. Homeowners of places built after 2005 have it best in the repair department, spending the most cash on recreational improvements like pergolas, in-ground pools, and home-theatre surround-sound systems. Outdoor kitchen and garage organizer installations are nearly three times more common in homes built within the past 12 years than for older homes.

“Homes built in the last 20 years tend to need different kinds of work from homes built in the 1970s, which are different again from homes built in the 1950s,” Hunter says. “Homes that are fairly new are not yet in need of a new roof or new appliances, but we see add-ons that embrace the trend toward outdoor living, like adding an outdoor kitchen, installing a pool, and building custom outdoor décor items like arbors and pergolas. As you look at older and older homes, you still see the outdoor-living trend, but it is reflected more in repairs.”

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