Home Remodeling & Maintenance
8 DIY Projects to Add Value
To Your Home
These projects shouldn't take more than a day to complete.
And they're all easy on your wallet.
August 20, 2010
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Labor Day looms large for homeowners. The end of summer signals that many of us will soon be immersed with an accelerated work schedule plus soccer practices, homework and other realities of back-to-school season. (Or maybe it’s football-filled Sundays that most cut into your handyman time in the fall.) But there’s still time to tackle a wide variety of remodeling projects. And while your goal may simply be to freshen the appearance of your home, you also want to know that your hard work will increase your home’s value.
Here are eight home improvements you can finish by Labor Day that will pay you back. Each costs less than $1,000 and should require less than a day’s work. Take a look.
Replace Sinks and Faucets
Estimated Price: $400 (sink), $150 (faucet)
For home buyers, “the kitchen is king,” says Paul Cardis, chief executive of Avid Ratings, which conducts an annual survey of more than 20,000 first-time home buyers to determine design preferences. “For those looking to spruce up their house, the kitchen is the place.”
You can replace a kitchen sink and faucet yourself in a matter of hours. Be sure to seek out low-flow faucet aerators that can reduce water usage by 30%. (Energy-efficient features, specifically, are a “must have” or are “really wanted” by 88% of home buyers these days.) You can expect to recoup 70% to 80% of the cost of kitchen-remodeling work when you sell your home.
Add a Backsplash
Estimated Price: $14 per 12-by-12-inch tile
The easiest way to add pizazz to your kitchen is with a new backsplash. You can go from country to modern in a snap with a variety of options for finishes and colors. To save money, time and frustration, consider the peel-and-stick tile options now available. “They’re aesthetically pleasing and will do the job if that’s all you can afford,” says Fredda Weisbard, a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, Fla. “It’s an inexpensive Band-Aid for updating your kitchen.” The messier grout-and-tile approach will add $50 to $100 more in related supply costs but will appeal more to prospective buyers.
Install Vanity Cabinets & Toilets
Estimated Price: $200 (vanity), $250 (toilet)
Even relatively minor updates to your bathroom can produce a return on investment of 172%, according to HomeGain.com’s 2009 Prepare-to-Sell survey of 1,000 real estate agents nationwide. Because toilets fit neatly over existing plumbing, they’re surprisingly easy to install. Look for modern water-saving models that will both save on your water bills and appeal to energy-conscious buyers when it’s time to sell. If you’re feeling creative, save hundreds of dollars by using an old dresser as the foundation for a new vanity. Simply cut out room on the top to hold a basin sink and to connect pipes.
Paint a Room
Estimated Price: $30 per paint can
It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do to immediately transform any room in your house. Keep in mind that lighter shades generally make a room feel larger; neutral shades will appeal most to potential buyers. “Buyers won’t be able to look past [bold] colors and see the rest of your home,” says Weisbard.
You’ll earn a 250% return on your investment in freshly painted interior walls, according to HomeGain.com’s survey. Just be sure to test colors -- Home Depot sells 8-ounce sample cans of paint for $3 -- before buying the full batch of paint needed for the room. Limit costly mistakes and spills by splurging on drop cloths and painter’s tape.
Install Crown Molding
Estimated Price: $5 per linear foot
Crown molding in your home compared with none in a similar home in your neighborhood could make a difference when it’s time to sell. “You may not get the money back, but it’s a feature that most buyers appreciate when looking for a home,” says Weisbard. “It’s a wow-factor feature. It stays in buyers’ minds.”
Fair warning: Installing crown molding might be the trickiest task on our list. There’s a lot of geometry involved -- along with a nail gun and a miter saw. Follow the “measure thrice, cut once” rule to limit waste.
Get Organized
Estimated Price: $20-$500
Improvements to a home's functional space can be just as valuable as ones that make a home look better. Potential buyers like to assess space and storage area for their belongings when evaluating new houses.
Focus your efforts on the garage, basement and closets, where you can declutter easily with clear storage bins or new shelving.
Replace the Front Door
Estimated Price:$150-$500 or more
As the first thing prospective buyers will see upon entering your home, a new front door will more than recoup your investment. Expect a fat 129% ROI on a steel door, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2009–10 “Cost vs. Value Report.” (Note that fiberglass models, which can cost three times as much, recoup only 65% of their cost.)
Bonus: Buy a qualifying energy-efficient door and reap a tax credit of 30% of your cost (up to a maximum of $1,500 in 2009 and 2010 combined).
Landscaping
Estimated Price: $300-$400
Before your visitors (and prospective buyers) even get to the door, they’ll see the front yard. It’s a critical first impression that can change the way they view the entire house. “If the outside of your home isn’t appealing, then what does that say about the inside?” Weisbard says.
You needn’t spend more than $300 to $400 in basic landscaping projects to produce $1,500 to $2,000 in added home value, according to HomeGain.com’s Prepare-to-Sell survey. Ninety-four percent of real estate agents who participated in the survey recommend landscaping work to sellers before they list their homes.
Go for plants -- whether they line your walkway or the front of your house -- that add color and complement your house, suggests Bruce Butterfield, market-research director of the National Gardening Association. “People react to color emotionally.” Perennials will require less maintenance year to year, and hydrangeas in particular -- Butterfield recommends the “Endless Summer” variety -- will give you several months of blooms each year. You can pick them up for about $50 each, compared with $150 or more for a new tree, which will take much longer to mature.
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Reader Comments (2)
Posted by: Bob at 08/27/2010 03:08:11 PM
A lot of new faucets are ergonomic nightmares, apparently designed by people in the field of "design" rather than engineers. Play with the demo model, swivel it, imagine washing dishes and hands under it, and so on. A lot of lever-faucets require counterintuitive and inconveniently deliberate action to adjust. The standard and ubiquitous Delta single-lever kitchen faucet is a gold-standard of design, and novelty-faucets should be compared to it to see if they justify their novelty. ~ Crown molding is even more difficult to install well than the author states, especially in a room where the walls aren't completely straight and perpendicular. If you're not used to doing carpentry projects, forget it. And even if you're handy, find a book that covers crown-molding installation with pictures, before you begin. Unlike baseboards, sloppy crown molding can't be hidden with furniture. ~ The author fails to mention that converting a dresser to a vanity means losing at least the top drawers to make room for the bottom of the bowl and the drain trap, which extend down at least 16" from the countertop. The top drawer front has to be removed from its drawer and fixed to the face of the dresser, and unless you're able to rebuild the second drawer to shorten it (not as bad as it sounds), the same applies to it. None of this addresses the difficulty of installing plumbing when you have to reach into drawer openings to get at anything. Standard bath vanities are designed as they are for good reasons, and they're not all that expensive. Avoid vanities with particle-board sides that extend to the floor-- these begin to swell and disintegrate the first time you wash the bathroom floor. Or build up the bottom edge up with some non-wicking substance and install rubber base or plastic baseboard around it. ~ If your toilet is in good shape and works well, just replace the seat. ~ Paint colors almost always look darker and more intense when the light reflects off of the other walls of the same color. (This is less a problem in very large rooms with lots of windows.) When choosing color for small rooms, err to the side of pale. Plastic drop cloths are cheap, but should be taped to the floor. Otherwise they move with the slightest breeze. ~ Installing a new front door isn't a piece of cake, and unless you're used to installing exterior doors, do some reading. Sealing and flashing are crucially important. Slight differences in threshold-heights and trim widths have to be dealt with to avoid gaps against the siding. New door-units taller or wider than the old ones can require new framing. If you're lucky, you might be able to squeeze an additional 1/2" into the old opening. At the very least, pull down your interior casing to measure the actual opening you have to work with BEFORE you select a door. If you're thinking of replacing just the door, and not the jamb, steel and fiberglass doors are not trimmable. Of all the jobs listed in this article, this one is the onewith the longest list of things that can go wrong, and is the most prone to major tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth.
Posted by: Steve at 08/27/2010 04:00:25 PM
Talk to an appraiser about what does and does not increase value! Replacing a fully functional and working sink does not increase the value. It does make a prettier sink, but the "value" of a sink is in its working order/condition, not prettiness. Had a homeowner pay $1800 for a sink one time, what do you think the next homeowner who buys the house is willing to pay for that same $1800 sink? People who pay more for pretty usually get pretty sad when they see an appraisal report. And due to homebuyers and homeowners becoming more knowledgable, the "wow" factor doesn't add value either. I've had several "wow" moments by how impressed I was to see some 80+ year old homes taken care and still having a lot of original materials and workmanship. If you fall for all these "it'll add value" sales pitches, well, you get what you pay for!