Does a deck add value to your home?

A deck is a great place to hang out during the warm months. Whether you’re entertaining the neighborhood or just soaking up some rays on a quiet Sunday, there’s no doubt a deck will add value to your lifestyle. But does it also add value to your home?

The short answer is yes, a deck does add value to your home. However, it’s also an expensive project and you probably can’t expect to recoup the entire cost of installing and maintaining the deck in an eventual home sale. The true measure of how much value a deck adds to your home is contained in how much enjoyment you derive from using it regularly.

How much can a deck increase home value?

The study found that a deck is a top-10 outdoor home improvement. A wood deck will cost an average of $17,051 to install and should recoup about 50% of its value at sale. A composite deck will cost an average of $23,430 and should recoup about 40% of its value at sale.

You can expect a deck to have a greater ROI in regions where people spend more time outdoors than in colder climates.

More importantly, decks have an outstanding quality of life ROI. In 2018, decks received a “joy” score of 9.8 out of 10 on the National Association of Realtors’ Remodeling Impact Report. A whopping 81% of homeowners reported having a greater desire to be home since finishing a deck, 74% claimed an increased sense of enjoyment when at home, and 77% reported feeling a major sense of accomplishment after finishing the deck.

What factors influence deck ROI?

All decks are not created equal. There are a number of factors that can influence the ROI of a deck installation. Let’s take a look at a few.

Location

Decks are more valuable in areas where you can spend a lot of time outdoors throughout the year. Houses in states like California, Florida, and Hawaii have the highest demand for outdoor decks. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no demand for decks in places like Maine, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Decks are just a less vital addition to a home in those states and the ROI may be lower as potential buyers don’t expect to spend four seasons out on the deck. (Although adding a fire pit is a nice way to remind buyers that you probably could still use a deck in the winter.)

Decks in cold climates with severe weather and natural disasters may also have higher maintenance costs, which could deter potential buyers.

Timing

If your primary goal is to recoup as much of your investment as possible after building a deck, you should be prepared to sell your home immediately. The longer you pay maintenance expenses, the lower your ROI is going to be on the project.

However, if you build a deck and sell immediately, you won’t get to enjoy the deck yourself for very long. It’s a tough choice — if your primary goal is financial, then you should sell a home as soon as the deck is complete. But if you want to enjoy the deck for a while, selling in a year won’t dip too far into your ROI.

Deck materials

You can make a deck one of two ways: with wood or with composite wood. As we mentioned, composite decks are more expensive to build ($6,000 more on average), but they have far fewer upkeep costs. While composite decks usually recoup less of their value than wood decks, if you plan on staying in a home for a while, it’s a better investment as maintenance costs don’t cut into your ROI as much as they do with a wood deck.

Deck type

You may not have realized it by looking at the decks in your neighborhood, but there are many types of decks. And they all may deliver better or worse ROI. Decks can be:

• Detached or island
• Multi-level
• Swimming
• Attached
• Wraparound
• Side-yard

You’ve seen these types of decks before, but it’s unlikely you connoted specific values with them. Generally speaking, however, detached, multi-level, or swimming decks are best suited to larger properties, while attached, wraparound, and side-yard decks are better suited to smaller ones.

Tips to make sure a deck increases home value

When building a deck, you should bear the previous section in mind, but there are also a few tips you can follow to ensure a quality ROI. Yes, location, timing, and materials are all important, but there are a couple of other crucial points to consider.

DIY your deck

One of the largest costs of any home improvement is labor. As such, one of the best ways to reduce your investment is by building a deck yourself. Having construction skills is handy and you must obtain the proper permits and follow building codes, but building a deck isn’t building a house. There are (usually) no complicated electrical or plumbing requirements. Building a deck is one of the seemingly more difficult DIY tasks that homeowners can do themselves without extensive experience.

Finding the right type

It’s important to understand how you want to use your deck and how it will be incorporated into your property. You don’t want to build a giant detached deck in the back only to realize you don’t like the look and have to tear it down again.

Take some time to figure out exactly what you want, draw some sketches, and make sure you know what you can build based on local regulations. Before building, check with your local building office to ensure there are no restrictions to building a deck on your property. Otherwise, if you start building and the town comes knocking, you’ll have an expensive problem on your hands.

FAQs

More answers to all your questions about decks and their ROI.

Is a deck a good home investment?

A deck is one of the best exterior home improvement projects you can do when it comes to ROI. A deck installation can return anywhere from 40% to 50% of its value when you sell the home. More importantly, however, people derive a lot of joy from having a deck on their property, and any improvement to your lifestyle is well worth the trouble.

What adds more value: a deck or a patio?

Patios are not only cheaper to install than decks, but they also boast an outstanding 100% resale value. As such, patios are one of the few home improvements that could actually increase your home value outright — without any loss on initial investment.

Do I need a permit to add a deck?

Generally, if your deck is attached to the house or is 30 inches above grade, it will require a permit. If it’s freestanding less than 30 inches above grade or smaller than 200 square feet, it likely does not require a permit.

These are not hard and fast rules, however. Every town or county may have different regulations, so always make sure to check with your city’s building office to ensure you’re following local regulations.