Landscape Architect Articles

2014 Home Renovation Survey 06-10-15 | News

2014 Home Renovation Survey

Sixty-two percent of respondents to the annual Houzz survey made outdoor improvements on their property last year.

Garden bed and border additions were the most popular landscape renovation performed in 2014 according to the just-released Houzz & Home Survey.

The annual report is said to be the largest survey of residential remodeling, building and decorating activity conducted – gathering responses from 170,000 U.S. users of Houzz from a worldwide total of 260,000 respondents.

Forty-one percent of them added beds or borders last year. The next most popular landscape upgrades were natural turf (20 percent), pathways or steps (15 percent), lighting (14 percent) and irrigation systems (12 percent). Retaining walls and water features were built at six percent of the respondents' households.

New driveways (9 percent) were the most expensive feature added at an average of $4,500. Pathways or steps, and retaining walls were next on the list at an average of $1,800 each.

The most common outdoor structure upgrades were patios/terraces (23 percent), fences (14 percent), and shade structures (5 percent).

Overall, 84 percent of responding homeowners hired a professional to help them with a wide range of interior and exterior renovations. When hiring, good reviews or recommendations were the most important factor at 83 percent, followed by experience with projects of similar scope (59 percent) and good communication/organization skills (49 percent).