Home improvement is the repairing, remodeling, renovating, restoring, or modernizing of a residential building. It includes work like adding insulation or installing a new roof, but excludes any projects that would be considered major structural changes such as building an addition or a swimming pool.
When it comes to home improvements, the goal is often to boost the value of your home. After all, a gleaming kitchen or a finished basement will make your house the envy of the block, and perhaps encourage prospective buyers to pay you top dollar. But many people don’t realize that not all home improvements add value – and some can even decrease it.
In fact, the two biggest home improvement chains say that household renovation spending has slowed considerably since early in the pandemic. Lowe’s this week said its customers are hitting pause on some bigger projects like tub-to-shower conversions and replacing appliances in favor of smaller, less expensive fixes like painting or resealing the driveway. That reluctance may be due in part to rising prices, but it also seems to reflect a general cooling in households’ eagerness to invest in their homes.