US DIY Costs

‘DIY’, otherwise known as ‘Do It Yourself’ involves getting stuck into jobs which need carrying out around the home, which could range from hanging wallpaper to assembling flat pack furniture. 

The idea is that if you have the know-how and tools you’ll need to complete the job, you’ll be able to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, carrying out projects rather than outsourcing work to a local professional.

To highlight how much popular DIY jobs cost around the home in the USA, at Bobbi Beck, we have carried out our own investigation, as well as collated key statistics from a number of trusted sources about the home improvement market.

The growth of DIY

Home improvement spending has increased each year since the pandemic started, with expenditure amounting to $457 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 and predicted to be worth $577.3 billion dollars in 2023.

In 2020, home center stores in the United States generated revenues that amounted to nearly $300 billion U.S. dollars, a significant increase from the year before. Sales are forecasted to reach $359.1 billion in 2023.

The most popular home improvement chains

The leading home improvement chain in the US is Home Depot, which generated $132 billion in sales in 2020, with Lowes following in second with $90 billion in sales. However, the top home improvement store chain by customer satisfaction rate is Ace Hardware, with a rating of 869 on a 1000-point scale.

How much Americans are spending on home improvement  

The average annual home improvement expenditure per homeowner amounted to $7,560 in 2018, up from approximately $6,650 dollars in 2017.

By 2021, the average amount spent by Americans on home improvement totalled $10,341 per year, with millennials spending the most on home improvements at an average of $11,377.

In 2022, the following states had the highest cost per home improvement project:

1. North Carolina: $4,682
2. Georgia: $4,664
3. Missouri: $4,576
4. Texas: $4,282
5. Pennsylvania: $4,206
6. New York: $4,144
7. Illinois: $4,022
8. Florida: $3,889
9. California: $3,508
10. Ohio: $3,397

In 2022, spending on home improvement grew the most in the following cities:

1. Phoenix: 11.9%
2. San Antonio: 12.7%
3. Dallas: 7%
4. Oklahoma City: 9.2%
5. Kansas City, MO: 5.3%

In the same year, 52% of homeowners cited concerns about the cost of their home improvement projects, with increasing numbers allocating their commuting budgets to home costs.

It’s important to note that, whilst home improvement is a priority for a number of homeowners, 20% of homeowners don’t spend any money maintaining their homes, whilst 17% of Americans spend less than $500, according to Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard.

The most popular home improvement projects in America

During the coronavirus outbreak, approximately three-quarters of Americans made at least one home improvement, with 64% renovating their exterior, 58% renovating their interior, 44% introducing new home tech and 34% making their home more eco-friendly.

The most common home service project was interior painting, with bathroom remodeling in close second and new flooring in third. However, an additional survey conducted in 2020, points to garden landscaping being the most popular home improvement project.

In terms of master bathroom changes, in 2021, upgraded systems and an increased shower size were the two major changes made. The most favored style for these renovations was modern, with farmhouse the least popular esthetic.

Why Americans are carrying out home improvement projects

The leading reasons for tackling home improvement projects during the coronavirus outbreak were:

1. Finally having time for it
2. Adding value to your home and making your home feel more cozy
3. Adapting to new lifestyle under COVID
4. Making my home smarter
5. Adapting to working from home and making my home more eco-friendly
6. Customizing a newly bought home
7. Adapting home for homeschooling
8. Adapting home for a new baby

Attitudes towards carrying out DIY

In terms of attitudes towards carrying out DIY, four in ten Americans have admitted to having more DIY failures than they have successes, with 45% completely butchering a home improvement project by trying to take it on without professional help.

The average American has called in professional help after five hours of trial and error with their project and 57% have wished they could go back in time to call in a professional for their project.

The majority of Americans (56%) have admitted to calling one of their parents to get instructions on how to do a repair or home improvement project.

How Americans find a professional contractor for improvement jobs

Americans spend an average of nine hours researching a professional contractor before hiring them for a home improvement job. Most professionals are found through an online search, followed by personal recommendation and retail stores.

Where Americans get inspiration from home improvement projects from

When looking for home inspiration, Americans often look to home improvement TV shows, websites and social media. DIYers especially prefer to use social media to find new ways of accomplishing tasks such as room remodeling, furniture building and pool-cleaning.

71% of Americans admitted that when they’ve hired a professional for a home improvement project, they try to remember as much information as possible from them so that they can replicate the work themselves in the future.

Who carries out home improvement projects in America?

In 2022, 91% of homeowners stated that their home needed either minor or major home renovations and 89% were therefore currently planning or already working on a home improvement project.

In a recent survey, 51% of respondents declared themselves the go-to person for DIY projects for their family, friends and neighbors.

For those who are the designated DIYer, 48% see it as a sign of having expert knowledge, 44% believe being tasked with a home improvement job is a sign of trust and 36% see it as a sign of strength.

Half of married respondents admitted they assign their partner a weekly ‘honey-do’ list of DIY and home improvement projects. The most common projects included fixing leaky faucets, wall painting and drywall repair.

However, only 40% of partners completely agreed on their home improvement plans, with the majority of men wanting to spend money remodelling their living room, whilst women would prefer a kitchen remodel.

The home improvement projects DIYers take the most pride in are:

1. Repainting rooms                          
2. Landscaping                                
3. Kitchen remodel                             
4. Bathroom remodel                         
5. Bedroom updates 
6. Replacing light fixtures and replacing windows                                                                                                                                                                              
7. Living room updates                      
8. Exterior improvements                  
9. Family room addition                      

DIYers take the most pride in repainting their rooms but admitted that they find the kitchen the most challenging room to renovate, with 29% facing challenges during the process.

Cost of DIY compared to hiring a professional

To determine whether carrying out DIY or hiring a professional is cheaper, we carried out research to find out which projects proved most cost-effective in each instance. We found that Americans could make a saving of approximately $5,118.21 by carrying out DIY projects themselves rather than outsourcing work.

It should be noted that the cost of hiring a professional was taken from UK data and converted to dollars, as local data on this topic is unavailable.

Job	Cost of hiring a professional	Cost of DIY	Is it cheaper to DIY?
Hanging Wallpaper.	$539	$95.62	Yes
Painting Walls and Furniture.	$1892	$45.03	Yes
Wall-mounting a TV.	$365	$117.14	Yes
Fixing an indoor leaking tap.	$250	$44.42	Yes
Assembling flat pack furniture	$120	$470.84	Yes
Changing a radiator.	$700	$113.88	Yes
Tiling a bathroom.	$2000	$295.91	Yes
Filling in cracks in a wall.	$70	$34.95	Yes
Total	$5936	$817.79	Yes

Summary

From our research and the research of other trusted sources, it’s clearly a great time to start learning DIY if you haven’t already. It seems to be growing in popularity across the US, and findings indicate that the majority of home renovation and redecoration tasks are cheaper if you do them yourself.

Methodology

A number of sources, including editorial articles, were used to source data on the cost of completing popular jobs around the home. Costs to ‘DIY’ vs hiring a professional to complete household jobs were compared. Costs were calculated in GBP and converted to the American Dollar, based on the exchange rate as of the 22.02.23 (Value of the pound and exchange rate is subject to change).