July 2018 Newsletter

Do You Have Home Improvement Envy? You’re Not Alone

Have you found yourself longingly peering into the yard next door to check out their new water feature only to start drawing up the blueprints for your own a week later? If you answered yes, turns out you’re just one of the many who experience jealousy—and a little competitive drive—over others’ home improvement projects.

In fact, a recent survey from The Home Depot conducted by Wakefield Research not only revealed what home improvement projects are most popular, but the motivation behind the projects, as well.

Here are some of the findings:

two men peeping over the fence
Havana Pool

  • More than half of respondents feel the urge to improve the appearance of their homes when they see another home improvement project. From a landscape refresh with new perennials or an herb garden, to a patio overhaul with the latest grill and patio set, there’s no inspiration quite like competition.

  • Millennials are particularly home-conscious and competitive, with 70 percent admitting to feeling this pressure and nearly 50 percent responding to it by completing a home improvement project in response.

  • Parents tend to feel the pull more than non-parents—whether that means installing a new fence and deck in the backyard or taking their spring cleaning one step further — or maybe even an outrageous TreeHouse!

  • Millennials are more likely than baby boomers to buy new furniture or refresh their décor

From Construction to Yard Work, Don’t Crate New Frenemies

Summer brings us out from inside to embark on a wide spectrum of projects, from those as simple as trimming the hedges to the more ambitious like replacing the roof. No matter what your plans are for home improvement over the next few months, be sure to take the folks next door into consideration and follow proper safety and etiquette practices, including the following:

  • Provide advance notice. To ensure greater understanding about the disruption of a big construction project (like a pool or a summer kitchen), provide advance notice to any homes nearby that may be impacted. Josh Bowman, on his blog for The Good Men Project, suggests simply knocking on the door and letting everyone know what you’ll be doing and what hours you’ll be working will put everyone at ease.

  • Don’t start too early or work too late. This is especially true on the weekends. While we’ve become accustomed to the drone of weed whackers and leaf blowers in the background of our Saturdays, no one wants to hear them at 7 a.m. or 8 p.m. Ditto for drills and skill saws. Make sure your projects take place during reasonable work hours.

  • Clean up after yourself. In addition to noise, mess is the other factor that can cause friction. Whether it’s dirt and leaves from your landscaping project or debris from the deck you’re building, be sure to clean as you go, leaving things as tidy as possible at the end of each day.

  • Don’t let things stall. Before you embark on a project, make sure you have the time and funding to see it through to completion in a reasonable time-frame.

Debbie Wyscocki's card