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I live in North Carolina in a standard suburbia type house thats probably worth $300-350k. I'll probably live here another 5-10 years.
I have an old rotted out deck that I really should replace. Lots of heat, lots of sun, lots of bugs have driven me inside for the summer... which I hate, as I love being outside. So, I had the idea of incorporating a nice, high quality, screened porch into my new deck project. Love the idea and think I'd use it every day. Then I got the quotes....
$35-50k for a screened porch (250sqft) and deck (150sqft) using high quality materials, composite decking, etc but without any extra bells and whistles.
First off, does this seem like a normal price range? Can't say I know a lot about these things but $50k seems really high. Maybe its not?
Secondly, and most importantly, there reaches a point where too much is just too much for a particular house. Say I love the project, can afford it, and $50k really is what its going to cost. I'm worried thats just too much money to spend on a $300k house. Thoughts?
If the price feels high to you think of part of it as like vacation cost. Sometimes enjoyment of one thing can cost less than, say, a trip away somewhere.
Think in terms of relaxation and peace, no future regrets it might give.
Also, do consider resale. You might as well enjoy an improvement before the next owner.
And sounds like you'll need one when you get close to selling anyway. May as well get enjoyment out of it yourself now.
I'm in Northern Virginia and sprung for a screened in porch - I wouldn't trade it for anything!!! It's worth the money to me personally for my enjoyment (as well as visitors).
I agree with Flamingo13. DH and I bought a house in 2015 and paid about $240K for it. The back of the house faces a lake and it had a 150 square foot porch, screened and with a roof. We wanted to enclose it with glass windows and screens so that we could enjoy it 3 seasons of the year. We called the place that had enclosed our deck in the old house (screens but no glass windows) in 2004 for about $10,000. They wanted $26,000 for this job- and that was with only particle-board flooring! To be fair, the house is built into the side of a hill and work from the outside involved VERY high ladders.
We went for it anyway, and used that firm because their previous work had held up well. I did the tiling. DH died almost 3 years ago but it's my favorite room in the house- same with anyone who visits. Before my oldest granddaughter could talk she'd stand at the door to the porch and point.
We paid for it out of savings, so didn't rack up huge finance charges and could afford to do it without jeopardizing our retirement. I'm not one of those people whose retirement plan is "make a huge profit on the house and then downsize". I may not get the money back in a sale but I don't regret it at all. And now I'm going to head out there with a good book!
An appropriately sized screened in Porch definitely contributes to the resale value of a house and is a pretty common feature that many buyers want to have in warmer states like NC or Virginia.
A good realtor in your area might assist with your decision to go with a screened in porch, what to shoot for as far as cost as it relates to the rest of your house, especially since you have a 5 to 10 year time frame.
Remodeling Magazine's annual "Cost-vs-Value" report for this year puts a composite deck @ just under $58sq/ft for your region of the country. That's composite decking and handrail/guard- on a "ground level" deck.
The roof would add another 30/35% to that sq/ft price.
Considering your time frame for staying in place- perhaps new deck now, roof/screened-in later. But yes, justifying 20% of the total purchase price of the house for a deck can be hard to swallow. Maybe consider some sweat equity to lower your price.
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