The end of a year is always a time for reflection. We thought therefore, that now is as good a time as any to explore what Canadian homeowners have been doing with their home improvement budgets. The results of our study were pretty revealing actually, although it's transparent that windows weren't a big thing.
Bathrooms, on the other hand, are another matter entirely. It seems that homeowners in every province rate bathroom renovations as important. Perhaps Canadians like to bathe in style - or maybe the reason is based more on financial return than the desire to soak in a sumptuous tub. What makes basement renovations such a big deal though?
These questions and more are explored here, in our top ten breakdown of popular home improvement projects. The numbers are derived from the volume of searches and quote requests made at the TRUSTEDPROS.CA website for each type of home improvement project.
#10: Home Additions
Building a home add-on is generally one of the most expensive home improvement projects to take on. It's no surprise therefore that home additions came in lowest on our top ten. However, on Prince Edward Island, home additions made a respectable number four.
#9: New Windows
Most Canadian homeowners appear to be satisfied that their windows are in good order, since new windows only made it to number nine. New windows were most popular in Manitoba and on Prince Edward Island. Even in these two provinces though, they were only the sixth most searched or quoted home improvements.
#8: Landscaping
Landscaping services have been the eighth most popular type of home improvement in 2014. Manitoba is the one state which bucks the trend. Here, landscaping was at number four. Maybe Manitobans like a little contouring in their gardens, to offset the flatness of the greater prairie landscape.
#7: New Flooring
Next on the top ten of home improvements are new floors. Searches and quotes have been modestly numbered across the country - Except in British Columbia, where new flooring reached number four on the home improvement Top of the Pops. This possibly has something to do with the July revelation by CBC News that older Vancouver homes may be hiding a small fortune in black and white movie posters under the floorboards. It seems that the posters, worth little back in the day, were often used by flooring contractors to dampen noisy floorboards. It's conceivable therefore, that a few Vancouver homes needed new flooring this year, after hasty attempts to discover treasure troves of movie art.
#6: Painting
Painting projects almost made it halfway up the chart of top Canadian home improvement projects this year. Of course many people are happy to paint their own interiors, so not every home paint job would have resulted in a search for contractors. It seems that Saskatchewanians though, are reluctant on the DIY front, since painting was at number three in this province, making the demand for painting services way greater than elsewhere in Canada.
#5 Kitchen Renovations
Although basements and bathrooms feature as the most popular room renovation projects in Canada, some provinces have a definite penchant for beautiful kitchens. Kitchen renovations proved popular in the search and quotation stats for the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. However nowhere were kitchen renovations more popular than in Quebec, where this type of home improvement made it to number two on the provincial scoreboard.
At the other end of the spectrum, Prince Edward Islanders didn't seem to have much interest in updating their kitchens. Perhaps this is because all the home improvement budgets were already busted by those expensive home additions.
#4 New Roof
New roofs tend to be a home improvement borne of necessity rather than beautification. New Brunswick home owners searched and obtained more quotes for new roofs than any other type of home improvement this year. There were also more enquiries about new roofs from this province than any other. With roofing number one on the list of New Brunswick home improvements, we can only conclude that coastal storms have been a factor or that the trend in green roofing projects is catching on in the province.
#3: Decks
Canadians love the outdoors and that was reflected in the number of search queries and quotes for decks across the country this year. Fairly popular everywhere, but exceptionally so in Alberta and British Columbia, Decks featured most prominently on Prince Edward Island, where it made number one on the list. We're risking an assumption that decks in Prince Edward Island were the budget version of home additions, among those who are aware that they live in the least wealthy province in Canada.
#2: Basement Renovations
Along with bathrooms, basement renovations formed the home improvement trend of the year throughout Canada. Basement renovations topped the list in Newfoundland, Alberta and Saskatchewan and made it to number two in Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. Exceptions to the rule were the provinces of British Columbia (presumably due to the fact that most basements have no floorboards to conceal valuable movie posters) and New Brunswick, where home improvements seem to be prioritized on a top-down basis.
#1: Bathroom Renovations
In Canada, an attractive and functional bathroom goes a long way to enhancing property value. Bathroom renovations generate recovery rates of more than 75% when properties are sold. This goes a long way to explaining why bathroom renovations top our list of commonly searched and quoted home improvement projects. Of course a bathroom makeover can also transform family life. There's nothing like enjoying the morning shower or evening bath in fresh and tastefully decorated surroundings.
There you have it, the top ten most popular home improvements that visitors searched our site or requested quotes. While not wishing the time away, we look forward to performing a comparison at the end of next year.
In the meantime, if you need to find a trusted home improvement contractor for your home improvement project in Canada, TRUSTEDPROS is ready and waiting to help. You can search our site or post your project and let the contractors bid for your business. Either way, you'll find a contractor you can rely on at TRUSTEDPROS.
Below, you'll find a breakdown of how each of the top 10 home improvements ranked per province.
| British Columbia | Rank | Alberta | Rank | |||
| Bathroom Renovations | 1 | 28% | Basement Renovations | 1 | 24% | |
| Decks | 2 | 17% | Bathroom Renovations | 2 | 18% | |
| Kitchen Renovations | 3 | 14% | Decks | 3 | 15% | |
| New Flooring | 4 | 12% | New Roof | 4 | 9% | |
| Painting | 5 | 9% | Kitchen Renovations | 5 | 9% | |
| New Roof | 6 | 8% | Painting | 6 | 8% | |
| Basement Renovations | 7 | 6% | New Flooring | 7 | 7% | |
| Landscaping | 8 | 3% | Landscaping | 8 | 5% | |
| Home Additions | 9 | 2% | New Windows | 9 | 3% | |
| New Windows | 10 | 1% | Home Additions | 10 | 2% | |
| Saskatchewan | Manitoba | |||||
| Basement Renovations | 1 | 27% | Bathroom Renovations | 1 | 23% | |
| Bathroom Renovations | 2 | 14% | Basement Renovations | 2 | 15% | |
| Painting | 3 | 14% | Kitchen Renovations | 3 | 13% | |
| New Roof | 4 | 10% | Landscaping | 4 | 9% | |
| Decks | 5 | 10% | New Flooring | 5 | 9% | |
| Kitchen Renovations | 6 | 7% | New Windows | 6 | 8% | |
| New Flooring | 7 | 6% | Decks | 7 | 8% | |
| Landscaping | 8 | 6% | Painting | 8 | 7% | |
| New Windows | 9 | 4% | New Roof | 9 | 6% | |
| Home Additions | 10 | 2% | Home Additions | 10 | 2% | |
| Ontario | Quebec | |||||
| Bathroom Renovations | 1 | 22% | Bathroom Renovations | 1 | 23% | |
| Basement Renovations | 2 | 19% | Kitchen Renovations | 2 | 17% | |
| Kitchen Renovations | 3 | 12% | New Roof | 3 | 13% | |
| Decks | 4 | 10% | Basement Renovations | 4 | 11% | |
| New Roof | 5 | 10% | New Flooring | 5 | 10% | |
| New Flooring | 6 | 8% | Painting | 6 | 10% | |
| Painting | 7 | 7% | Decks | 7 | 7% | |
| New Windows | 8 | 5% | New Windows | 8 | 4% | |
| Landscaping | 9 | 4% | Home Additions | 9 | 3% | |
| Home Additions | 10 | 3% | Landscaping | 10 | 2% | |
| New Brunswick | Nova Scotia | |||||
| New Roof | 1 | 33% | Bathroom Renovations | 1 | 20% | |
| Bathroom Renovations | 2 | 19% | New Roof | 2 | 18% | |
| Decks | 3 | 16% | Basement Renovations | 3 | 14% | |
| Kitchen Renovations | 4 | 8% | Decks | 4 | 12% | |
| New Flooring | 5 | 7% | Kitchen Renovations | 5 | 10% | |
| Painting | 6 | 7% | New Flooring | 6 | 9% | |
| Basement Renovations | 7 | 6% | Painting | 7 | 8% | |
| New Windows | 8 | 2% | Home Additions | 8 | 5% | |
| Home Additions | 9 | 1% | Landscaping | 9 | 3% | |
| Landscaping | 10 | 1% | New Windows | 10 | 1% | |
| Prince Edward Island | Newfoundland | |||||
| Decks | 1 | 42% | Basement Renovations | 1 | 35% | |
| Basement Renovations | 2 | 25% | Kitchen Renovations | 2 | 18% | |
| Bathroom Renovations | 3 | 19% | New Roof | 3 | 15% | |
| Home Additions | 4 | 6% | Bathroom Renovations | 4 | 15% | |
| Painting | 5 | 2% | Decks | 5 | 10% | |
| New Windows | 6 | 2% | Painting | 6 | 3% | |
| New Flooring | 7 | 1% | Home Additions | 7 | 1% | |
| Kitchen Renovations | 8 | 1% | New Flooring | 8 | 1% | |
| New Roof | 9 | 1% | New Windows | 9 | 1% | |
| Landscaping | 10 | 1% | Landscaping | 10 | 1% |
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