Wood Decks Bring More Bang for the Buck (ServiceMagic.com) .wmv

Wood decks don’t just promise high returns for homeowners, they’re also one of the few home improvements on Remodeling Magazine’s radar whose re-sale values and recoup percentages have maintained their position on the list of projects with the highest recoup percentages at number 2 in the past year. In 2009, a deck addition built from composite decking materials averaged $15277 nationally, and increased home values by $11260, or 73.7 percent of the initial investment. Decks built of pressure-treated wood, and the returns there are even more encouraging. Despite a lower initial cost at $10601, the resale value of $8676 for a deck built of pressure-treated lumber had a whopping recoup value of 81.8 percent. To put things in perspective, that 81.8 percent recoup value ranked an impressive second out of all 29 of the major home improvements investigated by Remodeling Magazine in 2009 (fiber cement siding took the gold, in case you were wondering, with a recoup value of 86.7 percent).