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Which Renovations Pay Back at Resale?
The industry’s standard dataset says the best renovation investment is a garage door, and the worst is an upscale kitchen. The rankings are counterintuitive all the way down.
The dataset
The Cost vs. Value report is the remodeling industry’s standard ROI dataset, published annually by Zonda with the Journal of Light Construction and Remodeling Magazine. The 2025 edition covers 30 projects across 119 U.S. housing markets: cost data from Verisk’s XactRemodel tool, value data from surveys of real estate professionals estimating what each completed project adds to a sale price. It measures perceived resale value added, not lifetime economic benefit — the report’s own methodology note says as much — but it remains the most rigorous dataset the industry has.
The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Remodeling Impact report measures the same question differently, via consumer surveys and Realtor estimates, and adds a second axis the industry report lacks: the Joy Score, a 1-to-10 rating of how much homeowners enjoyed the project after completion. Read together, the two reports describe a paradox.
The 2025 rankings
| Project | Cost recouped | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Garage door replacement | 268% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Steel entry door | 216% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Manufactured stone veneer | 208% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Fiber-cement siding | 114% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Minor kitchen remodel | 113% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Wood deck addition | 95% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Composite deck addition | 88% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Midrange bathroom remodel | 80% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Basement remodel | 71% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Major upscale kitchen | 36% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
| Rooftop solar | 34% | Zonda CvV 2025 |
Two patterns jump out. First, exterior projects dominate: eight of the top ten ROI projects are exterior replacements — garage doors, siding, entry doors, stone veneer, roofing. Buyers decide a great deal in the first thirty seconds from the curb, and the data captures that at the resale price level. Second, minor scope beats major scope on nearly every interior project. The $28,000 minor kitchen returns 113%; the $164,000 major upscale kitchen returns 36%. The spread between a midrange bathroom and a luxury one tells the same story.
The joy-recovery paradox
The NAR’s 2025 report adds the twist. Its cost-recovery leaders are familiar — a new steel front door at 100%, a closet renovation at 83%, a fiberglass front door at 80% — but its Joy Scores rank projects by homeowner happiness, and the winners are the primary bedroom suite addition (10), the kitchen upgrade (10), and new roofing (10), with bathroom renovations at 9.8 and kitchen remodels at 9.7 close behind.
Now line up the two axes. The projects homeowners love most — the suite addition, the full kitchen, the new roof — are the ones that return the least at resale: NAR puts the complete kitchen at 60% recovery, the primary suite at 54%, the full bathroom at 50%. The projects that return the most — the garage door, the entry door — score no joy points at all. Nobody throws a dinner party to show off the new steel entry door. Everybody notices it from the curb.
Combine the two 2025 datasets and a rule emerges: remodel for your life or your listing, but price the two jobs separately. The Joy-10 projects (suite, kitchen, roof) are consumption — expensive, beloved, and financially underwater at resale. The ROI leaders (garage door, entry door, stone veneer) are investments — cheap, unglamorous, and profitable on paper. The $28,000 minor kitchen is the rare project that does both jobs at once: 113% recouped and a 9.7 Joy Score. When one project serves both masters, that is the project to do first.
What the numbers don’t say
Three caveats before anyone treats the table as a shopping list. First, the Cost vs. Value methodology measures perceived value added as estimated by real estate professionals — what they believe a buyer would pay — not observed sale-price differences. It’s the best available measure, not a controlled experiment. Second, the figures are national averages across 119 markets; the Pacific region, for example, runs hotter on several exterior projects than the national table suggests. Third, recoup rates assume professional-quality work at typical costs. A $28,000 minor kitchen that actually costs you $45,000 because the contractor found rot recoups 113% of $28,000 in the report’s math, not of what you paid.
And the deepest caveat: only 18% of remodelers in the NAR survey renovated to prepare for a sale. The other 82% renovated for their own use — worn-out finishes, better function, energy efficiency, a change they wanted. For the 82%, the ROI table is a tiebreaker between two projects they’d both enjoy, not the reason to renovate. The Joy Score is the primary metric; the recoup rate keeps the budget honest.
Using the rankings
Selling within two years: do the exterior three — garage door, entry door, stone veneer — plus paint and the minor kitchen refresh if the kitchen is dated. Skip everything structural. The data says the curb is where the money is.
Staying five-plus years: rank by joy, then check the recoup rate before you sign. The primary suite addition scores a perfect 10 on joy and 54% on recovery — a fine project if you’ll live in it for a decade, a poor one if you’re flipping. The minor kitchen is the rare both-jobs project; the upscale kitchen is a joy purchase wearing an investment’s clothes.
Choosing between two projects: divide each bid by its recoup rate to get the true net cost, and compare those. A $28,000 minor kitchen at 113% has a net cost of negative $3,640 — it pays you. A $164,000 upscale kitchen at 36% has a net cost of $104,960. Same room, $108,600 apart in true cost. That is what the table is for.
- What home renovation has the highest ROI?
- The garage door replacement, at 268% of cost recouped in Zonda’s 2025 Cost vs. Value report. The steel entry door follows at 216%, then manufactured stone veneer at 208%. All three are exterior, low-cost, high-visibility projects.
- What is the ROI of a kitchen remodel?
- It depends on scope more than anything else. A minor kitchen remodel recoups about 113% — the only interior project above 100%. A major upscale kitchen recoups about 36%. The NAR’s 2025 report puts a complete kitchen at 60% cost recovery.
- Do bathroom remodels add resale value?
- A midrange bathroom remodel recoups about 80% of its cost, per the 2025 Cost vs. Value report — the best bathroom return since 2007. Luxury bathroom work returns roughly half that.
- Which renovations do homeowners enjoy most?
- The NAR’s 2025 Remodeling Impact report gives perfect 10 Joy Scores to the primary bedroom suite addition, the kitchen upgrade, and new roofing. None of the three leads the cost-recovery rankings.
- Should I renovate before selling my house?
- Only 18% of remodelers renovate to sell, per the NAR 2025 survey. If resale is the goal, the data favors small exterior projects — garage door, entry door, stone veneer — over big interior ones. Price the two jobs separately.
Keep reading
- How much does a kitchen remodel cost in 2026?The $14,600 question, line by line.
- How much does a bathroom remodel cost?Why the shower costs more than everything visible combined.
- How to budget for a renovationThe two-budget method and the allowance trap.
Sources: Zonda / Journal of Light Construction / Remodeling Magazine 2025 Cost vs. Value report (30 projects, 119 markets; garage door 268%, steel entry 216%, stone veneer 208%, fiber-cement 114%, minor kitchen $28,000 at 113%, wood deck 95%, composite deck 88%, midrange bath 80%, basement 71%, major upscale kitchen $164,000 at 36%, solar 34%); National Association of Realtors 2025 Remodeling Impact report (steel door 100%, closet 83%, fiberglass door 80%, complete kitchen 60%, primary suite 54%, full bath 50%; Joy Scores 10/10/10 suite-kitchen-roof, 9.8 bath, 9.7 kitchen; $603B spent in 2024; 18% remodel to sell).