Home Improvement with a Southern Accent

Far from the relaxing rhythms of this iconic dialect, home accents in the South take on a feverish pitch in its booming residential construction industry. Beyond the accent, however, the culture, climate, and heritage of the South motivate homeowners to make the following investments in their homes. Whether you're looking for a place to relax or trying to beat the heat, these home improvements hold particular value in the southern U.S.

Southern History: Home Additions
One can talk about home improvement in the southern states without looking at its history. The destruction of the Civil War left the southern states struggling to catch up in terms of population and infrastructure, a process still playing itself out nearly 150 years later. Most of the fastest growing cities in the country are located in southern states - (Major Cities: Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Ft. Worth, TX; Orlando, FL; Houston, TX. Smaller Cities: Mobile, AL; Texarkana, AR/TX; Huntsville, AL; Gulfport-Biloxi, MS; Palm Coast, FL.)

These exploding populations create demand not just for new home construction but home additions as well. Most of these cities and southern cities in general have elevated rates for home addition projects, but Charlotte, NC is worth highlighting. ServiceMagic, leading online resource connecting homeowners with contractors, tracks home improvement projects across the country and within metropolitan areas. In 2008, this company processed 43,104 home addition requests nationwide or 1 for every 7,096 people. In Charlotte, however, they processed 1 home addition request for every 4,312 people.

Southern Hospitality: Decks, Porches, and Outdoor Kitchens
The well-known phrase has many applications, but perhaps, most iconic is the laid-back additions of decks and porches. Of course, many southern homes have these areas installed during the initial construction. Still, renovations of these two entertainment areas in the southern states generally outperform the national average. Nationwide in 2008, there was an online request for a deck or porch installation for every 6,280 people. In Atlanta, these requests were elevated to 1 for every 4,399 people.

Southern hospitality takes on a unique form in the Lone Star State. Outdoorsy culture and cuisine, along with the wealth of stable housing prices and oil companies, lends itself to the addition of outdoor kitchens. While the national average for online requests was 1 for every 180,039 people during 2008, Houston saw 1 outdoor kitchen request for every 49,806, nearly 4 times the national rate.

Southern Heat: Heat Pumps and Metal Roofing
Whether you're sipping mint juleps or iced tea, you don't need a climatologist to tell you southern summers are long, oppressive affairs. Just as insulation helps northern homes stay warm in the winter, metal roofing can be surprisingly effective at reducing heat gain during the southern summer. Reflective coatings create "cool" metal roofing that will reduce the stress on your air conditioning system. Although metal roofing's growing reputation to withstand the weight of snowfall creates greater regional balance, The Music City is still a leading metropolitan area. While the national average for metal roofing in 2008 was 1 request for every 16,258 people, Nashville enjoyed 1 request for every 14,771 people.

Conventional heat pumps generate solid energy-efficiency by pumping hot air particles outside your home, but if you want to truly modernize your heating and cooling system, geothermal systems will nearly eliminate the energy consumption associated with heating and cooling your home. Plus, dual heat pump systems should be all the heating a southern home requires for the winter. Especially popular along coastal areas that can avoid extreme hot and cold temperatures, Jacksonville gets the nod for this home improvement. While the nation saw 1 request for heat pump installation for every 31,518 people, Jacksonville saw 1 request for every 22,821 people, nearly 40 percent faster than the national pace.

While not every home improvement may enjoy the same elevated numbers in the southern U.S., it is worth pointing out that growing populations do help almost any home improvement hold its value. From kitchen and bath remodeling to siding replacement and garage additions, home improvements have greater resale value across the South, according to Remodeling Magazine's latest Cost vs. Value Report.

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