As a homeowner, it’s your responsibility to know and abide by local laws that govern your property – and what you can and can’t do to it.

And, while it’s important to feel comfortable in your home, it’s a good idea to consider the costs that will be required to transform that home into the proverbial castle. The decision should be an easier one if you have the expendable income to improve the home to ideally suit your tastes – and you believe you’ll spend many years in the home. It’s an entirely different issue if you seek to upgrade the home on the premise that it will boost its value. Since individual tastes differ greatly, don’t assume that the fashionable color you just chose to paint your living room will appeal to everyone else when it comes time to sell. It won’t. There’s a reason for the nearly universal use of varying shades of neutral white paint in new homes: It offends the fewest number of people, “opens up” the rooms and serves as a veritable canvas on which prospective buyers can easily imagine the home of their dreams.

Home Improvement Costs
Only you can decide whether the project you undertake is worth the time, effort and expense. After all, it’s your home; you know best. You should be comfortable in it. It should offer a welcome respite from the everyday pressures of modern living. So, if you have the time, the cash and the desire to turn your vision of the ideal home into reality, go for it! But, as you might imagine, not all home-improvement projects will translate into added value for your home. It’s an important factor to keep in mind, especially if you know your family will outgrow the home or you know you won’t spend a great deal of time there.

Considering an in-ground pool or spa? Great, they’re a lot of fun! Just don’t expect an equal return on your investment. Also on the upper end of home improvement are projects such as room additions and remodels, new roofs and windows. Measured by the standards of most home-improvement projects, these are major endeavors that require a significant investment of money, time and patience. If you want to protect the investment you’ve made in your home, you should carefully weigh the pros and cons of major upgrades relative to your neighborhood and community.

Again, only you can make the final decision, and it probably won’t be based purely on financial return – nor should it be. Modifying your home to suit you can be an emotional experience. But you should factor the potential return into your ultimate decision. If return on investment is important to you, ask a real estate professional for the selling prices of homes comparable to yours and with the upgrades you are considering adding. Another consideration is the condition of the local real estate market. If it’s on the way up, as it has been, chances increase that you’ll recoup most or all of your investment. Of course, in a declining real estate market, the opposite would likely be the case.

The folks at “Remodeling Magazine” (www.remodeling.hw.net) track this sort of thing every year. In the magazine’s 2002 Cost vs. Value Report, it found that bathroom additions recouped the largest share of the initial investment. The national average return was 94 percent. On the opposite end of the spectrum is roof replacement, which, on average, recouped just 67 percent of the investment. Other projects that recouped 80 percent or more of the investment were two-story additions (94 percent), upscale bathroom remodels (91 percent), mid-range bathroom remodels (88 percent), upscale bathroom additions (81 percent) and upscale major kitchen remodels (80 percent).

Now, doesn’t this make your decision easier to make? Don’t want to deal with that right now? OK, let’s take a look at some home-improvement projects that are easier to undertake.

Painting
Paint represents both the most inexpensive and most dramatic way to change the look and feel of a home – both inside and out. There is simply no more economical way to give a room or an entire home a complete makeover. Perhaps best of all, it’s nearly goof-proof; if you don’t like the end result, all you have to do is paint it again.

Carefully chosen colors that complement each other, as well as a home’s furnishings and architecture, can do wonders. Color can have a dramatic effect on how one perceives any given living space. It can be used to make a room seem much more expansive than it really is. Color also can have the reverse effect, transforming a bright area into one that seems much more cozy. It’s all about color and space – and their interaction with natural and artificial light.

Most interior and exterior paints these days are latex or oil-based. Not only should you choose your colors carefully, you should select the highest grade you can afford. High-quality paints have a stronger “hiding” ability, meaning any given painting project will require fewer coats than one using lower-quality paints that don’t hide as well.

Once you’ve chosen your colors, it’s time to select a finish ranging from flat to glossy. Each has its benefits and drawbacks. Glossy paint is easier to maintain and wash, but it also has a tendency to reveal every imperfection of the surface that’s been painted. For this reason glossy and semi-gloss paint are usually reserved for trim pieces that are subject to more wear and tear. Flat and “eggshell” finishes are usually used on walls and surfaces that are normally less prone to everyday abuse.

Wall Coverings
Another economical way to dramatically transform the look of a living space is to apply wallpaper to a room. Since many patterns can be complex, it would be a good idea to bring samples of upholstery in the room to a home-improvement warehouse store to make sure they can coexist. If samples are unavailable, photographs of a room’s upholstery and colors may suffice.

As with painting, not every wall needs to be covered. Variation is one of the keys to successful interior design. Often you can achieve the look you’re after by papering (or painting) just one wall. You can also use coordinating papers to cover a wall. Generally, designers put darker patterns along the bottom, with the contrasting papers separated by a border such as a chair rail.

Wallpaper comes in a wide variety of materials, ranging from the most common and popular, vinyl, to hand-screened papers and textiles. Vinyl is popular because of its relatively low cost and its ability to withstand a good deal of abuse. Textile papers come in a wide assortment of styles and usually contain cotton or polyester applied to a paper backing. Hand-screened paper is precisely what the name implies: wallpaper that consists of separate hand-made silk screens. Take care when hanging this type of paper because the colors and patterns don’t always match from one edge to the other. This can make matching pieces somewhat difficult.

Once you’ve decided on a covering, make sure you buy the same paper from the same manufacturing lots to ensure the colors and shades match evenly. For much the same reason, make sure you buy enough paper for all areas you want to cover.

Flooring
Flooring is not just an important aesthetic element of your home, it’s also the most prone to wear and tear. It’s the one part of your home that gets trampled on a daily basis. That’s why it’s so important to choose your flooring carefully. A floor may look great, but that’s irrelevant if it can’t stand up to the abuse of walking, spills and repeated cleaning. High-quality flooring requires a significant investment of dollars – even more if it’s to be installed by professionals. You can save quite a bit of money by doing the work yourself, but be warned that the preparation of the floor and the physical labor of actually installing the new flooring can be a challenge.

The hard-floor leader in terms of low cost, attractiveness and durability is vinyl flooring, also known in the trade as resilient flooring. A key feature of resilient flooring is its ability to mimic more expensive types of flooring, such as ceramic tile. Resilient flooring is available in both sheets and tiles. If your desired floor does not mimic the look of tile, sheet flooring might be the more suitable option, as it provides a smooth, seamless surface in small rooms. Its major disadvantage is its vulnerability to dents and tears.

Ceramic tile costs more than vinyl flooring, but it’s both durable and attractive. It’s also easy to clean. There is a wide variety of ceramic tile, so take your time finding the right style, color and texture. The surface of ceramic tile is cold underfoot.

Even more durable is stone, a material that goes back to the earliest homes. Stone such as slate, marble, flagstone and granite provide a tough and attractive surface, but like ceramic tile it can be cold to the touch and slippery.
Hardwood flooring also is a popular choice, a throwback to an earlier time when wood floors were more common. Oak is the most popular wood used in such flooring, although beech, birch, cherry and maple also are used. Wood flooring has the unique ability to warm up a room. But be careful. Some finishes scratch easily and are difficult to maintain properly.

Then there’s carpeting, the mainstay of modern homes. It’s a popular choice for many reasons, among them cost, ease of installation, durability, attractiveness and comfort. And, unlike hard surfaces such as tile and stone, it’s a natural sound-deadener. Carpeting comes in a seemingly endless array of styles, colors and weaves, utilizing a wide range of material from inexpensive synthetics to wool and olefin. As a general rule, carpeting should be avoided in rooms that get wet, such as bathrooms and kitchens. But if your mind is set, choose a simple synthetic weave to prevent water damage.

Outdoor Projects
So, you’re feeling a little more ambitious. Maybe you’d like to shield that wide-open patio from the sun and the elements. Or, maybe you need a block wall, or a retaining wall for that out-of-control backyard slope. Whatever it is you need, if you’re attaching something to the house, getting too cozy with the neighbor’s lot line or seriously altering the contours of your property, it would be a smart move to go over your plans with the appropriate government agency. For most of us in the Santa Clarita Valley, that would be the kind folks at Santa Clarita City Hall, located at 23920 Valencia Blvd.

The city’s Building & Safety Division is responsible for ensuring that new construction follows established safety guidelines and standards as outlined in state building codes. Although the details can get very specific, the basics for allowable construction are these:

• A permit is required to build, remodel, repair, demolish or move any structure.
• A separate permit is required for each building or structure.
• Separate permits are required for grading, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, fire sprinkler, pressure vessel or elevator work on the site.

The city has done a great job of providing all of this information where it is most convenient and accessible: the Internet. A comprehensive collection of legal guidelines, information packets, official forms and permit applications can be downloaded at www.santa-clarita.com/cityhall/pbs/building/. Of course, you can also accomplish this by driving down to City Hall, located at 23920 Valencia Blvd.

Patio Covers
Patio covers – both shaded and covered – are such a familiar sight in Santa Clarita Valley backyards, that the city already has the plans drawn up for you. Seriously! All you have to do is fill in the blanks, make sure zoning and building guidelines are followed – and, of course, pay your fees. You can do this by dropping by the Buiding & Safety Department at City Hall or simply downloading the plans, guidelines and application from the comfort of your home. A complete fill-in-the-blanks plan for a standard patio cover can be downloaded at: www.santa-clarita.com/cityhall/pbs/building/patiocovers.asp.

Oh, there’s just one more thing. Someone has to actually build it. If you’re handy, you could theoretically tackle a project like this yourself, but most people leave this sort of work to the professionals. The Santa Clarita Valley has lots of contractors. And with all the new homes being built, they’re usually pretty busy, so plan a project like this ahead of time.

Generally speaking, non-enclosed patio covers must have a minimum setback of 5 feet to the side and rear property lines, and a minimum 20-foot setback to the front property line when located in the front yard. Enclosed patio covers need to have a 15-foot setback to the rear property line. Setbacks, or the distance between what your building and the property line, are measured to the supporting posts. A patio cover is defined as a single-story structure not to exceed 12 feet in height. They must be used for outdoor recreational purposes – not as carports, garages, storage rooms or habitable rooms.

Block & Retaining Walls
If you need a retaining wall, we’ve got some good news. Not all of them require a city permit. A permit is not required when the retaining wall would support less than 4 feet of level soil, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall – unless supporting a surcharge. The bad news applies to walls supporting 4 feet or more of level soil, which require a city permit.

Block walls fall under different guidelines – actually, just one major guideline that will dictate whether a permit is needed. Put simply, construction of any block wall that will be higher than 42 inches requires a city permit before construction begins.

Information on masonry wall construction can be downloaded at: www.santa-clarita.com /cityhall/pbs/building/masonrywalls.asp, Information on retaining walls can be found at: www.santa-clarita.com/cityhall/pbs/ building/retainingwalls.asp.