Compliments on your remodeling efforts are always a welcome payoff, but nothing beats seeing your home value rise as a result of your hard work.

It can be tricky to determine which home improvement projects are worth the sweat and which aren't. To gain the most from your improvements, select projects that do more with what you already have.

Projects that add value:

Kitchen and bath updates
Replacement of exterior siding 
Fresh interior paint 
Rejuvenation of landscaping

Less-profitable projects share one of three flaws: they cost too much, they involve a space that isn’t used every day or they reflect too much of your personal taste.

Projects that won't raise your home's value include:

Turning a spare bedroom into a home office
Conversion of a garage into a family room 
Screening an outdoor room 
Adding a deluxe kitchen upgrade into anything but an upscale home

Take a look at the sweat scale and see how some of the most popular home improvements rate:

• The Sweat Scale

  $ - You’ll break a sweat trying to break even at resale.
  $$ - Probably not worth the sweat you’ll put into it.
  $$$ - Sweat the cost or style details to make money on this project.
  $$$$ - A good bet for turning the sweat of your brow into sweat equity.
  $$$$$ - You’ll be making money before the sweat dries.