DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY : REMODELING PROJECTS STAND HOMEOWNERS AT THRESHOLD OF COMFORT, BEAUTY - AND FUTURE FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE.

Byline: Lynette Rice Daily News Staff Writer

Guests didn't always feel welcome at Stephen Soodul's house in Woodland Hills.

There was no front door.

Anyone who arrived at Soodul's 2,000-square-foot home on Poe Avenue had a small search on their hands because the main entry was hidden on the side of the property, somewhere behind the wrought-iron fence and away from the exclusive street.

``They just gave up looking,'' Soodul recalled.

No such problem today. Thanks to help from Glendale architect Franco Moravian, Soodul's new entryway practically lures guests up the brick porch to the double mahogany doors with leaded glass and Baldwin hardware. There's no missing the massive stone facade with the nifty lion's head doorbell: It's at the front of the house now.

Not only did Soodul get the entryway he wanted, it was also a great start when it comes to exterior remodeling.

``It's about adding curb appeal, making sure the house has more character to it, a better look from the street,'' said Bryan Patchan, executive director of the Remodelers Council, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

Exterior improvements are often prompted by a need to sell, Patchan said. An attractive view from the street will surely beckon a potential buyer to its threshold.

``There are two things people can do to make a dramatic impact to their home that represents the least expensive thing they can do themselves - front yard landscaping and painting,'' said Ken Willis, president of the Ontario-based League of California Homeowners, a nonprofit, public benefit association that provides consumer information and assistance to its member homeowners.

``We recommend people use a licensed landscape contractor if they are going to do major stuff,'' Willis said. ``But a lot of people are competent at ripping out grass and laying new sod. It's the easiest thing to create instant curb appeal.

``But don't do the landscaping until you paint the house first.''

Most folks have more selfish reasons when considering an exterior remodeling project.

``They just want to make it look better by refreshing the finishes,'' said Howard Chandler of R.S. Means, a Massachusetts-based book publisher and major supplier of construction cost data to consumers and contractors. ``They're probably looking for some type of enhancement, like changing the paint, or possibly the front door. From there, they may go to different sidings or front porch or steps.''

Whatever the project, the first decision to make is whether to attempt it yourself.

``We have a simple rule of thumb we pass on to people,'' Willis said. ``If you are going to be performing any kind of work that would directly entail work on the foundation, or the structural integrity of the home, you need to get an architect.

``If you're going to be doing the kind of work in your home, like simply putting bay windows in, obviously a licensed contrator can do that without having to go to an architect,'' he said. ``In terms of simple makeup, like paint and that kind of thing, its very easy to do it yourself.''

Architects can be found through professional agencies such as the Pasadena and Foothill chapter of the American Institute of Architects (see telephone number below). Contractors are often found through referrals generated at hardware or home shops, and can be backed up with a call to the Contractor State License Board to insure their professional status (see related story).

Welcome to your first project Patchan of the Remodelers Council believes any outdoor remodeling project should begin at the front door.

``Regardless of style, too often in older homes they do not have a good entryway to the house,'' said Patchan. ``The front door needs to be highlighted, emphasized, made more visually appealing and stronger or the door will get lost.''

Oftentimes, a homeowner can spruce up a flat entryway by adding a small porch or a roof overhang, Patchan said. Decorative, modified pillars also provide some flair.

``Mainly you want to bring the eyes' attention to the doorway by creating a little porch or covering,'' he said. ``It's also a functional improvement to the house. If it's raining, you'll have that transition. It's not totally outdoors and it's not indoors.''

Glendale architect Moravian saw Fred Farzan's 1954 ranch house in Woodland Hills as a perfect candidate for a gable - the best fix for a ho-hum entryway.

``There was nothing there. There was just a single door, no emphasis on where the entry was,'' Moravian said. ``I added double doors and put a gable over it. It brought up the whole scale of the house.''

Now, Farzan has a tall, stucco entryway that recedes from his semicircular driveway on Winnetka Drive. The spacious enclosure is illuminated by a fancy hanging fixture.

Soodul of Woodland Hills took a more drastic - but needed - approach by building a new entryway to his 1972 home. His mahogany front doors are now in the place where his fireplace used to be, while double doors hang in lieu of the old entryway, opening to a light and airy living room with pale walls and white carpet.

``His entryway wasn't centered with the whole house,'' said Moravian, who also remodeled Soodul's home. ``It was off-centered. We moved the whole front door. There was not enough front entry, it wasn't visible, and I was just trying to emphasize where the front door was going to be.''

When it comes to adding gables, Farzan strongly suggests hiring an architect - and taking the time to plan.

``I didn't plan what I was going to do, so I ended up basically rebuilding the house,'' said Farzan. ``And find a good general contractor who will find all the subcontractors. Don't do it yourself. I handled all the subcontracting.''

Farzan's architect said he charges less than $500 for a design consultation on simple projects like gables.

``If you have just an idea and you want a gable, its never going to be absolutely right. It's better to invest a little money for a design consultation,'' Farzan said. ``You can do a real simple gable for less than $1,000.''

Next, be choosy about the quality of your front door. Soodul found a great deal on his, but ultimately had to send them back to the painter to restain the mahogany (it cost $900 the first time around).

``You want to keep quality in mind. Forget about the price. You only buy quality once,'' said Arnold Watson, a sales consultant at Terry Sash and Door in Reseda.

Plenty of doors originate from California manufacturers, and are primarily made of paint grade poplar and maple, Watson said. If you want a stained door like Soodur's, then mahogany, oak and douglas fir may be the answer. At Terry Sash and Door, some sell as low as $600 and as high as $10,000. All glass is tempered in the doors - a building code requirement.

Standard and windowless 36-inch by 80-inch doors can be purchased for as low as $50 from Home Depot outlets - sans the holes for doorknobs and locks, that is. The do-it-yourself warehouse sells the necessary tools and offers free advice in the building department on how to hang the door.

They'll also try to beat a price at a competitor by 5 percent and take returns on doors - as long as they are not damaged or drilled, said Tommy Castillo, a sales associate at the Canoga Park store.

But novices - especially those with little or no woodwork experience - need not apply here. There are no second chances when it comes to installing a door.

``If you're buying a high-end door for about $1,300, there's no way you're going to want to risk fooling around with it,'' said Watson of Terry Sash and Door. ``You risk losing that investment.''

Make sure the cost of your door is appropriate for both your house and the neighborhood, said RonF Freiburn of Moorea Door Installation in Thousand Oaks.

``I've seen a lot of upgrading since the earthquake, and it's almost sickening what people are doing. People are spending an awful lot on the door and making it the crown of the house,'' said Freiburn, who, in a good week, will hang as many as 100 doors.

Freiburn offers these tips when selecting and hanging a door:

Make sure the thickness of your door coordinates with the thickness of your jam.

Make sure the door accepts your hardware. Too often, Freiburn said, he has clients who ask why a fancy lock and escutcheon plate can't be centered on already thin rails.

Completely seal the door with a coat of oil-based primer and three coats of water-based paint on the front and back and all four edges. Paint inside the mail slot, if you have one.

Pre-drill everything, from the kick plate to the peephole.

Facades and things Did a new gable over the door draw some attention to the low overhang from your roof? It's not an uncommon sight, especially among ranch houses throughout the San Fernando Valley.

That can be fixed quickly and on the cheap by simply cutting it back - often for $1,000 or less, said Glendale architect Moravian.

``Large overhangs tend to make the house look a lot shorter. When you look at the house from the street, all you see is the roof.''

Moravian also suggests a new wooden fascia, or trim around the roofline. Soodul, for instance, got a double-layered one for his Woodland Hills home.

Hans and Karla Struff went one better in an effort to beautify the front of their house: They added a bow, or rounded, window from Pella to the front of their Mission Hills home.

``There was a 5-foot window there, but it was flat and had a wood frame,'' said Hans Struff. ``My wife and I never really liked it. It was done cheap, and sometimes when we had a heavy rain, it would come in. My wife always wanted to have a bow window, and so we finally decided now is the time.''

It took a weFek for the four-panel, bow window to be installed in the white Spanish-style home they share with their son, who owns the property. In all, it cost the couple $5,100 to buy and install the window, and paint.

``We expected it to cost around $5,000,'' said Hans Struff of the window, which is framed on the outside by magenta and purple bougainvillea vines. ``It's worth every penny.''

Though homeowners can buy a double-hung single window for as low as $500, expect to pay more than you would for a simple outdoor paint job for your home, said Holly Haneson, an outside salesperson at Pella in Studio City.

``When you do windows, it's more of an investment,'' said Haneson. ``When you replace aluminum or old wood windows, you know you'll never have to replace them again. It's a permanent fixture.''

Driving you crazy? ``Oftentimes in Southern California, there is too much visual going on with the garage,'' said the Remodeling Council's Patchan. ``If you're standing in the street looking at the house, technically you shouldn't see three garage doors. You shouldn't even see two. It should be different in a way.

``If the house is essentially flat, a two- or one-car garage that sweeps across the wall without any break is bad,'' he said.

If you've got money, Patchan said, you may consider bumping the garage back on the property. But homeowners can lessen the impact of the garage door on the cheap by either painting it the same color as the exterior of the house, or lessening its visual weight through landscaping.

Driveways If cracks and potholes are as prevalent in your driveway as they are on city streets, then it's time to consider a more attractive surface - not to mention an instant boost to the outside of your home.

``It's like an improvement you've been waiting to do, like getting a new haircut,'' said Lyndol James, owner of Cave Man Masonry in Simi Valley.

The amount of money in your pocket will help you decide what surface to select. Asphalt is often cheapFer but has to be topped every couple of years with a layer of tar, James said. Cement is more of a ``one-time deal,'' he added, because of its durability.

Those not wanting a flat slab of white cement can incorporate ribbons of brick down the sides and across the driveway, James said. The price is not so bad, either: James said he'll charge anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000 to remove the existing driveway and repave it with cement and brick ribbons.

If a solid brick path is your dream, expect to spend nearly $2,000 more, he said.

Color your world If you're thinking about painting the house yourself, you're not alone. Legions of homeowners are opting to take over the job themselves, said Willis of the League of California Homeowners.

``They feel competent they can do it, especially with houses built since 1970,'' Willis said. ``They are primarily done in colored stucco; all you have to do is confine your painting to the wood trim and windows. You don't have to worry about the stucco.

``If you have a house with wood siding, then you're going to paint the surface areas of the houses,'' he said.

Just take precautions. Any home built before 1978 may have lead-based exterior paint. If you're stripping or sanding the surfaces, make sure to control the dust, especially with children present, Willis said. Inhaling lead-based paint particles can adversely effect the brain and nervous systems.

Cover the ground, too; the lead-based paint dust can get in the soil.

Still not sure of the age of your exterior coat? There are licensed individuals who can come in for less than $200 to test your surface and not mar the walls, Willis said.

All paint on the market now is water-based. The sale of lead-based paint ended in 1978.

Need more help? Before picking up a hammer or paintbrush, Chandler of R.S. Means suggests getting the latest copy of the publishing house's ``Exterior Home Improvement Costs'' at local bookstores. The $19.95 book covers every potential cost, from rFeplacing gutters and siding, to painting, installing replacement windows, new front steps and landscaping. It also helps you decide whether you can do it yourself or whether a contractor is needed.

The book is updated every two years and can help you to figure out regional costs for improvements.

Here's a list of helpful telephone numbers:

Architects can be found through the Pasadena and Foothill chapter of the American Institute of Architects, [phone]. The AIA also will host its first Home Show on Aug. 24 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. Highlights of the show include a mini-trade show featuring new, unique or hard-to-find products, seminars on design, remodeling, financing and working with an architect, and a complimentary design clinic. For information, call [phone].

To check whether a contractor is properly licensed, call the Contractors State License Board at its automated number: [phone]. You must have a touch-tone phone and know the license number of your contractor. The local number for the state License Board is [phone].

The League of California Homeowners can be reached at [phone] or [phone]. For $15 a year, members can have access to a background checking service on contractors, receive free legal advice on real estate matters, and get referrals for contractors. Its World Wide Web site is www.lch.org/lch.

The 20th annual Home Remodeling and Decorating Show takes place noon to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. April 20 and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 21 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. Admission is $5.75 for adults, $3 for seniors, free for children under 12. For more information, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

9 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) TAKE IT OUTSIDE

Updating your e xterior is a blueprint for greater curb appeal

(2--Color) ``People are spending an awful lot on the door and making it the crown of the house,'' says Ron Freiburn of Moorea Door Installation in Thousand OaFks.

David Crane/Daily News

(3--4) The entry to Stephen Soodul's Woodland Hills home was difficult to find when it was located on a side wall. People ``just gave up looking,'' he says. The new entrance, which faces the street, is hard to miss - framed in stone and featuring such decorative touches as a lion's head doorbell.

(5--Color) A new front entry becomes the gateway to luxurious living in Stephen Soodul's Woodland Hills home.

(6) A new entry - accented with gleaming hardware - reflects positively on Stephen Soodul and his Woodland Hills home.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News

(7--8--Color) The drab single-door entrance to Fred and Rita Farzan's 1954 ranch house has been replaced with double doors and a gable, which ``brought up the whole scale of the house,'' says their architect, Franco Moravian. The doors, left, feature a stained-glass peacock design.

Tina Gerson/Daily News

(9--Color) The $5,100 bow window added to Karla and Hans Struff's Mission Hills home is ``worth every penny,'' Hans says.

John McCoy/Daily News