@sol42 , agreeing with my colleague @JotikaT2 , that it is cost to you for the improvement that is added to your basis in case of improvement per sections 1011 thru 1021 of IRC. Thus if your cost to improve the home / asset with a new roof ( out of pocket expense ) is $25,000 then the whole amount is added to your basis at the time of actual execution of the improvement. This is in contrast to the depreciable basis which is based on actual FMV increase by the said improvement.
Make sense ?
