A whole home renovation on an older Claremont house starts with a sorting job. Every system, wall, door and window goes into one of three columns: keep, repair or replace. Where each part lands sets most of the price, so we do that sorting on site before any figure gets written.
This quote needs the house in front of us. Send the year it was built, the rooms you want changed and your plan for living arrangements during the work, and we will book a walk-through for your whole-house quote.
Renovating an older Claremont house from the inside out
A full job means replacing what has aged out behind the plaster and changing how the rooms connect, all on one contract. For a house built before about 1970, that usually reads as new wiring, new supply lines, drain work, framing repairs and a reworked floor plan. Our whole home remodeling page lays out the order of that work.
The finished house should still look like itself. Solid casings, paneled doors, built-ins and wood sashes can earn the labor of saving when they are sound. We name each one in the scope and give a reason. Anything we would take out gets a reason too, so you can argue with us before demolition starts.
A string of separate room remodels pays to open the same walls more than once. On a full job, the electrician, plumber and framer share one opening, and the inspector sees their work together at the rough stage.
What sets the price of a full renovation
Five conditions in the house carry this quote. Finish choices come after them.
Wiring and pipe condition. Knob-and-tube circuits, a fuse panel, galvanized supply and cast iron drains each add labor, and one house can hold all four. Earlier owners may have replaced part of this already, and sound newer runs can sometimes stay. Our notes on rewire pricing and repipe pricing break those two lines down further.
Plaster. A wall we save costs patching labor at each opening. A wall we strip costs demolition, dust control and new board from our flooring and drywall crew. Plaster still keyed to its lath usually stays. Where it has pulled away across a whole wall, the quote moves that wall to drywall and says so.
Layout changes. Moving a kitchen or adding a bath reroutes drains and vents along with the wall itself. Taking out a wall that carries load adds an engineer, a beam and structural work. We settle which walls carry load before pricing a new plan, because a partition and a bearing wall are very different lines.
Original parts kept. Pulling a casing by hand, numbering it, storing it and fitting it back takes more hours than nailing up new stock. A missing piece may need a matching profile milled. Sash repair sits on its own line beside the price of a matching unit from our windows and doors work, so you can choose opening by opening.
Living in or out. Staying means phases, dust barriers, a working bath throughout and more trips for each trade. Moving out for the rough stage shortens the schedule and drops most of that setup. When both are realistic, we write both prices and the gap between them is yours to weigh.
What decides the scope, and who should run it
Two choices shape this job more than any others: how much of the house opens, and who answers for all of it.
A plan that stops at the kitchen and baths leaves old circuits feeding new rooms. Going through the house from the panel outward costs more now and keeps finished work from being reopened later. If the budget cannot carry every room this year, we would put systems first and leave floors and paint for a later phase. Need one failing part fixed before you commit to anything larger? Tell us, and we will price that repair on its own.
Hire one contractor who holds the trades, the schedule and the inspections under a single contract. Ask each bidder to name which original pieces survive their plan and what happens when a wall hides something. Vague answers to those two are a reason to keep looking. Our post on comparing remodeling bids has more to put to them.
Claremont's own permit list covers plumbing work, electrical panel work and the removal of any part of a wall, window or door in a remodel. Paint, carpet, cabinets and interior trim count as cosmetic there. A full renovation crosses that line, so permit costs belong in the first draft of your quote.
Our Claremont walk-through and the quote that follows
We meet you at the house and go room by room. Expect the panel cover off, a trip under the floor and another into the attic. Old flooring, paint and plaster get flagged for testing, since a positive result for asbestos or lead changes the order of work and adds a line. We are based in Claremont, so a second look before you sign is a short drive.
Your quote arrives in writing, organized by system and then by room. The keep, repair and replace columns run beside those lines, each with its reason. Finishes appear as named allowances you can raise or lower before signing. A phased version, if it applies, carries its own total. Anything a wall hides comes back to you as a priced change on paper, and the crew waits for your answer.
Papers and lists for the first visit
- The year built, plus any drawings or old permits you have found.
- The original pieces you love, and any you would happily lose.
- Rooms you want moved or joined, even on a rough sketch.
- Where you expect to live during the rough stage.
- Your priorities in order, in case the first draft runs past your budget.
- A lender's document list, if you plan to borrow against a written scope.
We take full renovations in Claremont and close by in La Verne, San Dimas and Glendora. Call us or send the form with the year your house was built, and we will set the walk-through.