Santa Clara General Contractor for Home Remodeling

Architectural drawings for a Santa Clara project are prepared by our in-house architect when the scope needs them. We measure the house and draw the existing and proposed plans for the agreed work. The existing guide names the City's Permitting Online Portal (POP) and the Permit Center in the West Wing of City Hall, 1500 Warburton Avenue. Confirm that portal and counter before filing. Read how we handle permits in Santa Clara.

Before a Santa Clara roof color or product is chosen, ask the City which cool-roof bulletin applies to the slope and the amount of roof being replaced. This page does not set reflectance, emittance or weight thresholds.

Roof repair & replacement

Repainting stucco or siding is normally maintenance. The exception is a house on the City's Historic Resources Inventory. There, a Significant Property Alteration permit covers renovations, remodels and additions, while routine maintenance and repair stay exempt. Minor SPAs are decided at staff level. Major ones go to the Historical and Landmarks Commission for a recommendation before the Community Development Director decides. If a window, door or siding change is part of the plan on an inventoried house, we build that step into the schedule.

Interior & exterior painting

Kitchens in Santa Clara's mid-century houses often come with a gas range and an electrical panel that was never sized for today's appliances. The reach code doesn't make you go electric during a remodel, so choosing induction is up to you. If you do, Silicon Valley Power's residential electrification program may help with eligible equipment and wiring. Rules and amounts change, and the labor has to be done by a licensed contractor, so we confirm eligibility with you before ordering anything. Cabinet layout, counters, ventilation and lighting are drawn together with the circuits.

Kitchen remodeling

Bathroom remodeling covers tearing back to the studs, waterproofing the shower, tile, the vanity and an exhaust fan sized for the room. If the hall bath is the only full bathroom in the house, we plan the work in an order that keeps the house usable for as long as possible. Plans, energy forms where lighting or fans are changed, and the POP submittal are part of the job.

Bathroom remodeling

Flooring replacement is often part of a larger permitted job. We set finished heights at the kitchen, bath and hallway transitions first, then pick the material, so you don't end up with a lip at every doorway. On its own, a straight floor replacement doesn't usually need a permit.

Flooring installation

When several rooms, the roof and the systems are all on the list, one coordinated plan set beats a string of separate permits. Our in-house architect prepares the architectural plans, structural engineering is added where walls come out, and we sequence the trades.

Whole-home remodeling

The City's adopted 2023–2031 Housing Element (May 2024) shows that 1950s houses make up the largest single share of the city's housing, at about 21 percent, followed by the 1960s at 19 percent and the 1970s at 17 percent. Single-family detached homes account for about 42 percent of all units. The same document notes that the Old Quad area south of El Camino Real is among the places where homes may need more rehabilitation. For most of our Santa Clara conversations, that means a house of 50 to 75 years with original framing and at least one generation of updates already layered in.