Whole Home Renovation | Tampa Bay

When you renovate an entire house, the trades cannot work independently. Electrical rough-in has to follow framing and precede insulation. Plumbing has to be set before the slab is patched or the walls are closed. Ductwork has to be resolved before the ceiling goes back. Get the order wrong and work gets undone.

We run whole-home renovations on a single sequence with one point of accountability, which is what prevents the classic situation where four trades are each waiting on the one in front of them.

What an older Florida home usually needs

Houses built before the 1980s in this region tend to need the same set of things once they are opened up: the electrical service is undersized, the supply plumbing is at the end of its life, the drain lines are cast iron, and the windows are single glazed aluminium. None of it is visible before demolition begins, which is why a renovation budget needs a contingency for what the walls reveal.

Structural changes

Removing a wall to open a plan is the most common structural request, and it is rarely as simple as it looks. A wall may be load bearing, may be carrying the roof, or may be a shear wall the wind design depends on. Each of those needs a different solution, from a properly sized header to an engineered moment frame, and all of it is permitted and inspected work.

Living through a renovation

A full renovation usually means vacating, or at least living without a functioning kitchen or bathroom for a period. Phasing the work so one bathroom stays operational as long as possible is worth planning for, and it has to be built into the sequence from the start rather than arranged afterwards.

When to call

You have bought a house that needs everything updated
The layout no longer works for how you live
Systems are original and failing one after another
You are renovating before moving in
You want to open up a closed floor plan
A rental property needs a full turnover between tenants

How the work is handled

Assessment of the structure, systems and what is likely to be uncovered
Design and scope agreed with a written sequence of work
Permits where structural or system changes require them
Demolition, structural work and systems rough-in in sequence
Insulation, drywall, finishes, fixtures and final inspection

What affects the cost

We do not quote a number before seeing the property, because the same job on two similar houses can need different work. These are the factors that move the scope:

How far the renovation goes and how many systems are replaced
Whether walls are removed and whether they are load bearing
Condition of what is uncovered once demolition starts
Fixture and finish selections
Whether the house is occupied during the work
Permit requirements and any engineering for structural changes

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to move out during a whole-home renovation?

Most full renovations are faster and cheaper if the house is empty, and some are impractical to occupy once the kitchen and bathrooms come out. For partial renovations we phase the work so at least one bathroom stays usable as long as possible.

How much should I hold back for surprises?

On a pre-1980s house in this region, a contingency is not optional. Unpermitted prior work, deteriorated drain lines and undersized electrical are the three most common things found once walls are open. A realistic contingency is what stops those discoveries from halting the job mid-stream.

Can you remove a load-bearing wall?

Yes, with the right structural solution and a permit. A load-bearing wall can be carried on a header, and occasionally needs an engineered frame instead. Which one applies is determined by what the wall is carrying and by the wind design of the house.

Will the renovation meet current code?

Work you do now has to meet the code in force now, and that applies to the systems you touch. In older homes that can mean the electrical or plumbing you connect to has to be brought up to standard to pass inspection. We flag that before the work starts rather than during it.

Related services

Custom Home Building across Tampa Bay and Lakeland

Renovating a pre-1980s Tampa Bay home reliably uncovers undersized electrical, aged drain lines and single-glazed aluminium windows, so the scope tends to grow once walls are open. We work throughout Tampa, Brandon, Riverview, Valrico, Plant City, Lutz, Land O' Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Odessa, Zephyrhills, Lakeland.

What we see most often in this region

Original cast iron drain lines and galvanised supply pipe
Electrical services sized well below modern household load
Unpermitted prior alterations discovered during demolition
Single-glazed aluminium windows throughout older housing stock