Construction & Remodeling Services in Pacific Heights
We design and build Pacific Heights renovations under one roof.
Pacific Heights is grand Victorian and Edwardian houses, many in historic districts where the envelope is protected and the review is real. The work is structural as much as it is design — framing, systems, and a permit set that clears SF DBI review the first time. One team, one fixed proposal, from the first feasibility sketch to the final inspection sign-off.
About Our Work in Pacific Heights
Pacific Heights’s homes reward careful work. These are heritage homes — protected facades, original detailing, and interiors that have to meet modern code behind the plaster. We’ve spent years working inside conditions like these: filing with SF DBI, coordinating structural and Title 24 compliance, and sequencing trades so a family can stay in the house where it’s possible. Design and build live under one roof, which is the only way the drawings and the budget stay honest with each other.
Services We Offer in Pacific Heights
The full design-build scope, delivered by one team — design, permits, and construction under a single contract.
Neighborhoods We Serve
We build across Pacific Heights — from the Gough Street mansions toward the Fillmore edge.
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Professionals Tips
Budget a real contingency on older homes
Older houses reveal hidden conditions once the walls open — dated wiring, dry rot, sometimes asbestos in old tile or insulation. We plan a 10–15% contingency on pre-1978 stock from the start, because the house always has an opinion once you’re inside it.
Permit timelines depend on scope and review
An over-the-counter interior remodel can clear SF DBI in 1–10 business days; a full kitchen with layout and systems changes runs four to eight weeks in plan review. Historic and design review in Pacific Heights adds time; we plan the set for it. We file the set to clear the first time.
Open the wall before you price the wall
On an older house, what’s behind the plaster sets the number. Because we design and build under one roof, the structural reality — a bearing wall, a tired foundation, a relocated soil stack — gets priced into the fixed proposal instead of arriving later as a change order.
The specification is the design
Rift-sawn white oak, honed quartzite, unlacquered brass, Heath tile — we name and detail the materials and junctions before demolition, so the trades build to a drawing rather than a guess. Restraint reads as luxury; vagueness reads as risk.
Build Title 24 in at the drawing stage
Any California remodel that touches lighting, windows, or HVAC has to meet Title 24, and inspectors check at final. We plan the LED layout, fenestration, and mechanical for compliance up front, so a finished room never fails its last inspection.
Plan the project as a sequence
A full-scope renovation is roughly several weeks of design, a permitting window, and a few months of construction. Knowing the order — feasibility, fixed proposal, permits, then build with weekly site reports — is what keeps a project from stalling between trades.
Real Projects. Real Results.
Explore examples of completed remodeling and construction projects across San Francisco. View before-and-after transformations and see how thoughtful planning and execution make a difference.
Why Homeowners Choose Us in Pacific Heights
- One design-build team — architecture, permits, and construction under one contract
- We file with SF DBI and carry the set through plan review and inspection
- A fixed proposal out of feasibility — your number before demolition begins
- Weekly site reports and one point of contact, not a relay race between trades
- Licensed and insured — CSLB #1096552
FAQ
Almost always. Anything structural, electrical, plumbing, or that changes a layout needs a permit from SF DBI. Interior remodels that qualify for over-the-counter review can be issued in 1–10 business days; full kitchens and baths with systems changes run four to eight weeks in plan review. We file the set and carry it through final inspection.
Plan on several months door to door for full-scope work — a design phase, a permitting window, and a construction phase. Single-room remodels are shorter. You get the real sequence in feasibility, not a guess.
Often, for single-room or phased projects — we seal the work zone, protect the path, and keep a kitchen and bath functional where we can. Full-home or structural work is usually safer and faster with the house empty. We tell you honestly which one your project is before we start.
It depends on scope — a finishes-forward remodel, a full layout change, and structural work are different numbers. The citywide permitted-kitchen average is about $74,144, drawn from tens of thousands of SF permit filings, but that includes every modest refresh; the full-scope, design-build work we take on runs higher. Your fixed number comes out of feasibility, not a webpage.
Yes — that’s the point of design-build. Architecture, engineering, permits, and construction sit under one contract and one schedule, so the drawings and the budget stay honest with each other and nothing falls through the gap between a designer and a separate contractor.
Older houses hide dated wiring, tired foundations, dry rot, and sometimes asbestos in old materials. We plan a 10–15% contingency on pre-1978 stock and open exploratory areas early, so the surprises are priced in feasibility rather than billed as change orders.
Yes — from the Gough Street mansions toward the Fillmore edge. Permit paths differ by area: historic or hillside review adds time. Our studio is on Union Street in San Francisco, and we build across the Bay Area.
We start with a feasibility conversation and a site walk, then put a fixed proposal in writing — not a vague range. You’ll know what the design fees, permits, materials, labor, and contingency cover before any demolition begins.
Projects done in Pacific Heights
The full design-build scope, delivered by one team — design, permits, and construction under a single contract.
