Whole-home remodeling in Baltimore

Robert Hooke, who rehabbed two Baltimore dollar houses in 1974 and later became a mason, says rowhouses are harder to renovate than to build new, because nothing is square and nothing is plumb.¹¹ That is truer on a whole-house job than on any single room, because new floors, cabinets and doors have to line up across every room at once.

Unless a lead-based paint inspection shows otherwise, the EPA says to treat paint in homes built before 1978 as if it contains lead.¹² For homes built before 1978, the EPA advises hiring contractors who use only lead-safe certified renovators.¹³ With plaster and trim coming off on every floor, ask how the company contains dust between rooms and cleans up each day.

The EPA notes that lead can collect inside galvanized pipe and later reach drinking water, and that solder made before 1986 contained high levels of lead.¹⁴ With the walls open, it is the cheapest moment you will get to replace old supply lines all the way back to the meter, and to ask whether the drain stack should go too.

If the house is in one of the city's historic districts, a large renovation may earn a property tax break. Baltimore City's CHAP tax credit is a 10-year property tax credit on the increase in a property's assessed value that comes from rehabilitation work, inside and out, on homes and commercial buildings in the city's historic districts, and it transfers to a new owner for the rest of its term.¹⁵

The state has a separate credit for owner-occupied historic houses. Maryland's Homeowner Tax Credit can return 20% of eligible rehabilitation costs, capped at $50,000 in a 24-month period, on an owner-occupied house that is a certified historic structure; plumbing work and restoring interior finishes can qualify, but work that is primarily remodeling usually does not.¹⁶ The Maryland Historical Trust must approve the work before it begins; work started before review won't qualify and can put the credit for the whole project at risk.¹⁶

Both programs care about the order of events, so apply before demolition starts and keep the company's invoices organized by room and by type of work.

If your rowhouse has one stair and one full bath, staying home during the work takes planning. Ask for a schedule that keeps the bath and a sink working until the new ones are ready, and finish the top floor before the kitchen if you'll be sleeping upstairs.

For very dusty work such as demolition, the EPA describes isolating the work area: sealing it off with no direct access to the occupied rooms, with workers using a separate entrance until cleanup is done.¹² In a narrow house with no second route through it, demolition weeks are usually the time to stay somewhere else.

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.¹⁷ A whole-house job is the cheapest time to plan for that, because the walls are already open.

Ask for blocking behind future grab bar locations, a wider bathroom door, lighting at the stairs top and bottom, and room on the first floor for a bath someday if the stairs become a problem. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.¹⁸

You call the number on this page. The call is recorded, and it goes to one independent company that handles whole-home remodels in the Baltimore area. You talk with them directly about the rooms, the order of work and the price.

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Look the company up yourself before signing a contract this large. Maryland's Home Improvement Commission licenses home improvement contractors and salespersons, and its License Search shows whether a license is current.¹⁹ Check a Maryland license