Whole-home remodeling in San Antonio

5%² of the city's homes were built before 1940, and another 14%² in the two decades after. Open the walls of a house that old and expect to replace wiring and supply lines near the end of their life, so put them in the budget before the tile and cabinets.

SAWS offers a free water service line inspection through Project Lead, and homes built before 1989 that haven't had a service line inspection are eligible.¹⁶ If the house qualifies, have the line checked before the plumber reroutes the supply inside. Unless a lead-based paint inspection shows otherwise, the EPA says to treat paint in homes built before 1978 as if it contains lead.¹⁷ For homes built before 1978, the EPA advises hiring contractors who use only lead-safe certified renovators.¹⁸

Expansive clay soils swell when they take on water and shrink as they dry, and those cycles can crack foundations and walls, jam doors and tilt floors.¹⁹ Sticking interior doors or a crack running straight across a tile floor are worth a foundation assessment before new flooring hides them.

San Antonio's local historic districts include King William, Monte Vista, Tobin Hill, Dignowity Hill, Lavaca and Government Hill, among others.¹⁵ In San Antonio, exterior changes and repairs to a property with a historic zoning overlay need a Certificate of Appropriateness, including work in side and rear yards not readily visible from the street.¹⁵

Minor projects in San Antonio's historic districts can usually be approved by Office of Historic Preservation staff without a public hearing.¹⁵ San Antonio's Office of Historic Preservation doesn't need to approve work that is interior only, with no work on exterior windows or doors, though a Development Services permit may still be required.¹⁵ A renovation that stays inside the walls skips that review. Replacing windows, rebuilding a porch or adding a room at the back brings it back in, so talk to the office before the drawings are final.

San Antonio adds that even work on that list may face design and material restrictions in a Historic, Neighborhood Conservation or Corridor District.²⁰

Texas limits how much a homestead's appraised value can rise in a year to 10 percent over the prior year's value, but the market value of new improvements is added on top of that limit; repairs and ordinary maintenance don't count as new improvements.²¹ A new bedroom, an added bath or a second story is the sort of improvement the Bexar Appraisal District can value above that limit, while repairing what is already there doesn't count. If the tax bill is part of your budget, ask the district about your plan early.

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.¹⁷ The EPA advises keeping occupants, especially children, away from the work area during a remodel and cleaning up the site before they return.¹⁷

San Antonio's airport averages 122 days²² a year with highs of ninety or more, so a house with the air handler disconnected is hard to stay in. Ask the company to sequence the work so one bathroom and the cooling keep running until the replacements pass inspection, or plan to move out for the demolition weeks.

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.²³ In San Antonio, 32%²⁴ of owner-occupied homes are headed by someone sixty-five or older. While the walls are open, ask for solid blocking behind the bathroom walls, a wider door into one bath and a shower floor without a curb, all far cheaper now than after the finishes go in. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.²⁵

Dial the number on this page and a recorded line rings through to one independent company that handles whole-home remodels in the San Antonio area. The rooms, the order of the work and the price are settled between you and that company.

Our income is a fee that company pays for each call. Nothing is billed to you, and nobody from our side will phone or text you later. How we make money

Texas licenses the trades on a remodel, not the remodeler, so look up the trades and read the contract closely. In Texas, anyone can be a general contractor, including a homeowner, and no state license is required for that role.²⁶ San Antonio's Find a Contractor page offers a search by type of work, and contractors whose city registration is canceled or suspended go on its Contractor Sanctions Report.²⁷ A Texas contract for improvements to a homestead must carry a bold-type notice warning the owner that failing to meet the contract's terms could cost them legal ownership rights in the home.²⁸ Check a Texas license