Kitchen remodeling
Bathroom remodeling
Home additions & ADU
Roofing
Windows & doors
Driveway & pavers
FenceFree written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable General Contractor Across Aptos
Hiring a general contractor in Aptos, CA means finding someone who understands what these coastal hillside homes actually require: geotechnical reviews on bluff parcels, erosion control for winter runoff, and honest pricing that accounts for what’s hiding inside 50-year-old walls. At San Mateo Construction, we’ve worked throughout Aptos, from Rio del Mar to Seacliff and up into the hills along the Soquel/Aptos corridor, and we know exactly what gets uncovered when you open up these homes. Call (855) 901-7266 to talk through your project and get a free, line-item estimate.
Why San Mateo Construction Is Aptos’s Preferred General Contractor Company
Our General Contractor team has built our local reputation in Aptos on one thing: we tell you the truth about what your job will cost before we start, not after we open a wall and find a problem. That matters here more than almost anywhere in Santa Cruz County. Aptos has a lot of 40-to-70-year-old redwood-and-stucco homes and mid-century ranches that look fine on the surface and hide corroded plumbing, undersized framing, and dry rot underneath. We write inspection-first contracts so you never get ambushed by a change order.
Noel Carrington, who leads our Aptos projects, has spent years working with coastal building departments and geotechnical engineers on bluff-edge and hillside permits. That experience means we schedule the reviews you need before demo starts, not after. We’re not a marketing company with a contractor logo. We’re the crew that shows up, does the investigation, and gives you a written price for exactly what we find.
Styles & brands we work with
Construction Company in Aptos
As a Construction Company serving Aptos, we handle everything from structural repairs and foundation work to full home additions and ADU builds on lots that often require geotechnical review and erosion control planning. If you own a home in the 95003 or 95001 ZIP, you already know the drill: steep grades, marine air, and a building department that wants engineering justification before approving anything on a slope. A typical project here requires more upfront planning than a flat lot in Capitola or Watsonville, and we price that reality into the estimate from day one.
Structural Work and Code Compliance
Older Aptos homes frequently need shear paneling, upgraded drainage, and foundation repairs once walls are opened and an inspector sees what’s behind them. We carry allowances for these code-triggered upgrades in every contract so the number you approve is the number you understand, not a fantasy bid.
New Construction and Additions
Home additions in Aptos run $45,000 to $130,000 depending on scope, engineering, and site conditions. ADU construction starts around $90,000 and can reach $220,000 for hillside builds with retaining walls and custom foundation work. We also build detached prefab ADUs through manufacturer partnerships like Abodu and Dvele, which can reduce on-site construction time compared to stick-built.
Remodeling Contractor in Aptos
As a Remodeling Contractor working throughout Aptos, we focus on kitchens, bathrooms, and whole-home renovations in older coastal homes that haven’t been opened up in decades. A kitchen remodel in Aptos typically runs $14,000 to $45,000, while a bathroom remodel lands between $9,000 and $28,000. The real question is what you find when you pull the drywall off, and that’s where our inspection-first process protects you.
Kitchen and Bath Remodels
Most Aptos kitchens and bathrooms we open have some combination of galvanized plumbing, ungrounded wiring, and water damage from decades of marine fog and winter rain. We write allowances for plumbing rough-in, electrical upgrades, and structural repairs into the contract. When we find something, you get a written change order with a firm price before we touch it.
Exterior and Whole-Home Scope
We also run exterior-to-interior remodels under one contract: re-roof with GAF or Owens Corning, re-side with James Hardie, replace windows with PGT or CGI impact-rated units, then remodel the kitchen and baths. The same crew is accountable for the whole thing. If you’re in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley or Day Valley and want one contractor, not five, that’s how we work.
Trusted Brands We Service in Aptos
We carry and install materials suited to Aptos’s salt air and wet winters: PGT and CGI impact windows, GAF and CertainTeed roofing, James Hardie siding, and Schluter waterproofing systems for wet-area tile. We also supply KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, Cambria and Caesarstone countertops, and Kohler or Grohe plumbing fixtures. You pick from name-brand options we’ve vetted, not whatever the local supply house has on the shelf that week. If you need parts matched to an existing system, we can usually source them faster than ordering online and waiting.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
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AfterCommon General Contractor Problems We See in Aptos Homes
- Hidden rot and corrosion in beach-adjacent framing. Homes near Seacliff and Rio del Mar sit in marine fog for months at a time, and redwood framing that looks solid often has hidden dry rot where salt moisture collected. We find it during demo and stop work until it’s addressed with a written change order.
- Inadequate foundation drainage on hillside lots. Canyon properties off the Aptos corridor channel winter runoff straight into foundations, and older homes were often built without modern drainage details. We add French drains and grading corrections as part of the scope when the inspector requires it.
- Undersized or damaged load-bearing framing. Mid-century ranches and older cottages frequently have framing that doesn’t meet current code for shear or load. This is exactly what happened on a bathroom wall near Seacliff, where we found corroded galvanized rough-in and undersized framing after opening the wall for a shower replacement.
- Failed waterproofing in wet areas. Shower pans and tub surrounds in 50-year-old Aptos homes often leak behind the tile for years before you see a stain on the ceiling below. We use Schluter systems on every wet-area remodel so the fix lasts longer than the original.
Pricing for General Contractor in Aptos, CA
Here’s what we’re seeing for common projects in Aptos right now. These are realistic ranges, not burner quotes designed to get a signature and balloon later.
| Project | Aptos Market Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Home Addition | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| ADU Construction | $90,000 – $220,000 |
Two things move your number: what we find when we open the walls, and what the geotechnical and permit reviews require on your specific parcel. That’s why we price allowances instead of pretending the unknown doesn’t exist. Call (855) 901-7266 for a free walkthrough and a written estimate before you commit to anything.
We Also Serve Cities Near Aptos
San Mateo Construction serves Aptos and the surrounding communities, including Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Day Valley, La Selva Beach, and Rio Del Mar. If you’re on a bluff in La Selva Beach or in a canyon off Larkin Valley Road, we already know the soil, the permits, and the inspectors. Same crew, same written pricing, same accountability.
Serving Aptos, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Aptos area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About General Contractor in Aptos
We write an inspection-first clause into every Aptos remodel contract, which means we open the walls or floors during a pre-construction investigation before the final price is locked, and we carry written allowances for rot repair, rewiring, and plumbing rough-in. Any surprise condition gets documented, priced, and approved by you in writing before we proceed. Call (855) 901-7266 to schedule a free inspection of your home before bidding.
Most hillside and bluff-top additions in Aptos require a geotechnical report, a structural engineer’s foundation design, and Coastal Commission-style setback review before the county will issue a building permit. We coordinate all of that before demolition starts, so you’re not paying for a crew to sit idle while paperwork moves. Our team has completed this process on parcels throughout the Soquel/Aptos corridor, including Seacliff and Rio del Mar.
A fixed bid on a 50-year-old Aptos home is usually a guess, because nobody can see inside the walls until they’re opened, and our allowances make each unknown a priced line item you approve before we cut. Without allowances, a contractor either pads the bid to cover their worst fear or submits a low number and hits you with change orders later. We prefer the honest version, and the contract spells it out in plain language.
Salt-laden fog and winter rain off Monterey Bay cause fastener corrosion, wood rot, and drainage problems on decks and foundations that inland homes never see, especially on properties within a mile of Seacliff or Rio del Mar. We specify stainless and galvanized hardware, pressure-treated or composite decking, and drainage details that hold up to the marine air. A deck that survives in Scotts Valley can fail in Aptos within a few winters if it’s built with the wrong materials.
We typically structure payment as an initial deposit, followed by draws at defined milestones: demo and rough-in inspection, mechanical and structural inspection, drywall and finishes, and final inspection. You pay for completed, inspected work, never a lump sum up front, and every draw is tied to a written schedule in your contract. Call (855) 901-7266 and we’ll walk you through how a draw schedule works for your specific project.
Written by Noel Carrington, Owner at San Mateo Construction, serving Aptos and the surrounding coastal communities.