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 Home Remodeling Across Montclair
Most homes in Montclair were built between the late 1940s and the 1970s, and when you open up a wall in one of them, you find things you couldn’t see at bid time: aluminum branch wiring, water-damaged subfloor, framing that’s shifted over six decades of settling. That’s the reality of remodeling in this city, and it’s why our process starts with an inspection before we ever hand you a number. We’re a single-source general contractor serving all of Montclair’s 91763 zip code, and we handle the whole scope, from re-roofing to kitchen cabinetry to rear-yard ADUs, under one contract. Call (855) 901-7266 for a free estimate on your project.
Why San Mateo Construction Is Montclair’s Preferred Home Remodeling Company
The reason a Montclair homeowner calls us is rarely just one trade. It’s a kitchen that hasn’t been touched since the Eisenhower administration, a bathroom with a failing pan, a garage that could become a rental unit, and maybe a roof that’s on its last season. We carry the full exterior-to-interior scope on purpose. The same crew that re-roofs your house can also remodel the kitchen, replace the windows, and pour a paver driveway, and that means one accountable contractor instead of a patchwork of subs you have to manage yourself.
Noel Carrington, our owner, built the company around a simple principle: write the quote honestly, then stand behind it. That shows up in the way our contracts handle what’s inside the walls of a 1950s tract home, because we know Montclair’s housing stock and we price for the realities of it. We don’t pad bids with vague contingency language. We put allowances in writing, and when something unexpected does surface, you get a line-item change order you approve before we move.
Our local reputation matters more than any marketing. We’ve remodeled homes near the Montclair Plaza, in the residential streets off Ramona Avenue, and throughout the neighborhoods that run up toward the 10 Freeway. We know the planning counter at San Bernardino County and we know how to get a setback variance through without stalling your project for months.
Styles & brands we work with
Whole House Remodel in Montclair
A whole house remodel in Montclair usually starts with a homeowner who loves their lot but has outgrown the house on it. These are post-WWII and ’50s-’70s single-story tract homes on small lots, and the projects that make the most sense here tend to be gut-and-rebuild interiors, rear-yard additions, and open-concept revisions that change the way the house flows while keeping the original footprint. That’s the pragmatic move on a built-out lot: work with what’s there, make it bigger and brighter, and do it without moving.
We handle the whole thing under one contract. Structural repairs, electrical panel upgrades, plumbing replacement, insulation, drywall, cabinetry, countertops, flooring, and paint. A full project typically runs $45,000-$130,000 depending on square footage and whether you’re adding space or rebuilding inside the existing shell. The number moves when we open walls and find what a 60-year-old house has been hiding, but we’ll get to that.
Electrical and Panel Upgrades
Most remodel quotes in Montclair that go sideways do so at the panel. Homes built before about 1970 often have 60-amp or 100-amp service and aluminum branch wiring, which was standard then and no longer safe under today’s load demands. When we plan a whole house remodel, we scope the electrical system first and write a realistic allowance into the contract so you’re not surprised by a change order after demo.
Rear-Yard ADU Conversion
Montclair is essentially built out, so the only way to add livable square footage without moving is usually upward or into the rear yard. We build detached ADUs and garage conversions, and we work through the variance process with the county before permits are submitted. That sequencing is the difference between a project that starts on schedule and one that sits at the planning counter for a season. ADU construction here runs $90,000-$220,000.
Luxury Home Remodeling in Montclair
Luxury home remodeling in Montclair means different things depending on the street. It could be a high-end kitchen with a Cambria island and KraftMaid cabinetry in a 1950s ranch near the Plaza, or a full interior redesign with a Grohe wet room, a walk-in shower with Schluter waterproofing, and flooring that carries from the front door through the entire footprint. What makes it luxury is the material selection and the layers of finish, not the zip code.
These jobs demand a GC who can coordinate the tile, the plumbing rough-in, the custom cabinet install, the countertop fabrication, and the lighting on one schedule. That’s our strength. We carry relationships with 50+ brands across cabinetry, countertops, plumbing fixtures, windows, roofing, siding, hardscaping, and ADU manufacturing, so the selections you make come from curated name-brand options, not whatever a sub happens to carry on the truck.
Custom Cabinetry and Countertops
We stock and install KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, and we fabricate Cambria, Silestone, and Caesarstone tops. A kitchen remodel in Montclair runs $14,000-$45,000, and a small kitchen closer to $9,000-$20,000. Cabinet installation alone sits at $4,000-$13,000, countertops at $2,000-$6,500, and a kitchen island install at $3,000-$10,000. These are real ranges for this market, not national averages.
Bath and Shower Systems
A luxury bath in a Montclair home didn’t exist when the house was built. We open what’s there and build it right with Schluter waterproofing, Kohler or Grohe fixtures, and a walk-in shower that doesn’t leak. Bathroom remodels run $9,000-$28,000; walk-in showers specifically $4,500-$12,000; tub-to-shower conversions $3,500-$10,000. On any 1960s bath, we plan for the waterproofing repair that nearly always follows.
Trusted Brands We Service in Montclair
We don’t ask you to trust a brand you’ve never heard of. The materials we install in Montclair homes come from suppliers we’ve worked with for years: James Hardie siding for the exterior, GAF and Owens Corning for roofing, PGT for impact windows, Cambria and Silestone for countertops, Kohler and Toto for plumbing, and Plant Prefab and Boxabl for modern ADU construction. Because we’re local to the region and work across the county, we can pull product quickly and keep your project moving. When you choose a finish, we’re quoting actual availability, not a catalog photo that may or may not ship in three months.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Home Remodeling Problems We See in Montclair Homes
- Aluminum branch wiring and undersized panels: 1950s-70s tract homes were built for a different electrical era. When we open walls for a kitchen or whole house remodel, the panel upgrade often becomes code-mandatory, not optional.
- Waterproofing failures behind original tub and shower pans: 1960s baths often have tile set directly against drywall or mud with no modern membrane. We’ve pulled pan after pan here and found rot spreading into the subfloor.
- Setback and lot-coverage variance stall-outs: Because Montclair is fully built out, any rear-yard ADU or room addition that pushes toward the property line runs into county planning. We resolve variances before permits go in.
- Heat and Santa Ana scheduling pressure: The inland Pomona Valley heat and Santa Ana wind events mean concrete pours happen early, roofing gets sequenced around wind advisories, and fire-resistant materials get specified more often than not.
Pricing for Home Remodeling in Montclair, CA
| Project Type | Typical 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 |
Those ranges reflect actual Montclair market conditions: small lots, older utility connections, and the code upgrades that get triggered once a wall comes down. What moves a number isn’t mystery. It’s what’s inside the wall. We’ll inspect before we quote, and we’ll put clear allowances in the contract so you’re never handed a surprise without a line item. Call (855) 901-7266 to schedule a free estimate. We’ll walk the property, talk through what you want, and give you a line-item range in writing.
We Also Serve Cities Near Montclair
We do a lot of work in the surrounding Pomona Valley communities. If you’re in Montclair and your relative across the line in Claremont, Ontario, Upland, or La Verne needs the same whole-home scope, we’ve got them covered too. Check out our Home Remodeling services for the full breakdown of what we handle.
Serving Montclair, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Montclair 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 Home Remodeling in Montclair
Because most Montclair homes were built between the late 1940s and the 1970s, and the conditions inside the walls rarely match what’s visible on the surface. Aluminum branch wiring, water-damaged subfloor under old tile, undersized framing, and failed waterproofing are all common finds during demo. A bid that doesn’t account for these realities is a bid that will change. We handle it differently: we inspect before we quote, write realistic allowances into the contract, and any surprise gets priced line by line and approved in writing before we touch it. Call (855) 901-7266 for an exact scope and number.
Yes, for almost any kitchen or bath remodel that involves moving walls, replacing electrical wiring, relocating plumbing, or changing the structure. Montclair falls under San Bernardino County building requirements, and when a 1950s-70s house gets opened up, inspectors will flag code upgrades tied to the existing panel, wiring, and waterproofing. We pull the permits ourselves, schedule the inspections, and don’t close a wall until it’s signed off. That’s not a bureaucratic annoyance; it’s the only way to make sure the house is safe and the work is legal. Call (855) 901-7266 and we’ll walk you through the exact permit path for your project.
Usually yes, but it depends on your lot dimensions, setbacks, and what’s already built. Montclair is almost entirely built out, so a rear-yard ADU or garage conversion often requires a setback or lot-coverage variance from the county planning counter. That’s a process we know well. We sequence the variance approval before the building permit gets submitted, so the project doesn’t stall. ADU construction in Montclair runs $90,000-$220,000 depending on size, foundation work, and utility connections. Call (855) 901-7266 and we’ll look at your specific lot.
We inspect first, then write allowances into the contract for the things we can’t see until the walls open. On a 1950s single-story tract home near the Montclair Plaza area, our crew opened a kitchen wall and found aluminum branch wiring, an undersized panel, and water-damaged subfloor under the old tile, none of it visible at bid time. We stopped, wrote a change order with the electrical upgrade and subfloor repair priced line by line, got written approval, then brought the wall to rough-in and scheduled inspection sign-off before closing it back up with KraftMaid cabinets and a Cambria top. That’s the process on every Montclair remodel. Call (855) 901-7266 and we’ll show you how a contract should read.
A kitchen remodel in Montclair runs $14,000-$45,000; a small kitchen is $9,000-$20,000. A bathroom remodel runs $9,000-$28,000; a small bath is $5,000-$12,000. These are real ranges for this city’s market, built around post-WWII and tract-era housing where opening a wall often triggers electrical and waterproofing repairs that newer construction wouldn’t require. For an exact number and a line-item range, call (855) 901-7266. The estimate is free, and it’ll be more accurate than any national average.
Written by Noel Carrington, Owner at San Mateo Construction, serving Montclair and the surrounding Pomona Valley communities.