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
Home remodeling in Montclair means working on homes built between the late 1940s and the 1960s, and that changes everything about how a project gets priced and planned. We know these houses, we know what’s behind their walls, and we quote accordingly. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, bathroom update, room addition, or whole-home renovation in the 91763 ZIP code, call (866) 253-8554 and we’ll walk your property with a proper inspection before any number gets locked in.
Why Elmwood Contractors Is Montclair’s Preferred Home Remodeling Company
Montclair homeowners keep calling us back because we do something most remodelers skip: we inspect before we quote. That matters more here than in most Inland Empire cities. The housing stock off Ramona Avenue, Mills Avenue, and the streets around Montclair Place is almost entirely mid-century tract construction, and those homes hide specific problems that a walkthrough quote misses. We open walls, check the panel, look at the framing, and test the waterproofing before we put a contract in front of you.
Nolan Shepherd built Elmwood Contractors around one standard: name every brand and every line item before the contract is signed. That standard holds for Montclair jobs just like it does everywhere else we work. When you price a kitchen remodel with us, you’ll see KraftMaid cabinets, Cambria countertops, and Kohler fixtures called out by name. When you add a prefab ADU, you’ll know whether it’s Plant Prefab or Tuff Shed and why we recommended it for your lot.
We’re a single-source general contractor, which means your remodel, your roofing, your windows, your fencing, and your hardscaping all run through one project plan and one point of contact. Montclair projects rarely touch just one trade. An addition frequently triggers an electrical panel upgrade, a re-roof, and setback review. One contractor, every trade, interior to exterior.
Styles & brands we work with
Home Remodeling Contractor in Montclair
A Home Remodeling Contractor in Montclair works on houses that were wired for a 1950s appliance load, framed to mid-century code, and waterproofed with materials that have been failing for decades. Our job is to open those walls, find what’s actually there, and bring the house up to current code without blowing your budget on surprises. Most Montclair remodels involve kitchen and bath work first, then additions and garage conversions as families outgrow the original footprint.
Inspection-Led Pricing
We don’t bid off a walkthrough. We pull the outlet covers, check the panel, look at the attic framing, and note the waterproofing condition before you see a number. A Montclair kitchen remodel typically runs $14,000 to $45,000, and the bottom of that range only holds when the existing service, framing, and waterproofing pass inspection.
Change Orders in Writing
When opening a wall reveals something the permit will force us to fix, it hits a written change order. Price, scope, and schedule are spelled out before we do the work. You approve it first, or we don’t touch it. No unbudgeted surprises, no “found something” phone calls that double the job.
Home Remodeling Companies in Montclair
Home Remodeling Companies in Montclair split two ways: box-store installers who sell you off-the-shelf products and coordinate nothing, and general contractors who manage the full scope. We’re the second type, and we bring something most local competitors cannot: a defined roster of 50+ named brands across every trade. That means your Montclair remodel pulls from a curated catalog, not whatever’s in stock at the nearest warehouse.
Single-Source Coordination
An addition on a shallow-lot Montclair home touches framing, electrical, plumbing, roofing, and finishes. The scheduling alone breaks most budgets. We run the entire project under one plan, one budget, and one accountable contractor. You call one number, and every trade shows up in the right order.
Brand Accountability
We name the brands before you sign. KraftMaid or Wellborn cabinets. Cambria, Silestone, or Caesarstone counters. Kohler, Moen, or Toto fixtures. We recommend products because they perform, not because they’re convenient for us. If a product fails, the manufacturer warranty and our workmanship warranty both apply, and we’re the ones who handle the fix.
Trusted Brands We Service in Montclair
Montclair remodels pull from the same brand roster we use across Southern California. For kitchens, KraftMaid cabinetry carries the mid-range and premium tiers well, and Cambria quartz holds up to the heat and daily wear these older homes see once the family grows into them. James Hardie fiber-cement siding shows up on exterior work because it handles Santa Ana wind-driven heat without the swelling and cracking you’d get from cheaper wood products. For ADU and prefab additions on tight Montclair lots, we work with Plant Prefab and Tuff Shed systems that arrive engineered and get assembled fast. Parts and finish materials are ordered directly from our suppliers, and we stage deliveries around Montclair’s permit schedule so nothing sits exposed to summer heat any longer than it has to.
Common Home Remodeling Problems We See in Montclair Homes
- Cloth-wrapped wiring and 60-amp panels. Homes built from the late 1940s through the 1960s shipped with electrical service sized for a refrigerator and a few lamps. Once we open a wall for a kitchen remodel, adding a modern range circuit often forces a full panel upgrade before the rough-in inspection will pass.
- Shallow lot setbacks blocking additions. Montclair’s postwar tracts were platted tight. A second-story addition or room bump-out frequently runs into the property line, and the city’s lot-coverage review can stall a permit unless the plan accounts for it before demo starts.
- Failed waterproofing at showers and exterior walls. Original tar paper and thin mortar beds fail after 50+ years of Montclair’s hot dry summers and Santa Ana wind cycles. We find water damage behind old tile regularly, and we spec Schluter waterproofing systems on every wet room we open.
- Undersized framing for modern loads. Original ceiling joists were sized for minimal insulation and no ceiling fans. When we open a ceiling for a remodel and find 2×4 or undersized 2×6 spans, the load-bearing plan gets corrected before anything gets covered up.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterPricing for Home Remodeling in Montclair, CA
Here’s what a Montclair remodel actually costs, based on the work these mid-century homes usually need.
| Project | Montclair Price Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Home Addition | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| Garage Conversion | $30,000 – $80,000 |
The gap between the low and high end of a Montclair kitchen remodel usually comes down to what’s behind the walls. A panel upgrade adds $2,000 to $6,000. Failed waterproofing replacement can add $1,500 to $4,000 depending on the damage. Our inspection-first pricing means you see these as written allowances in the contract. Call (866) 253-8554 and we’ll give you a line-item quote that accounts for Montclair’s older housing stock before we start, not after the walls come down.
We Also Serve Cities Near Montclair
Beyond our Home Remodeling in Montclair work, we run the same inspection-led process in Claremont, Ontario, Upland, and La Verne. These neighboring cities share the same mid-century tract housing stock and the same permit realities, so our pricing and our planning carry over cleanly. If you’re anywhere in the eastern San Gabriel Valley edge or the west Inland Empire, call (866) 253-8554 for a free estimate.
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
A quote changes because Montclair’s original construction rarely matches what’s on the surface. The 60-amp panels, cloth-wrapped wire, failed waterproofing, and undersized framing we find behind the walls of these 1950s homes trigger code upgrades that a permit inspector will force before sign-off. The change should come as a written change order with price and scope spelled out, never as a surprise phone call. Call (866) 253-8554 and we’ll do the inspection first so the contract already accounts for what’s likely behind your walls.
Yes, any remodel that touches electrical, plumbing, framing, or wall movement in Montclair requires a permit, and the city enforces it through the inspection process on occupied remodels. Skipping the permit saves money up front and creates a liability and resale problem later. We pull permits on every job, and the inspector confirms the rough-in, waterproofing, and load-bearing work before the walls close. Call (866) 253-8554 and we’ll handle the permit package as part of the project plan.
The scope should name every brand, every line item, and every allowance, and it should state how change orders work. We write KraftMaid or Wellborn cabinets, Cambria or Silestone counters, and Kohler or Moen fixtures into the contract by name. We write the panel upgrade, the waterproofing scope, and the framing corrections as line items with fixed prices. We write the change order process so any discovery work is priced and approved before it starts. Call (866) 253-8554 for a contract you can actually read line by line.
We inspect the framing and waterproofing before we quote, then we write allowances into the contract for the specific failures we know these houses carry. When we open a wall and find failed tar paper behind old tile, we replace it with Schluter waterproofing, and the price was in the contract before the first swing of the hammer. The fix is a line item, not a debate. Call (866) 253-8554 for an inspection-led estimate from our Home Remodeling team.
Often yes, but the lot-coverage and setback review has to happen before the permit gets filed. Montclair’s shallow postwar lots mean the addition plan frequently needs adjustment to clear the property lines, and the original first-story framing may need reinforcement before a second story goes on top. We handle the lot review, the structural plan, and the permit package as one scope. Call (866) 253-8554 and we’ll take the measurements and tell you what your lot will actually allow.
Get a Free Estimate for Your Montclair Home Remodel
If you’re planning a kitchen, bathroom, addition, or whole-home remodel in Montclair, call (866) 253-8554 and ask for an inspection-led estimate. We’ll walk the property, check the panel, look at the framing and waterproofing, and give you a line-item quote that accounts for what your house actually needs. The estimate is free. The contract names every brand and every price. And Nolan Shepherd stands behind every job we run in the 91763 ZIP.
Written by Nolan Shepherd, Owner at Elmwood Contractors, serving Montclair with inspection-led home remodeling since the company’s founding.