Whole-Home Remodeling in Los Angeles & the San Fernando Valley

Last updated: August 2026.

Whole-home remodeling in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley is what HomeSense Construction & Remodeling does best. When you want to transform an entire house — not just one room — we reimagine your floor plan, modernize every system, and deliver a like-new home without the cost of building from scratch. As a licensed, insured general contractor (CA Lic #1125001) based in West Hills since 2011, we manage design, permits, and construction under one accountable roof so your full remodel stays on schedule and on budget.

Why Choose a Whole-Home Remodel?

Across the San Fernando Valley and greater LA, many homes are 1950s–1980s builds on great lots in established neighborhoods. A whole-home remodel lets you keep the location and land value while getting an open, modern, energy-efficient home tailored to how you actually live. Compared with a teardown-rebuild, a full remodel is often faster, less expensive, and easier to permit — and compared with one-room-at-a-time projects, doing it all at once means one design vision, one crew, one timeline, and far less disruption overall.

What a HomeSense Whole-Home Remodel Includes

Floor-plan redesign — open up walls, reconfigure rooms, and improve flow and natural light.
Kitchen & bathroom remodels — new layouts, cabinetry, counters, tile, and fixtures.
New systems — electrical, plumbing, and HVAC upgrades to current code.
Windows, doors, flooring & paint — a consistent, modern finish throughout.
Energy & Title 24 upgrades — insulation, efficient HVAC, and cool-roof options that lower utility bills.
Structural & foundation work — when needed to support a new layout or second story.
Optional additions & ADUs — expand square footage as part of the same project.

Our Whole-Home Remodel Process

We keep large remodels organized and transparent: free in-home consultation and budgeting, full design and space planning, structural engineering and permitting through your local building department, then a phased construction schedule — demolition, rough-in of systems, drywall, finishes, and a final walkthrough. You get one point of contact and clear updates from start to finish.

Whole-Home Remodel Cost & Timeline in LA (2026)

In 2026, whole-home remodels in Los Angeles generally run from about $200 to $800+ per square foot depending on scope and finishes: roughly $175–$250/sq ft for a cosmetic-to-moderate refresh, $250–$450/sq ft for a mid-range remodel, $450–$700+/sq ft for high-end finishes, and $600–$1,100+/sq ft for a full down-to-the-studs renovation. Most whole-home projects take 4 to 9 months depending on size, structural work, and permit review. We recommend a 15–20% contingency for older homes, and we provide a detailed, line-item budget up front so there are no surprises. For a full cost breakdown, see our 2026 whole-home remodel cost guide.

Why Choose HomeSense

We are a fully licensed (CA Lic #1125001) and insured general contractor serving Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, with 5-star reviews and deep local permit experience. One team handles design, permits, and construction, so you always know who is accountable. Explore related services: home additions, bathroom remodeling, ADU construction, and new construction. Browse all of our remodeling cost guides or the remodeling FAQ.

Whole-Home Remodeling Across the San Fernando Valley & LA

We remodel homes throughout the Valley and greater Los Angeles, including Northridge, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Woodland Hills, and Van Nuys — see all 48 cities we serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a whole-home remodel cost in Los Angeles?
In 2026, expect roughly $200–$800+ per square foot: about $175–$250/sq ft for a moderate refresh, $250–$450/sq ft mid-range, $450–$700+/sq ft high-end, and $600–$1,100+/sq ft for a down-to-the-studs renovation.

How long does a whole-home remodel take?
Most projects take 4–9 months depending on the home’s size, structural work, and permit review.

Is it cheaper to remodel or tear down and rebuild?
For most homes a full remodel is faster, less expensive, and easier to permit than a teardown-rebuild, while keeping your location and land value. We can price both options.

Do I need permits for a whole-home remodel?
Yes — structural, electrical, plumbing, and layout changes require permits. We handle the full permitting process with your local building department.

Are you licensed and insured?
Yes — HomeSense Construction & Remodeling is a licensed (CA Lic #1125001) and insured general contractor.

Start Your Whole-Home Remodel with HomeSense

Call HomeSense Construction & Remodeling at (818) 300-3422 for a free consultation on your whole-home remodel, or contact us online. Proudly serving the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles.

Before any of this starts, the approvals have to line up in the right order. Our guide to whether a Los Angeles remodel needs a permit walks through the clearance sequence, the notifications that must be filed before demolition, and the whole-house plumbing fixture rule that catches pre-1994 homes at final inspection.

What we actually see on Los Angeles whole-home remodels

After fifteen years of gut remodels across Los Angeles, a few things come up on almost every job, and none of them show up in a listing photo.

The scope-creep trigger is structural, not cosmetic. Homeowners usually start with finishes. What actually decides the budget is whether the plan touches walls, roof framing or the electrical service. Once a remodel moves or removes bearing walls, LADBS wants engineering, and the job moves from an over-the-counter permit to plan check — typically several weeks, not several days.

The panel is the quiet cost. Most pre-1980 Los Angeles homes still run a 100-amp service, and a modern remodel with induction cooking, heat-pump HVAC, a heat-pump water heater and EV charging does not fit inside it. A 200-amp upgrade with a new LADWP service drop is common on our whole-home jobs and needs to be scheduled early, because utility coordination is the slowest item on the calendar.

Demolition is where the surprises live. Knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines that have narrowed to a fraction of their original bore, cast-iron drains cracked at the hub, and non-original framing from a 1970s addition done without a permit. We budget a contingency on every whole-home remodel for exactly this reason, and we open walls in a deliberate order so the discoveries land while the schedule can still absorb them.

Water-conservation retrofit applies to the whole house. On a pre-1994 home, California Civil Code §1101.4 requires every noncompliant fixture in the house to be replaced — not just the ones in the rooms being remodeled. Contractors who scope only the remodeled bathrooms get caught at final inspection.

A whole-home remodel is really six trades on a shared calendar. Framing, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, insulation and drywall each carry their own inspection hold. The single biggest driver of a project running long is not the work itself — it is a failed or missed inspection that idles the following trade for a week.

Sources and official references

Building codes, permit rules and licensing requirements change. These are the primary sources behind the figures and requirements on this page, current as of August 2026:

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) — permits, plan check and inspection for whole-home remodels throughout the City of Los Angeles. Structural changes, added square footage and electrical service upgrades all require permits.
Los Angeles City Planning — zoning, height and setback limits, hillside and specific-plan overlays. Check a specific parcel on ZIMAS before assuming a remodel can expand in any direction.
California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) — verify any contractor’s license before signing. HomeSense Construction & Remodeling holds CA License #1125001. CSLB also caps the down payment on a home improvement contract at $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less.
California Building Standards Commission — the 2025 California Building, Residential, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical Codes (Title 24) took effect January 1, 2026 and govern permits pulled after that date.
California Energy Commission — Title 24, Part 6 Building Energy Efficiency Standards — whole-home remodels trigger the alterations pathway: envelope, HVAC, water heating and lighting all have to meet current standards where they are touched.
California Civil Code §1101.4 — single-family homes built before January 1, 1994 must have all noncompliant plumbing fixtures replaced with water-conserving fixtures. On a whole-home remodel this applies to the entire house, not only the rooms being remodeled.
US EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule — homes built before 1978 require a Lead-Safe Certified firm and containment practices during demolition. Most of the San Fernando Valley’s housing stock predates 1978.
LA Sanitation — Construction & Demolition Waste Recycling — City of Los Angeles projects must haul construction and demolition debris to certified facilities and document diversion. A whole-home gut generates enough debris that this becomes a real line item.
LADWP — rebates and requirements for electrical service upgrades, water heating and energy efficiency measures.