What a kitchen remodel in Arlington actually involves
Most Arlington housing predates 1978, so the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to any work that disturbs painted surfaces. On a 1930s bungalow you should also expect plaster, original wiring in places, and a floor plan that assumed a much smaller kitchen.
Bungalows, Cape Cods, colonials and the occasional four-square from the 1920s through the 1950s, on small lots, with an enormous volume of pop-top and rear-addition work already done across the county.
- Structural changes and openings. Removing or shortening a wall between the kitchen and an adjacent room means a properly sized header or beam, a load path carried down to the foundation, and in most jurisdictions a structural detail submitted with the permit.
- Electrical to current code. Modern kitchen code requires dedicated small-appliance circuits, GFCI protection at counter receptacles, arc-fault protection, and receptacle spacing along the counter run. In older houses this frequently means new home runs and sometimes a panel with capacity to accept them.
- Cabinetry, counters and tile. Cabinets set level and shimmed to a floor that is never actually flat, counters templated after installation rather than from drawings, and tile that is laid out from a real center line.
- Finishes and the punch list. Flooring, paint, trim, lighting, hardware and the appliance set installed and tested, plus the punch walk where the small things get written down and then actually fixed.
What we typically find on a Arlington house of this era (1920 to 1955). Arlington bungalows and capes give us undersized floor framing for the spans people now want, previous pop-tops of highly variable quality, and lead paint on essentially everything. Lot coverage is usually the constraint that decides the design.
Lead paint: the rule that applies to most of Arlington
Federal law — the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule — requires that work disturbing painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 be performed by a certified firm using contained work practices, with specific cleanup afterward. Most of Arlington's housing stock predates 1978, so assume this applies to your house unless someone has established otherwise. We are certified for this work and it is built into how we set up, not bolted on. Worth asking every other contractor bidding your job whether they are, and asking to see it.
What drives the cost on a Arlington kitchen remodel
You will notice we do not publish a price range. That is deliberate: the number depends on things nobody can see from the street. Here is what genuinely moves it, so you can interrogate every estimate you receive, including ours.
- Whether the layout stays put. Keeping the sink, range and refrigerator roughly where they are is dramatically cheaper than relocating them, because the plumbing, gas and venting stay put with them.
- Whether a wall comes out, and whether it is bearing. A non-bearing wall is a day. A bearing wall is engineering, a beam, temporary shoring and a load path to the foundation.
- The condition of the existing electrical service. If the panel is full or the service is undersized for what current kitchen code requires, the upgrade is part of the kitchen whether you wanted it to be or not.
The mistakes we get called in to fix
- Skipping the permit on a job that moved plumbing or added circuits. It surfaces at resale during the disclosure and appraisal process, and it is far more expensive to resolve then.
- Buying the appliances last. Cabinet openings are built to specific appliance dimensions, and a counter-depth refrigerator that is two inches deeper than planned means a rebuilt cabinet run.
- Hiring the trades separately and assuming they will coordinate. They will not, because none of them is being paid to.
One licensed team, one contract, one point of contact
This is the clearest case in residential construction for a single contract. When a homeowner hires a cabinet company, an electrician, a plumber and a tile setter separately, nobody owns the sequence — and the sequence is the entire job. The cabinet installer shows up before the electrician has passed rough-in, the counters get templated off cabinets that have to move, and every delay becomes an argument about whose fault it was.
We would rather over-disclose than be asked. Maryland: MHIC #111971, issued by the Home Improvement Commission and searchable in the state licensing database. General liability and workers' compensation in force, with certificates sent by our carrier on request and before signing, not after. The licensed trades on your project hold their own licenses and their own policies and pull their own trade permits, which is the legal requirement rather than a preference. Your contract is with us, and so is the responsibility.
Where we work in Arlington
- 22201
- 22203
- 22205
- 22207
- 22209
- Lyon Park
- Ashton Heights
- Cherrydale
- Westover
- Aurora Highlands
- Bluemont
How a Arlington project runs
- We walk the property and put the scope in writing. An unhurried visit, real measurements, and a look behind finishes wherever we responsibly can. You end up with a document describing the project rather than a number scribbled on a business card.
- Feasibility against Arlington rules, before design. We establish what Arlington County will require for kitchen remodel at your address, and what your lot, your zoning and your existing house will allow.
- Scope agreed first, permits second. Nothing gets submitted until you have approved a line-item scope with the allowances written out in plain terms and a change-order process both sides have signed off on. Then we assemble and file the permit package and answer the reviewer's comments ourselves.
- One team on site, one closeout file. MHIC #111971, We supervise our own trades, we schedule against the inspection calendar so nobody sits idle, and we hand you a closeout file at the end that you can give to a buyer years from now.
Free Arlington kitchen remodel consultation
An unhurried visit, a straight answer about what Arlington County will require at your address, and a written scope. Nothing owed, and you keep the permit guidance whether you hire us or not.
Kitchen Remodeling across Arlington
We work throughout Lyon Park, Ashton Heights, Cherrydale, Westover, Aurora Highlands and Bluemont, covering 22201, 22203, 22205, 22207, 22209.
Homeowners here usually reach us for more than one thing at a time. Related work in Arlington: bathroom remodeling in Arlington, basement finishing in Arlington, home additions in Arlington, interior painting in Arlington.
We came to general contracting from the outside of the house in, which is the part most remodelers subcontract and hope for the best on. That means the same company handling your interior can also handle roof replacement, siding, aluminum siding, gutters, soffit and fascia and window replacement — under one contract, with one warranty conversation instead of three companies pointing at each other about where the water came from.
Arlington kitchen remodeling questions
Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel in Arlington, VA?
Your reviewing authority is Arlington County. A kitchen remodel needs a permit in essentially every jurisdiction we work in once it touches electrical, plumbing, gas or structure — which is nearly every real kitchen project. We confirm the requirement for your specific parcel rather than generalizing, because in this region the answer genuinely changes across a municipal boundary. We pull the permits and meet the inspections as part of the contract.
Are you licensed to do this work in Arlington?
Yes, and the license that governs your job is Virginia's Class A classification is the one that carries no ceiling on project value, which matters on larger scopes. We also hold MHIC #111971 for our Maryland work. General liability and workers' compensation coverage, certificates from the carrier on request.
What is actually different about doing this work in Arlington?
Most Arlington housing predates 1978, so the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to any work that disturbs painted surfaces. On a 1930s bungalow you should also expect plaster, original wiring in places, and a floor plan that assumed a much smaller kitchen. Small lots where lot coverage and setbacks bind almost immediately, which is why so much Arlington expansion goes up or straight back rather than sideways.
Do I need a permit to remodel a kitchen?
If the project touches electrical, plumbing, gas or structure, yes. That covers most real kitchen remodels. A pure cosmetic swap — same cabinets in the same footprint, same appliances, no wiring or plumbing changes — is the narrow exception. When in doubt, the permit is the cheap answer. Unpermitted work is discovered at resale, and resolving it retroactively means opening finished walls.