Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable General Contractor Across Burlingame
Finding a general contractor in Burlingame who actually answers the phone and stands behind the work is harder than it should be. We get it. Penhallow Remodeling covers Burlingame with background-checked, uniformed crews, written pricing before any work starts, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise on every project. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel in the Easton Addition or a room addition near Broadway, call (936) 259-2607 for a free written estimate. A live person answers 24/7.
Burlingame’s housing stock is not like the rest of the Peninsula. The 1920s – 1940s Craftsman bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revival homes flanking El Camino Real carry a specific set of problems that only surface once walls come open: non-standard stud spacing, undersized floor joists, original lath-and-plaster, and foundations that predate seismic code. Our General Contractor team approaches every Burlingame job with that reality in mind from day one. We write the price, the schedule, and the guarantee before demo starts, so the number you approve is the number you pay.
Why Penhallow Remodeling Is Burlingame’s Preferred General Contractor Company
Burlingame homeowners have a low tolerance for contractors who treat the city like an afterthought. We hear the same stories: a bid from an out-of-area crew that missed the tree ordinance, a remodel that stalled because nobody filed the FAA airspace notification for a crane under SFO’s approach corridor, a verbal estimate that doubled after the walls were opened. That’s not how we work.
Trevor Nash runs Penhallow Remodeling under the Kingswell standard, which has been in place since 2004. Every job gets a written price before work begins, a defined arrival window, a clean job site, and a written guarantee. The 365-Day Done Right Promise means if something fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. No re-inspection fee. No service call. That promise is in writing on every Burlingame project.
Our crews know the city’s permitting departments, the arborist requirements, and the neighborhoods from Mills Estates to Burlingame Terrace. When you call (936) 259-2607, you talk to a person, not a voicemail maze, and you get a straight answer about what your project will cost.
Hire a General Contractor in Burlingame
Hiring a general contractor in Burlingame means more than finding someone with a truck and a business card. It means finding a company that understands what happens when a 1930s bungalow gets opened up: outdated wiring, failed flashing, rotted subfloor framing east of El Camino where coastal fog and Bay-side humidity work faster than they do ten miles south in Redwood City. A home addition in Burlingame typically runs $45,000 – $130,000. A kitchen remodel lands between $14,000 and $45,000 depending on cabinet line, countertop material, and what the framing inspection turns up.
Permit-Ready Remodeling
We pull permits and schedule inspections for every project that requires them. If a Burlingame inspector finds a tree-protection violation because someone graded inside a critical root zone without fencing, the stop-work order that follows can stall a draw schedule for weeks. We file the arborist reports, set the protection-zone fencing, and coordinate the city arborist sign-off before excavation starts.
Change Orders in Writing
When our crew opens a wall and finds something the original bid did not account for, we stop and write it up as a priced change order. You approve it in writing before we continue. No buried allowances. No verbal renegotiations at the door.
On a 1938 Spanish Colonial Revival off El Camino Real in the Easton Addition, our crew opened a kitchen wall and found lath-and-plaster over non-standard stud spacing, undersized floor joists, and original knob-era wiring feeding a subfloor that had rotted from crawl-space humidity. We stopped, wrote the framing, wiring, and subfloor repairs as a priced change order, and got the homeowner’s written approval before demo continued. Then we scheduled every rough-in for inspector sign-off before the walls closed.
General Contractor Services in Burlingame
Our general contractor services in Burlingame cover the projects this city’s older housing stock actually demands. A bathroom remodel runs $9,000 – $28,000, though a small bathroom in a 1930s bungalow can start around $5,000 if the plumbing and framing are sound. A garage conversion runs $30,000 – $80,000, and a roof replacement runs $8,000 – $20,000 depending on pitch, material, and whether the decking underneath has survived decades of fog.
Room Additions and Whole-Home Remodels
We handle room additions and whole-home remodels in Burlingame’s Easton Addition, Burlingame Hills, and Burlingame Terrace. The older continuous concrete or rubble-stone foundations under many of these homes were never seismically retrofitted, which means a foundation inspection is usually the first real conversation. We budget for that inspection up front.

Kitchen and Bathroom Remodeling
We install KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone quartz, and Kohler and Moen fixtures. Cambria quartz carries its own lifetime warranty alongside ours, so the material warranty and the workmanship warranty both hold. We stock common replacement parts for Burlingame jobs to keep turnaround tight when a faucet or hinge fails inside the guarantee period.

What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Burlingame
We service and install products from brands Burlingame homeowners already know: Cambria, Silestone, Caesarstone, Kohler, Moen, Blanco, Delta, Toto, Grohe, James Hardie, Belgard, Unilock, and Therma-Tru. We also work around prefabricated ADU systems from Abodu, Cover, and Dvele when a Burlingame homeowner wants a modular addition that still meets the city’s tree-protection and FAA airspace requirements. We do not stock every part in the truck, but we source locally for Burlingame customers and keep the common failure items on hand, so a warranty repair does not wait on a freight shipment from out of state.
Common General Contractor Problems We See in Burlingame Homes
- Undersized floor joists and non-standard stud spacing. The 1920s – 1940s framing around El Camino Real was built to a different standard. When we open a wall and the stud spacing is 24 inches instead of 16, the fix is not optional; it is a structural and code issue we write into a change order before continuing.
- Rotted subfloor framing east of El Camino Real. Persistent coastal fog and Bay-side humidity in the lower flatlands accelerate wood rot on fasteners, flashing, and subfloor framing. Moisture management and proper flashing detailing are more critical here than in drier Peninsula cities like Redwood City.
- Asbestos-containing stucco and floor tile. Many of Burlingame’s original exteriors and floor coverings contain asbestos. We test before we disturb, and when abatement is required, it gets its own line item and its own permit.
- Stop-work orders from tree-protection violations. Burlingame’s Planning and Building Department enforces tree-protection conditions as a formal construction-phase requirement. A contractor who excavates inside the critical root zone of a protected tree without fencing and arborist monitoring will trigger a stop-work order, and the draw schedule stalls with it.
Pricing for General Contractor in Burlingame, CA
Here is what you can expect to pay for common Burlingame projects. These are real ranges calibrated to the local market, not generic national averages. The spread exists because a 1925 Craftsman remodel usually costs more than the same square footage in a 1990s build: older framing, seismic retrofitting, asbestos abatement, and tree-protection compliance all move the number.
| Project | Typical Burlingame Range |
|---|---|
| Home Addition | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| Garage Conversion | $30,000 – $80,000 |
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Roof Replacement | $8,000 – $20,000 |
Every Penhallow Remodeling job starts with a written price, not a verbal ballpark. We inspect before we bid, and we line-item the allowances so you see exactly what the money covers. Call (936) 259-2607 to schedule your free written estimate. A live person answers 24/7.
We Also Serve Cities Near Burlingame
We serve Burlingame and the surrounding Peninsula communities, including San Mateo, Millbrae, San Bruno, and Belmont. Each city has its own permitting quirks and housing stock, but the Kingswell standard stays the same: written price up front, real arrival window, and a 365-day guarantee. When you call General Contractor in Burlingame, you reach a local team, not a call center.
Serving Burlingame, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burlingame 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 Burlingame
Because Burlingame’s 1920s – 1940s homes hide framing, wiring, and subfloor conditions that a visual walkthrough cannot reveal. We inspect before bidding and write allowances into the contract for known unknowns. When a surprise does surface, we stop, write it as a priced change order, and get your written approval before continuing. Call (936) 259-2607 for an exact quote on your Burlingame project.
Yes, if the project involves a crane or any structure above roughly 35 – 50 feet. Burlingame sits directly under SFO’s primary departure and approach corridors, so the FAA requires airspace notification for anything that pokes into that airspace. Our crew handles that filing as part of the permit package, which is a layer contractors from San Mateo or Millbrae rarely encounter at the same frequency.
They can add weeks if a contractor skips the arborist report or the protection-zone fencing. Burlingame’s city arborist signs off before excavation starts, and inspectors will issue a stop-work order if grading happens inside a protected tree’s critical root zone without fencing and monitoring in place. We schedule the arborist, set the fencing, and get the sign-off before we move dirt. Call (936) 259-2607 to schedule your free estimate, and we will walk the property with you to flag any trees that could trigger a review.
An inspection means a city reviewer has looked at the rough-in work before the walls close, which catches framing, wiring, and moisture-barrier problems while they are still cheap to fix. It also creates a paper trail that protects you if a future buyer asks about unpermitted work. On every Burlingame remodel we run, rough-ins are scheduled for inspector sign-off before drywall goes up, and failed inspections get corrected and re-inspected at our cost, not yours.
East of El Camino, Burlingame’s lower flatlands sit closer to the Bay and get more persistent fog and humidity than the hillside streets west of the tracks. That means wood rot and fastener corrosion move faster, especially in older crawl-space homes where subfloor framing never fully dries. We use moisture-resistant substrates, proper flashing details, and crawl-space ventilation upgrades as standard practice on east-side Burlingame remodels, which is not something we can say about every contractor working the Peninsula. Call (936) 259-2607 for an exact quote on your Burlingame project; estimates are free.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner at Penhallow Remodeling, serving Burlingame under the Kingswell standard since 2004.







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