Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable General Contractor Across San Francisco
Finding a general contractor in San Francisco means dealing with a city where a simple wall opening can turn into a seismic, electrical, and waterproofing puzzle all at once. Penhallow Remodeling handles that reality head-on: we write the price before work starts, show up in the window we gave, and put a 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing on every project. If you’re planning a kitchen, bathroom, or whole-home remodel in San Francisco, call (936) 259-2607 and get a written number you can hold us to.
Why Penhallow Remodeling Is San Francisco’s Preferred General Contractor Company
San Francisco homeowners call us because we answer the phone, arrive on time, and price the job before a single cabinet gets pulled. Trevor Nash leads our team with a simple standard: say the price before the work, show up when you said you would, and leave the place cleaner than you found it. That’s The Kingswell Way, and it’s been the operating standard since 2004.
Our background-checked, uniformed technicians work in neighborhoods across the city: the Mission, Noe Valley, the Richmond, the Sunset, Bernal Heights, and everywhere in between. We know what a 1905 Edwardian hides behind its lath and plaster. We know what marine fog does to subfloor framing in the Outer Sunset. And we know that a remodel quote in San Francisco means something different than it does in Oakland, because the permit gauntlet here is real and the building stock is older than almost anywhere else in the Bay Area.
Each Penhallow location is independently owned and operated as part of the Kingswell family of companies, and our San Francisco Bay Area office coordinates dispatch and scheduling for crews serving the city locally. A live person answers the phone 24/7. That’s not a promise we make; it’s how the phones are staffed.
Hire a General Contractor in San Francisco
Hire a General Contractor in San Francisco when you’re opening walls, moving plumbing, adding square footage, or taking a project down to the studs. The job here involves more than demolition and drywall. San Francisco’s wood-frame Victorian and Edwardian housing stock, roughly 1895 to 1915 in neighborhoods like the Mission, Castro, Haight-Ashbury, and Western Addition, regularly requires cripple-wall bracing, foundation bolting, and careful integration of modern mechanical systems without destroying original plaster and molding. A kitchen remodel in San Francisco typically runs $16,520 – $53,100. A bathroom remodel runs $10,620 – $33,040. A full home addition runs $53,100 – $153,400.
Written Allowances for Opened-Wall Discoveries
When our crew opens a load-bearing wall in a 1908 Edwardian, we expect to find knob-and-tube wiring, rotted subfloor from window-frame water intrusion, and missing bracing. So we build written allowances into the contract for exactly these discoveries. You approve the scope and the price before we touch anything. Then we document what we find, show you the numbers, and get your written sign-off before moving forward.
The alternative is what burned you last time: a contractor quoting a fixed price off the surface, then treating every opened-wall discovery as a surprise change order. We don’t do that. The number on day one is the number on the invoice, unless you approve a change in writing first.
Sequencing DBI, Planning, and Historic Preservation
San Francisco requires sign-off from the Department of Building Inspection, the Planning Department, and often the Historic Preservation Commission before certain work can proceed. A remodel that would take three months in Oakland can take two to three times longer here when permits aren’t sequenced correctly. We coordinate inspections and approvals in the right order, so rough-in work clears before finishes go in, and the job doesn’t stall waiting on a re-inspection that could have been scheduled weeks earlier.
General Contractor Services in San Francisco
General Contractor Services in San Francisco cover kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, whole-home remodels, room additions, basement finishing, and deck construction. Each of these jobs touches the same San Francisco realities: older framing, strict seismic codes, moisture from marine fog, and hillside lots with engineered retaining walls. A small kitchen remodel in San Francisco runs $10,620 – $23,600. A walk-in shower installation runs $5,310 – $14,160. An ADU construction project runs $106,200 – $259,600. We’ll give you a written price before any work starts, and that price stays fixed unless you change the scope in writing.
Kitchen and Bath Remodels in Older SF Homes
San Francisco kitchens in Victorians and Sunset Specials rarely have straight walls, level floors, or modern plumbing rough-ins. We strip back to framing, replace or reinforce what’s structurally unsound, and install new cabinetry, countertops, and fixtures on a surface that’s actually square. We install KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone countertops, and Kohler and Moen fixtures, all backed by their own warranties on top of ours.
ADUs, Additions, and Garage Conversions
Outer Sunset homes built on stabilized former sand dunes sometimes sit on shallow footings with minimal embedment. When we pull permits for an addition or ADU in a mapped liquefaction zone, DBI triggers mandatory geotechnical review, and the project often requires a full foundation upgrade before anything goes above grade. We plan for this from the start, price it into the contract, and keep the project moving through review without surprises. Garage conversions in San Francisco run $35,400 – $94,400.
What happens when you call
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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 San Francisco
We stock and service materials from brands San Francisco homeowners already trust, including Cambria quartz, James Hardie siding, Kohler fixtures, and KraftMaid cabinetry. When we work with pre-fabricated housing from companies like Abodu, Cover, and Mighty Buildings, we handle the site work, foundation, and finishing as the general contractor. Our San Francisco Bay Area office keeps common parts and materials in local supply, so we’re not waiting on a truck from Sacramento when your job needs a specific trim profile or a matching cabinet door. If a product fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it, no service call, no re-inspection fee.
Common General Contractor Problems We See in San Francisco Homes
- Opened-wall discoveries treated as surprise change orders. Contractors quote off the surface, then bill extra when the wall comes down and knob-and-tube wiring or rotted framing shows up. We build these discoveries into written allowances and get your approval in writing before we touch them.
- Permit sequencing that stalls the job. DBI, Planning, and Historic Preservation all need sign-offs at different stages. Contractors who wait until the last minute schedule inspections out of order, and a job that should take months stretches past a year. We sequence permits from day one.
- Marine-fog moisture rot in the Sunset and Richmond. Persistent fog drives moisture into exterior siding, window frames, and subfloor framing. By the time you see bubbling paint or soft flooring, the rot is deep. We don’t paper over it; we write the repair into the scope of work.
- Shallow footings in former dune areas. Outer Sunset homes often sit on minimal-embedment footings in mapped liquefaction zones. Any addition or ADU triggers geotechnical review and usually a foundation upgrade. We plan for that cost and schedule before the first shovel goes in.
Pricing for General Contractor in San Francisco, CA
Here are the line-item ranges we quote in San Francisco, based on current market conditions and the specific demands of the city’s housing stock and permitting requirements.
| San Francisco Remodeling Project | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $16,520 – $53,100 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $10,620 – $33,040 |
| Home Addition | $53,100 – $153,400 |
| ADU Construction | $106,200 – $259,600 |
| Garage Conversion | $35,400 – $94,400 |
What moves the number? Cabinet line and countertop material on a kitchen. Framing condition and foundation work on an older home. Whether an ADU sits in a liquefaction zone and needs geotechnical review. We give you a written price for your specific scope before work begins, and the number on day one is the number on the invoice unless you approve a change in writing. Call (936) 259-2607 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Francisco
Our crews work throughout San Francisco and in the neighboring communities of Daly City, Brisbane, Sausalito, and South San Francisco. If you’re just outside the city line, we bring the same written pricing and San Francisco-grade accountability to your project. Our Bay Area office dispatches locally, so scheduling works the same whether you’re in the Mission or just over the hill in Daly City.
Serving San Francisco, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Francisco 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 San Francisco
Because San Francisco Victorians and Edwardians, built roughly 1895 to 1915, routinely hide knob-and-tube wiring, rotted subfloor from decades of window-frame water intrusion, and missing cripple-wall bracing. A contractor who quotes off the surface has to add change orders to cover the repairs. We write allowances into the contract for exactly these discoveries, show you the findings, and get your written approval before doing the extra work. Call (936) 259-2607 and we’ll explain how allowances work in your specific house.
A remodel in San Francisco typically takes two to three times longer than an equivalent job in Oakland or San Jose, because of the multi-agency permit gauntlet: DBI, Planning, and often Historic Preservation. We sequence those approvals in the right order from the start, so the job doesn’t stall waiting on a re-inspection. The timeline is what it is; the sequencing is what we control.
Yes. Homes in the Outer Sunset often sit on stabilized former sand dunes with shallow footings and minimal embedment, which puts them in a mapped liquefaction zone. When you pull permits for an addition or ADU, DBI triggers mandatory geotechnical review and frequently requires a full foundation upgrade before anything goes above grade. We plan for that review from day one and price it into the contract.
A permit gets you a DBI inspection record that verifies the framing, electrical, plumbing, and seismic work meets current San Francisco Building Code. It also protects you when you sell: unpermitted work on a Victorian or Sunset Special gets flagged in disclosure and can kill a sale. We pull permits, schedule inspections, and don’t call the job done until DBI signs off.
The marine fog that blankets the Richmond and Sunset for much of the year drives chronic moisture into exterior siding, window frames, and subfloor framing. We use proper flashing, moisture barriers, and rot-resistant materials at every penetration, and when we open walls we replace rotting framing rather than covering it over. The work is written into the scope and priced in the contract before we start.
What It’s Like Working With Us
On a 1908 Edwardian in the Mission, our crew opened a load-bearing wall for a kitchen remodel and found knob-and-tube wiring, a rotted subfloor from window-frame water intrusion, and no cripple-wall bracing. All of it was priced as written allowances, then approved by the owner before we touched anything. Once DBI’s inspection sign-off cleared the rough-in, we bolted the foundation, braced the cripple walls, and integrated the new mechanicals without disturbing the original plaster and molding. That’s how a San Francisco general contractor should handle an older home: inspection first, written allowances, and every surprise priced and approved before the work happens.
If you’ve been burned by a contractor who never showed, a price that ballooned after demo day, or a repair that cracked again six weeks later, you’re the homeowner we write for. Call (936) 259-2607 and we’ll give you a written price, a written guarantee, and a real arrival window. No pressure. No vague ballparks. Just the number, the schedule, and the promise in writing.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner at Penhallow Remodeling, serving San Francisco through the Kingswell family of companies.