Full Home Renovation
Sometimes a home needs more than a single room update. Our comprehensive renovation service transforms your entire living space — from structural changes to final finishes — with one team managing every detail.
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One Team, One Vision, Every Detail
A full home renovation is the most complex project a homeowner can take on, and the difference between a great outcome and a stressful one comes down to project management. We coordinate structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and finish work on a single timeline with daily communication, so nothing falls through the cracks.
We’ve managed renovations ranging from cosmetic refreshes to complete gut-and-rebuild projects. Whether you’re updating a home you just purchased, modernizing a property you’ve lived in for decades, or preparing a home for resale, we scope the project to match your goals, timeline, and budget.
Our project leads stay personally involved in every full renovation, which means decisions get made quickly, change orders are handled transparently, and you always know what’s happening next. Weekly progress updates with photos keep you informed even when you’re not on site.
What Shapes the Scope of a Full Home Renovation
A full home renovation spans a wide range of scopes. Cosmetic-to-mid-range renovations update finishes without moving walls. Significant remodels bring in new kitchens and bathrooms alongside finish updates. Full gut renovations add structural changes, new systems, and high-end finishes throughout. Each tier answers a different question about how much of the house changes.
The scope of structural and system changes is usually the biggest variable. A renovation that keeps walls in place and just updates finishes is dramatically simpler than one that reconfigures floor plans, opens load-bearing walls, adds windows, or changes rooflines. Similarly, replacing electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and insulation — often necessary in Bay Area homes built before 1980 — meaningfully expands the project.
Foundation and seismic work is a common hidden driver on older Bay Area homes. Many pre-1960 homes need foundation bolting, cripple-wall bracing, or full foundation replacement, especially when the renovation triggers code upgrades. This is worth doing during a full renovation because the walls and floors are already open — but it has to be planned from the start, not discovered mid-project.
Finish level has enormous impact. Builder-grade cabinets, quartz counters, LVP flooring, and mid-tier fixtures sit at one end of the spectrum; custom cabinetry, natural stone, wide-plank white oak, and designer lighting sit at the other. We itemize every allowance and walk clients through the implications of each upgrade during the selections phase, so there are no surprises.
Common Mistakes Homeowners Make
The most damaging mistake is starting construction before selections are complete. A full renovation involves thousands of decisions, and decisions made under pressure mid-project lead to regret, delays, and change orders. We require clients to finalize the vast majority of their selections before demolition starts, which is why our projects run closer to schedule than the industry norm.
Underestimating the temporary living cost is another frequent issue. Most full renovations require moving out for at least six months, sometimes longer. In the Bay Area, that adds a meaningful line item in rent, storage, and moving — it should be in the budget from day one.
Mixing and matching contractors is a third common mistake. Hiring separate firms for kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, and exterior work almost always costs more and takes longer than a single integrated general contractor — because coordination between trades is where projects actually live or die. We’ve rescued enough of these projects mid-way to know.
Finally, scope creep kills budgets. Once demolition starts and walls are open, the temptation to “while you’re in there” every small upgrade adds up fast. We build a sensible contingency into every renovation budget, document every change order in writing, and push back on mid-project additions that don’t serve the original goals.
How Long a Full Home Renovation Takes
Design and selections for a full renovation typically take 3–6 months. This is the most important phase of the project. Architectural design, structural engineering, Title 24 energy compliance, interior design, and every material and fixture selection all need to be resolved before construction begins. Rushing this phase is the single biggest cause of mid-project delays.
Permitting for a full renovation usually runs 3–6 months depending on the city and whether structural or exterior changes are involved. In jurisdictions with design review (parts of Berkeley, Palo Alto, San Francisco) it can run longer. We submit in parallel with the final selections phase to keep the overall timeline efficient.
Construction typically runs 8–16 months for a full renovation. A cosmetic-to-mid renovation often finishes in 6–9 months. A full gut with structural changes, new systems, and custom cabinetry commonly takes 12–18 months. We build milestone-based schedules and review them with clients weekly so there are no surprises about where the project stands.
What to Look for in a Full-Renovation Contractor
Verify the contractor has actually completed multi-trade renovations, not just kitchen or bathroom remodels scaled up. Full renovations require coordinating structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, finish, exterior, and landscape work simultaneously — and the firm’s project management capacity is the most important variable. Ask how many projects they’re running concurrently and how many project managers are on staff.
Review a real contract and payment schedule before you sign. Payment should be tied to physical milestones (foundation complete, rough inspection passed, drywall complete) rather than calendar dates or arbitrary percentages. A contractor who wants large front-loaded payments is telling you something important about their cash flow and risk profile.
Finally, ask about how they handle change orders. Some changes are inevitable on a full renovation — hidden conditions behind walls, material availability, evolving ideas — and the process for approving and pricing them should be clear from day one. Our change-order policy is simple: nothing gets done without a written, priced, signed order from the homeowner.
Why Bay Area Homeowners Choose Genesis
Full home renovations are where we’ve built our reputation. The Bay Area has a specific mix of older housing stock, demanding code requirements, tight schedules, and sophisticated homeowners — and our team has delivered complete renovations across every major architectural style in the region, from Victorian and Edwardian in San Francisco to mid-century ranches and Eichlers on the Peninsula to contemporary hillside homes in Marin and the East Bay.
Every Genesis renovation is managed by a dedicated project manager with a clear chain of responsibility, so decisions get made quickly and every trade has a single point of contact. Clients get regular walkthroughs, progress updates, and a detailed milestone schedule maintained throughout the project.
We back our work with the materials and craftsmanship we use. For a project of this scale, the relationship doesn’t end at move-in — we want the home to perform for decades, and we’re around to make sure it does.
What Our Clients Say
“We gutted our 1960s ranch house and Genesis managed the entire renovation. Six months of work with zero surprises on the final bill. Communication was...”
Chris & Maria D.
Full Home Renovation
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