Open the kitchen wall
Take out the wall between the kitchen and the living room, or cut a wide opening in it, and set a beam where the wall carried weight.
Permit and engineer's letter
Ranch-house remodeling · Phoenix, Arizona
The ranch house you have, made to work the way you live.
We remodel Phoenix ranch houses with a crew of six. Most jobs are one of six common fixes. Pick the one that sounds like your house, or text us a photo.
- A crew of six
- Spanish and English at the walk-through
The short list
Six common ranch-house fixes
Ranch houses from the 1950s to the 1980s share the same few problems. Most of our jobs are one of these six, or two of them together. There are no prices here: the written estimate comes after we have seen your house.
Inside the house
Walls, a bath, floors and ceilings.
Add a primary bath
Turn a closet and a corner of the bedroom into a bath with a walk-in shower, the drain cut through the slab and a fan vented outside.
PermitFloors over the slab
Tile or wood-look plank over the concrete, with cracks and low spots handled first and one floor run from room to room.
No permit on its ownCeilings, lights and fans
Old texture tested, then scraped or skimmed smooth, with recessed lights and fans wired to where you sit.
Test first on older texture
Where the house ends
The carport and the patio.
Carport to room
Close in the carport as a bedroom, an office or a family room, with walls, insulation, cooling and a window where the car was.
Permit and plansArizona room
Enclose the covered patio with insulated walls, glass and its own cooling, so it is a room in July and not only in January.
Permit and plans
Why ranch houses
Built low, built wide, easy to change
Phoenix is full of single-story houses from the 1950s through the 1980s: block or stucco walls, a slab floor, a low roof and a carport. They are easy to love and a little behind on how people live now.
That shape is what makes these fixes possible, and what limits them. The slab decides where plumbing can go. Block walls need an engineer's say. The roof sets how high a ceiling can be. We walk the house first and tell you which of the six fit.
What we check on the walk-through
Which walls carry the roof
Where the plumbing runs in the slab
What the ceiling texture is, and whether it needs a test
How the house is cooled and where the ducts run
Whether the carport or patio slab can take walls
From photo to final walk
How a job goes, in six steps
The same six steps whether it is a floor or a carport. Only the time on site changes.
- 01Day 1
Step 1: Text us a photo
Send the front of the house and the room you want changed. We write back with which of the six it looks like and what we would look at.
- 02Week 1
Step 2: The walk-through
About an hour. We measure, open the attic hatch, look at the slab and the panel, and ask how you use the house.
- 03Week 2
Step 3: The estimate on paper
What is in the job, what isn't, allowances for what you choose, and the price, written once we have seen the room.
- 04Before demolition
Step 4: Plans and permit
Drawings, an engineer's letter if a wall changes, and the permit from the City of Phoenix. We apply; you sign the forms.
- 05Build
Step 5: On site
Delfina or Nicanor is there every working day. Dust barriers go up, the air returns are covered, and the work is swept up each afternoon.
- 06Last day
Step 6: The last walk-through
We walk every room with you, write down the small fixes and finish them. The last payment comes after the list is done.
No figures on this site
How the price gets set
Two ranch houses of the same size can differ by one wall or one slab, so the number comes after the walk-through. Here is what decides it.
What moves the number
The size of the job, which walls move, what is behind them, the floors and finishes you pick, how easy the work is to reach, and the permits.
The first visit
An hour at the house. There is no charge for the visit or the written estimate. They cover measuring, notes and a written scope; engineering and permit drawings are separate and listed on the estimate first.
When the number arrives
After the walk-through, once we know which walls, floors and ceilings are involved. By text we can tell you which of the six it looks like and what moves the cost, but not a number.
When a wall surprises us
If we open a wall and find something, we stop, show you, and write the change and its cost down. Nothing is added without your signature.
What we hold
License, lead rule and insurance
The numbers are in the footer of every page. Here is what each one is for and where you can check it.
Licenses held
Residential contractorVerify
AZ ROC # 000000 · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
Licensed to contract for residential building work in Arizona
Lead-Safe Certified Firm (RRP)Verify
US Firm cert. # 000000 · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Certified to renovate homes built before 1978 with lead-safe work practices
Insurance
General liability and workers' compensation
A certificate goes to you, or your lender, before work starts
Customers
After the walk-through
“They told us before the walk-through ended that the wall between the kitchen and living room might not hold anything up, and that an engineer would say for sure. He did. The wall came out and nothing else in the house had to move.”
Hayley T.Kitchen wall, Pierson Place
“The carport is a bedroom now. What I remember is how clean the site stayed: the slab was swept every afternoon and the air vents were taped over each day.”
Amrit S.Carport to room, Garden Lakes
“Delfina explained the tile floor to my mother in Spanish and to me in English, in the same visit. Nobody had to translate for anybody.”
Lilly M.Floors, Kyrene
Sample reviews.
Before you call
Asked at the first walk
How does the estimate work, and what does it include?
We walk the house for about an hour, then write the estimate: the scope room by room, what is and isn't included, allowances for what you choose, the schedule and the payment steps. There is no charge for the visit or the estimate. They cover measuring, notes and a written scope; engineering, permit drawings and lab tests are separate and listed first.
My house was built before 1978. What do you do about lead?
Paint from before 1978 may contain lead. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule says a firm doing paid work that disturbs it must hold an EPA certification and follow set work practices, and you get the EPA's renovation pamphlet before we start. We treat old paint as lead paint unless a test says otherwise: we seal off the work area, never dry-scrape or burn paint, and clean up with HEPA vacuums and wet wipes. Small jobs that disturb less than 6 square feet of paint inside, or 20 square feet outside, are exempt, but window replacement and demolition never are. Our certification is on the license and insurance page.
Are popcorn ceilings and old floor tiles a problem?
In many houses built before the 1980s, spray texture and 9-inch floor tiles can contain asbestos. We don't scrape or break up either until a lab has tested a sample. If the test is positive, we leave the material alone or you hire a licensed asbestos abatement firm, and we plan the job around that.
Do I need a permit, and who pulls it?
Moving or removing a wall, adding a bath, closing in a carport or patio, and new wiring or plumbing all need one. A new floor or fresh paint usually doesn't. We apply through the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department, or your own city, and the fee goes on the estimate at cost.
Is the wall between my kitchen and living room holding up the roof?
Maybe not. Many ranch houses built with roof trusses have interior walls that carry nothing, but some have a bearing wall, a block wall or a ceiling that was altered later. We don't guess: a structural engineer looks at it and writes a letter before we cut.
Can I live in the house during the work?
Usually yes. For a floor, a ceiling or a wall we set up dust barriers, cover the air returns and keep the rest of the house open. We plan around the days a room can't be used and tell you before they happen, and the same goes for any day the air conditioning has to be off.
Our streets
Phoenix, and the ranch-house streets near it
Delfina or Nicanor is on site every working day, so we stay close to the shop. If your street isn't listed, text us and ask.
- Central Phoenix: Cheery Lynn, Pierson Place, Camelback East, Palmcroft, Windsor Square
- East Valley: Kyrene, Alta Mesa
- West Valley: Garden Lakes
We don't work in Tucson, Flagstaff or north of the Loop 101. We don't build new houses or pools.
Start with a photo
Send the front of your house
Tell us the street and what you would change. We write back with which of the six fixes it looks like and what we would want to see at the walk-through. The visit and the written estimate have no charge; they cover measuring and a written scope, not engineering or permit drawings.
Phone(602) 555-0104
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 6 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- By appointment
- SundayToday
- Closed