Whole-house remodel: the order of work and permits

What turns a remodel into a whole-house project?

Size alone does not. A whole-house remodel is one where several rooms, and usually several systems, change at once: the kitchen and baths are redone, walls move, the wiring or the plumbing is replaced through the house, windows change, and every floor gets new surfaces. The point is that the trades overlap. Work in one room depends on work in another, and the rough-in for the whole house is inspected together before any wall is closed.

That overlap is why sequence matters more here than in a single-room job. One late decision, such as moving a bathroom after the plumbing is roughed in, can send three trades back to redo work that already passed inspection.

The order of work, phase by phase

1. Design, scope and permits

Everything starts with a complete set of decisions: the floor plan, which walls move, which fixtures go where, the electrical layout, and the heating and cooling plan. The city reviews the drawings before work starts. CSLB's page Do I Need a Building Permit? lists altering, repairing, converting and demolishing among the work that needs a permit, and says code requirements vary by city and county, so your local building department decides the details.

2. Demolition and hidden-hazard checks

Demolition opens the walls and floors, and with them any surprises: rot, old wiring, past water damage. Two hazards deserve attention before anything is torn out. EPA's renovation, repair and painting page for consumers says homes built before 1978 are more likely to have lead-based paint and advises hiring a contractor trained and holding EPA or state lead-safe certification for that work. EPA's asbestos page notes that you cannot tell whether a material contains asbestos by looking at it, recommends an inspection when you plan to remodel, and says removal may be required when remodeling will disturb asbestos-containing material. Sampling belongs to trained, accredited professionals.

3. Structure

Foundation repair, new beams where walls come out, new framing for moved walls, and any roof or floor framing changes come next. Nothing else should be placed until the structure is settled, because the other trades run their pipes, wires and ducts through it.

4. Rough-in: plumbing, electrical and mechanical

With the framing open, the plumber runs supply and drain lines, the electrician runs circuits and sets boxes, and the heating and cooling contractor installs ducts and equipment connections. Windows and exterior doors usually go in around this time so the house can be closed against weather.

5. Rough inspections

The city inspects framing and each trade's rough work while it is still visible. This is the stage that protects you most, because once drywall is up, nobody can see what is inside the wall. Do not let anyone cover work that has not been approved.

6. Insulation and drywall

After the rough inspections pass, insulation goes in, often with its own inspection, and then drywall is hung, taped and finished.

7. Finishes

Cabinets, counters, tile, interior doors and trim, then paint, then flooring (or flooring before trim, depending on the material), then fixtures, outlet covers and appliances. Our pages on painting and drywall and flooring cover those trades.

8. Final inspection and punch list

The city's final inspections close the permits. Walk the house with the contractor and write down every item left to fix before the final payment.

Living in the house or moving out

Many families try to stay through a whole-house remodel, and some manage it by phasing: one zone is finished and moved into while the next is opened. That stretches the job and adds cleanup and protection at every handoff, but it saves the cost and disruption of a move.

Moving out is often the realistic choice when the work touches the only kitchen and every bathroom at once, when water or power will be off for days at a time, or when the house holds young children and the remodel disturbs old paint. Ask the contractor three questions before you decide: which weeks will the house have no water, no power or no working bathroom; how will dust be contained between work and living areas; and how will the site be locked up at night. Their answers usually make the decision for you.

One general contractor or several specialty contractors?

California's licensing board draws the line by the number of trades. CSLB's guide What Type of Contractor Do I Need? says specialty contractors are usually hired for a single job, and that when a job requires more than two types of work on a building, it is appropriate for a licensed general building ("B") contractor to contract for and oversee the entire project, doing the work or subcontracting parts of it to specialty contractors. The board adds that a B contractor taking on specialty work must hold that specialty license or have a licensed specialty contractor do it.

A whole-house remodel almost always crosses that line, so one B contractor holding the prime contract is the usual structure. Hiring several specialty contractors yourself is possible, but then you are the one scheduling them, deciding who goes first, and settling disputes over damage one trade does to another's work. For a smaller project with one or two trades, a direct hire of an electrician or a plumber may be the simpler path.

Trade licenses and city permits in Texas

In Dallas–Fort Worth, the trades inside a remodel are licensed by state agencies. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's electricians page says anyone who performs or offers to perform non-exempt electrical work in Texas must be licensed, and that the work must be done through a licensed electrical contractor. Plumbers are licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which has a public license search.

The cities add their own layer. Fort Worth's residential permitting page says interior remodels need a building permit when walls or floors are changed, moved or repaired, or when replaced drywall totals 16 square feet or more in any wall or ceiling, while electrical, plumbing and mechanical work each need their own permit. Purely cosmetic work, such as new floor coverings, cabinets or countertops, does not. Its contractor registration page requires anyone pulling those permits to register and show the matching Texas license for electrical, plumbing or mechanical work. Dallas runs remodel permits through DallasNow and lists a single-family remodel checklist and an energy code form for remodels on its residential permits page.

Protecting the payments on a long job

A whole-house remodel runs many weeks, which means many payments. Tie each one to a stage you can see and an inspection that has passed: structure done, rough-in approved, drywall finished, finishes complete, final signed. Keep every change in writing as the job goes.

In California, the written contract, the deposit limit, the right to cancel, change orders and lien releases each have specific rules. Rather than repeat them here, our guide to what a California home improvement contract must include walks through each one. For a job in Texas, read the contract closely and ask the city what it requires, since those California rules do not carry over.

Where we fit in

Contractor Near Me is a free request service, not a contractor. We hold no contractor's license, we do not manage or build remodels, and we do not quote prices or schedules. When you describe your whole-house project, we call or email you back to talk through the trades it involves, the kind of license to look for, and the questions to ask before you sign.

Sources: CSLB, Do I Need a Building Permit?; CSLB, What Type of Contractor Do I Need?; EPA, Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Consumers; EPA, Protect Your Family from Exposures to Asbestos; TDLR, Electricians; Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, home page and Public License Search; City of Fort Worth, Residential Permitting and Contractor Registration; City of Dallas, Residential Permits.