A remodel is different from a new build. You’re not starting from a clean slab — you’re working with what’s already there, and in the Baton Rouge metro and on the Northshore, “what’s already there” is often a home built decades before today’s flood maps and code. That’s not a problem. It just means the plan has to respect how the house was actually built.
We handle home remodeling and renovation across Livingston Parish, the Baton Rouge metro, and the Northshore — and here’s the lay of the land before you start.
Kitchens and baths: the rooms that pay you back
If you’re remodeling for resale or for daily quality of life, kitchens and baths are where the dollars work hardest. The two things that separate a remodel that lasts from one that doesn’t:
- The stuff behind the walls. Plumbing and electrical in older homes often need rework to carry a modern kitchen or bath. Doing it right once is cheaper than opening the wall twice.
- The finish. A kitchen lives on its cabinetry and trim. Ours is built and finished in our own shop in cypress, white oak, and local hardwoods — the same shop that finishes our custom homes.
Additions that look like they belong
The giveaway of a bad addition is that you can tell where the old house stops and the new part starts. A good one matches the roofline, the floor height, and the architectural language of the original. The catch in South Louisiana: an addition generally has to be built to current parish flood and wind code even when the original house predates it. We plan the tie-in so the new space is both code-compliant and visually seamless.
Raised-floor and pier-and-beam realities
The Northshore and older Baton Rouge neighborhoods have a lot of raised cottages and pier-and-beam homes. Remodeling them well means working with that structure, not against it:
- Sill plates and floor framing that have seen decades of Louisiana humidity may need attention before new finishes go on top.
- Re-leveling and shoring are sometimes part of the job, and it’s better to know that up front.
- Changing a load-bearing wall in an older home is a structural decision, not a cosmetic one — it gets engineered, not guessed.
Permits, and keeping the house livable
Most substantial remodels need a permit, and anything structural or in the floodplain gets more review. We handle that. We also sequence the work so you keep as much of your house usable as the project allows — and if a lender or insurer is involved, we document each stage as we go.
Before you start
The most useful first step is a walk-through with someone who’ll tell you what the house is actually telling them — what’s cosmetic, what’s structural, and what it’ll take to get the result you want. Call (985) 255-2435 or send a note.
If your project is less “renovate” and more “take it down and start over,” that’s our new home construction side — and we’re happy to help you figure out which one your house calls for.