Service Area · Kirkwood, Atlanta
Remodeling a Kirkwood bungalow.
Most of Kirkwood went up between about 1910 and 1940, and the houses share a set of problems. We have solved them before.
The Housing Stock
The houses here were built for a different way of living.
Kirkwood is bungalow and cottage country. Front porch, hip or gable roof, a hall running back from the living room, bedrooms off that hall, and a small kitchen tucked at the rear corner of the house. It is a layout that made sense when the kitchen was a work room nobody entertained in.
That is the single biggest driver of remodels here. The kitchen is at the back, it is closed off, and it is smaller than anything built since. Opening it to the dining room or the rear of the house is the change that makes these homes feel modern without touching the street-facing character people buy them for.
The second one is bathrooms. A lot of these houses were built with exactly one, off the hall, and it is small. Finding a second bath usually means taking square footage from a back bedroom, a rear porch that was enclosed at some point, or the hall itself.
Before We Quote
What we check before quoting a Kirkwood house.
Pier and beam, not slab
Most of these sit on a crawlspace over brick piers. That is good news for plumbing, because running a new drain line is far cheaper than cutting a slab. It also means we look hard at the floor framing before adding a tub or a tile floor, since neither was in the original load calculation.
Plaster, not drywall
Original walls are plaster over wood lath. It is harder to patch than drywall and it does not like vibration, so demolition next to a wall we are keeping needs more care and more budget than a newer house would.
Whatever the wiring has become
Houses this age have usually been rewired in pieces by several different people across eighty years. We open a few boxes before quoting rather than after, because finding it later is how a project goes over.
Knee walls and low rear rooms
Rear additions on these houses were often done cheaply and later. If the back of the house has a step down, a lower ceiling or a floor that bounces, that is the part we investigate first.
What It Costs
Real numbers, not a range we made up.
Every estimate we write is itemized line by line, with the material and the labor broken out separately, so you can see what you are paying for and tell us to cut something if you want it cut.
As an example of the scale: a laundry and mudroom conversion we priced in spring 2026 came to just under $20,000. That covered framing and a new opening, plumbing and electrical runs, a dryer vent, drywall, hardwood, built-in carpentry, a butler pantry, paint, and $2,150 of plans and permit fees. Bathrooms generally start around $20,000 and decks around $7,500.
Run your own numbers on the estimator, or send us your project and Mike will come look at it himself and write the estimate personally.
Questions
Remodeling in Kirkwood.
Can I open the kitchen to the dining room?
Usually yes. On a bungalow this size the wall between them is often not carrying load, and when it is, the span is short enough that a header is straightforward. We confirm what is in the wall and what is above it before we price it, not after.
Is Kirkwood a historic district?
Part of Kirkwood is a designated historic district, and if your house is inside it, exterior changes can require design review. Interior work such as a kitchen or a bathroom generally does not. Where your specific address falls is worth confirming with the City before you plan an addition or a front-facing change.
Can you add a second bathroom?
Most of the time. The question is where the space comes from and how far it is from existing plumbing. A bath that backs onto the existing wet wall is much cheaper than one at the opposite corner of the house.
Working on a house in Kirkwood?
Tell us about your space and we'll come take a look. Free, itemized quotes across East Atlanta and Inside the Perimeter.