A whole-home remodel is the one project where the first question has to be the budget, because the answer changes what you should do first. Do three rooms well, or everything at once? Keep the layout or open it up? Most Arlington owners asking us this live in a 1980s to 2000s house that has never had a real update, and they want one number to plan around before anyone starts drawing.
Three real ranges from our own projects
These are Southern Home Remodeling’s own ranges from whole-home work across Arlington and Tarrant County since 2011, not national averages. Every project is quoted line by line after a free visit, so treat these as the brackets your written number will fall into.
What moves the number up or down
Four things decide which bracket a house lands in. The first is how many rooms are touched: flooring and paint across a whole floor is a different project from redoing every wet room. The second is whether walls move. Opening a kitchen to the living room, enlarging a primary bath or taking out a hallway brings framing, a beam where the wall carries load, new electrical and plumbing runs, and a City of Arlington permit with inspections. The third is what is behind the walls. A 1980s house often has galvanized supply lines, cast iron drains and a panel that cannot carry a modern kitchen, and fixing those while the walls are open is the right call, but it is a real line on the quote. The fourth is finish level: prefab cabinets and quartz sit in the middle bracket, custom cabinetry, large-format tile, stone and frameless glass push a project toward the top.
Where the money goes in a whole-home remodel
The kitchen is the biggest single room on almost every whole-home quote, and cabinets are the biggest line inside it. Bathrooms come next, because every one of them carries waterproofing, tile and plumbing labor whether it is a hall bath or a primary suite. After that come flooring, which is priced by the square foot and by how much old material has to come up, and then electrical and plumbing, which scale with how much the layout changes. Paint, trim, doors and lighting are the cheapest way to make the rest of the house match the new rooms, and they are usually what turns a kitchen-and-bath job into a whole-home job.
What Arlington homes usually need
Arlington grew fastest from the 1970s through the 1990s, so the typical whole-home candidate is a 1,800 to 3,000 square foot ranch or two-story with its original kitchen, two or three original baths and a mix of carpet and tile. In our experience the list is predictable: a kitchen that wants to open to the living room, a primary bath with a garden tub nobody uses, a hall bath with a fiberglass surround, flooring that changes material at every doorway, and a panel that is full. The newer neighborhoods in north and south Arlington are a different job: the systems are fine, and the budget goes into finishes and outdoor living instead of repairs.
How long a whole-home remodel takes
Plan on 3 to 6 months on site once materials arrive. Cabinets and stone are ordered before demolition so the crew is never waiting on a delivery, and the rooms are sequenced so you always have a working bathroom. Some families stay in the house through a several-rooms refresh; a complete renovation with the kitchen and every bath out at once is easier from somewhere else for part of the schedule, and we tell you which weeks those are before you sign. The dates are written into the contract, and any change is written up with its cost and schedule effect before it happens.
Permits in Arlington
Structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical changes need a City of Arlington permit, and a whole-home remodel almost always has all four. Texas does not issue a state license for general remodeling contractors, so there is no license number to show you; the plumbing and electrical work on your project is done by state-licensed trades, and we register with the city and pull the permits for every job that needs one. Cosmetic work such as paint, flooring and cabinets does not need a permit.
Paying for it
Every quote is itemized, with labor, materials and permits on separate lines, so you can cut or add scope and see exactly what moves. Financing is available through a third-party service on our estimates. Workmanship carries a 12-month standard warranty, and manufacturer warranties cover the products, with the term written into the contract, and cabinets, appliances and fixtures carry their own manufacturer warranties.
Ready to put a number on your Arlington home?
Book a free in-home estimate and Cristian or John will walk the house with you, look at the panel, the plumbing and the framing, and send a written, itemized quote with a schedule. Call 817-330-9499 or use the form on our Arlington remodeling page.
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