Kitchen remodeling
Bathroom remodeling
Home additions & ADU
Roofing
Windows & doors
Driveway & pavers
FenceFree written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable General Contractor Across Running Springs
Running Springs homeowners usually call us at (833) 467-7020 after a walkthrough leaves them with a quote that already feels soft, or after a previous contractor opened a wall and the budget went sideways. We’re Alder Contractors, and we work the same ground you live on: steep lots, winding roads, cabins built anywhere from the 1920s to the 1980s, and the snow loads and Cal Fire rules that come with living at 5,800 feet. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, a bathroom rebuild, an addition, or a full exterior overhaul, we quote it accurately the first time, with allowances written in for what usually hides inside older mountain framing. Call us and we’ll come up the hill to Running Springs, walk the property, and give you a line-item estimate.
Why Alder Contractors Is Running Springs’s Preferred General Contractor Company
We’re not a valley crew that “also works the mountain.” Running Springs is one of our regular service areas, and our local reputation is built on projects where the first bid held. Homeowners here tell us the same thing: they want a contractor who knows what a 1950s cabin on a pier-and-beam foundation actually looks like under the drywall. That’s us. We’ve opened enough Running Springs walls to know what we’ll find before we bid it, not after.
Our response time to Running Springs is straightforward. We schedule the initial walkthrough within a few days of your call, and once a project starts, our crews are on site on a set schedule, not bouncing between four jobs in four counties. When a mid-project question comes up, you call one number and get a decision from someone who has actually been inside your house. That’s how a whole-home remodeling project should run from roofline to backyard.
Styles & brands we work with







Remodeling Contractor in Running Springs
Remodeling Contractor work in Running Springs is a different animal than it is down in Highland or Mentone. The houses are older, the foundations are often pier-and-beam, and a good share of what we open up turns out to be work someone did without a permit twenty or thirty years ago. A kitchen remodel in Running Springs typically runs $14,000 – $45,000, and the final number has a lot to do with what the framing, wiring, and waterproofing reveal once the walls come open. Nelson Ibarra, who leads our contracting team, wrote our estimating process around that reality: inspection first, allowances written into the contract, and every surprise priced and approved in writing before we touch it.
Mountain-Age Reality Check
Before we write a firm bid on a Running Springs remodel, we look at the subfloor, the rim joists, the header spans, and the electrical panel. That’s not extra work. It’s the only honest way to price a cabin that has survived decades of freeze-thaw cycles and at least a few owners who fixed things themselves.
Written Allowances, Not Verbal Promises
If the permit inspection forces a code upgrade on the wiring or the structure, the allowance is already in your contract. We don’t argue about it after the walls are open. You get a written change order with photos and a price, and you approve it before any new work starts.
Licensed General Contractor in Running Springs
A Licensed General Contractor in Running Springs carries a different burden than one working the flat lots down the hill. Running Springs sits at 5,800 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains on steep, fire-prone terrain, and construction here is defined by the intersection of mountain-resort building, wildfire defensibility, and winter snow loads. That means every project, from a small bathroom remodel at $9,000 – $28,000 to a full home addition at $45,000 – $130,000, must account for narrow winding access roads, Cal Fire brush-clearance inspections, and a permitting rhythm shaped by the San Bernardino National Forest.
Permits and Cal Fire Defensible Space
Here’s what surprises Running Springs homeowners most: a permit on an addition or a structural remodel pulls a Cal Fire brush-clearance inspection alongside the building inspection. If your defensible space isn’t up to code, the building inspector’s sign-off waits. We sequence the work so the brush clearance, the structural fixes, and the interior rough-in are done in the right order, so the job doesn’t stall.
Single Contract, Single Accountability
One contractor. Every phase. We manage the framing, the roofing, the windows, the hardscape, and the interior finishes under one contract and a single point of accountability. You’re not juggling four bids from four subs with four schedules. When something needs a decision, you call us, and we decide.
Trusted Brands We Service in Running Springs
We build with material partners we’ve vetted across every trade, and we stock fast-turnaround access for Running Springs customers who don’t want to wait on a showroom. For hardscape and paver work, we regularly specify Techo-Bloc or Cambridge Pavers for patios and driveways, and Unilock for retaining walls and walkways that need to hold up under real snow. For kitchen and bath remodels, homeowners get their pick of designer-grade lines like Cambria quartz countertops or Kohler and Grohe fixtures without paying a separate designer middleman. You get real choices, real lead times, and a single contractor standing behind the whole thing.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon General Contractor Problems We See in Running Springs Homes
- Unpermitted structural work in older cabins. Running Springs cabins on pier-and-beam foundations often hide two or three decades of unpermitted structural work, extra beams scabbed under a sagging subfloor, headers cut for a bigger window. Because a permit pulls a Cal Fire brush-clearance inspection alongside the building inspector, opening those walls triggers upgrades the homeowner never planned for.
- Wire and waterproofing failures behind the walls. Cloth-wrapped wiring from the 1940s and 1950s is common in Running Springs, and it’s frequently brittle or improperly spliced. Failed deck and window waterproofing is another regular find, especially on the uphill side of a cabin where snow piles against the siding all winter.
- Snow-load failures on decks and carports. After major snowstorms, decks and carports across the mountain often fail under wet snow load within days. We build to a higher snow-load rating than the county minimum and routinely clear roofs during multi-day storms for customers under a maintenance agreement.
- Bidding done without an inspection. The worst position a Running Springs homeowner can be in is a signed contract based on a walkthrough with no inspection behind it. Once the walls open and the cut framing or failed waterproofing shows up, the quote moves, and the homeowner eats it. We write the inspection into the process before the bid, not after the demo.
Pricing for General Contractor in Running Springs, CA
Running Springs pricing reflects the mountain, not the valley. Here’s what we’re seeing on current jobs:
| Project | Typical Running Springs Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Home Addition | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| Roof Replacement | $8,000 – $20,000 |
What moves a Running Springs quote: the age of the framing, the condition of the existing wiring, whether the foundation is pier-and-beam or slab, the snow-load rating on any new roof or deck structure, and how much defensible-space work the Cal Fire inspection triggers. We write line-item allowances for all of it, so the quote doesn’t quietly drift. Call (833) 467-7020 for a free estimate. We’ll put the numbers in writing before you commit to anything.
We Also Serve Cities Near Running Springs
We run projects regularly in Running Springs and the surrounding mountain and valley communities. If you’re in Lake Arrowhead, Highland, Mentone, or Crestline, the same team, the same inspection-first estimating process, and the same single contract apply. Call us and we’ll schedule a walkthrough.
Serving Running Springs, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Running Springs area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About General Contractor in Running Springs
Opening older Running Springs cabin walls typically adds cost because the framing, wiring, and waterproofing inside are often unpermitted, undersized, or damaged from decades of freeze-thaw cycles. A permit inspection then triggers code upgrades the homeowner never planned for, so the quote moves. That’s why our contracts carry written allowances for exactly these conditions. Call (833) 467-7020 to talk through what we typically find in your era of cabin before you sign anything.
Yes, and it happens faster here than in the valley. Running Springs sits inside the San Bernardino National Forest permit zone, so a structural or addition permit often pulls a Cal Fire defensible-space inspection alongside the building inspection. If the brush clearance or the structural upgrade isn’t right, the sign-off waits. We sequence permits, brush clearance, and rough-in in the right order so the job doesn’t stall. Call (833) 467-7020 if you want us to check your project against current Running Springs permit requirements.
We inspect before we bid, not after we open walls. Every allowance for hidden framing, old wiring, or failed waterproofing is written into the contract as a line item. If we open a wall and find something beyond the allowance, we write a change order with photos and a firm price, and you approve it in writing before we touch it. On a 1950s cabin off the lower stretch of Live Oak Drive, our crew found a load-bearing header cut and sistered with a 2×4 scab and cloth-wrapped wiring running through the framing. We stopped the rough-in, documented everything, priced the structural repair and rewire in writing, and had it approved before moving. That’s the standard. Call (833) 467-7020 for a free estimate built the same way.
Yes, under one contract. We manage defensible-space clearing, the Cal Fire inspection timing, and any snow-load-rated structural work in the same schedule as your interior remodel. We build decks, carports, and roof structures to a higher snow-load rating than the county minimum, and we know what the brush-clearance inspector in the 92382 area expects to see. Call (833) 467-7020 and we’ll walk your lot with the interior scope and the exterior requirements at the same time.
In Running Springs, a kitchen remodel typically runs $14,000 – $45,000 and a bathroom remodel $9,000 – $28,000, with the final number set mostly by what condition the framing, wiring, and waterproofing are in once we open the walls. A smaller kitchen in a 1940s cabin that needs rewiring and structural repair will land differently than a 1980s second home in good shape. Call (833) 467-7020 for an exact quote on your house. Estimates are free, and every number is written down before you sign.
Written by Nelson Ibarra, Owner at Alder Contractors, serving Running Springs and the San Bernardino mountain communities.