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 Home Remodeling Across Highland
Home remodeling in Highland means dealing with a specific kind of house: mid-century ranches and 1980s tract homes on the valley floor, plus scattered custom builds climbing toward the San Bernardino National Forest foothills. We know those houses because we work on them every week. Alder Contractors has been serving Highland homeowners with full remodels, additions, and exterior overhauls from our base in nearby Rialto, and we can typically have a crew at your property within a few days of your first call. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, bathroom renovation, or a whole-home update in the 92346 zip code, call (833) 467-7020 to schedule a free estimate. We’ll walk the property with you, open cabinets, check the crawlspace, and give you real numbers before you commit to anything.
Why Alder Contractors Is Highland’s Preferred Home Remodeling Company
Highland homeowners keep calling us back for one reason: we write allowances into every contract for the things we can’t see until demolition starts. That matters here more than almost anywhere else in the Inland Empire. Highland’s housing stock runs older than the flatland cities to the south, and opening up a wall in a 1960s rancher near Baseline or a 1980s two-story off Greenspot Road frequently turns up cloth wiring, undersized framing, or rot nobody planned for. We handle it with inspection-first walkthroughs before we ever submit a bid. Nelson Ibarra, who leads Alder Contractors, insists on that discipline. When a surprise shows up, you get a written change order with a fixed price before we touch another stud. No verbal promises. No vague “we’ll figure it out later.”
Our Home Remodeling team has completed kitchens, baths, additions, and full-home renovations throughout Highland, from the older neighborhoods near Highland Avenue up into the foothill streets where fire code drives material choices. Homeowners here tend to ask harder questions than most, because they’ve either lived through a remodel gone sideways or watched a neighbor deal with one. We respect that. The estimate we give you is the number we build to, and the allowances protect you from the surprises that inflate other contractors’ final invoices.
Styles & brands we work with
Luxury Home Remodeling in Highland
Luxury Home Remodeling in Highland means something specific: you’re not just updating a kitchen, you’re reworking a house that sits against a mountain backdrop and gets hammered by sun and Santa Ana winds. The finishes need to perform, not just look good. A luxury remodel here often includes Cambria quartz countertops, Kohler or Grohe fixtures, custom cabinet layouts from KraftMaid or Wellborn, and flooring that holds up to 100-degree summers without warping. It also frequently means bringing the home’s envelope up to current code, because a high-end interior installed behind outdated wiring or failed waterproofing is a liability.
Highland homeowners pursuing a luxury remodel typically spend $45,000 to $130,000 on a whole-home scope, with kitchens running $14,000 to $45,000 and primary baths from $9,000 to $28,000 depending on size and material tier. Alder Contractors gives you access to designer-grade brands without a separate designer middleman. You pick the slab, the fixtures, the cabinet line, and we handle sourcing, delivery, and installation under one contract.
Whole-home material coordination
One of the biggest frustrations in a luxury remodel is mismatched materials: beautiful kitchen counters next to builder-grade bath fixtures because two different vendors spec’d them. We eliminate that. Our team coordinates selections across every room so the flooring flows, the hardware matches, and the fixtures feel intentional. It’s the difference between a house that was renovated and a house that was designed.
Foothill-grade finishes
If your home sits up toward the wildland edge, your luxury remodel needs to account for fire-resistant assemblies and wind-rated components even inside the walls. We’ve done enough foothill remodels in Highland to spec those materials from the first bid, not as a change order after inspection. That means ember-resistant vents, Class A-rated roofing when touched, and exterior cladding like James Hardie siding where the original stucco has failed.
Full Home Remodel in Highland
A Full Home Remodel in Highland is a different animal than a kitchen-and-bath refresh. It’s the project where a homeowner decides the house they bought in the 1990s or inherited from family needs to function like a modern home: open floor plan, updated systems, new roof and windows, and often a reworked exterior to match what’s inside. These projects commonly run $45,000 to $130,000 for a true whole-home scope. Some Highland homeowners add an ADU at the same time, which pushes the budget into the $90,000 to $220,000 range when built as a detached unit.
What surprises most people isn’t the cost of the new kitchen or the new bath. It’s what’s hiding in the walls. Highland’s post-war and 1980s build-outs mean a full remodel frequently uncovers outdated electrical panels, plumbing that doesn’t meet current code, and framing that was undersized even when it was installed. A full remodel in Highland almost always includes some structural and systems work that a cosmetic remodel wouldn’t touch. We plan for that from the start.
Systems and structure first
We don’t lay flooring over a bad subfloor or hang drywall over wiring that should be replaced. Before finishes go in, we open the walls in the areas we’re remodeling and assess what’s actually there. That inspection drives the allowance lines in your contract. If the electrical needs a panel upgrade or a beam needs sistering, you’ll know the cost before we proceed.
Exterior and interior under one crew
A full home remodel in Highland often extends outside: roofing, windows, doors, siding, and even hardscaping. We manage those trades under the same contract, using brands like GAF and CertainTeed for roofing and Techo-Bloc or Unilock for patios and walkways. You’re not coordinating four vendors with four schedules. One contractor, one schedule, one point of accountability.
Trusted Brands We Service in Highland
Highland homeowners ask us regularly whether we’re locked into one cabinet line or one countertop brand. We’re not. Alder Contractors has established relationships with more than 50 material partners across every major trade category, which means your remodel pulls from brands like Cambria and Silestone for countertops, Kohler and Toto for plumbing fixtures, and James Hardie for siding. For hardscape work, we install Belgard and Techo-Bloc pavers regularly in Highland backyards. We also work with prefab and ADU partners including Abodu and Dvele when a homeowner wants a detached unit without a traditional stick-built timeline. You get real choices without spending your weekends at showrooms. We bring the samples to you.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
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AfterCommon Home Remodeling Problems We See in Highland Homes
- Outdated wiring and undersized framing after walls are opened. Highland’s post-war and 1980s homes frequently have cloth-insulated wiring or aluminum branch circuits that no longer meet code, and opening a wall for a kitchen remodel can trigger a full electrical upgrade. Framing in some of the 1960s builds was sized to minimums that don’t hold up to today’s open-concept spans.
- Failed waterproofing turning into hidden mold and rot. The hot, dry Highland summers make people forget how much rain the foothills can channel during winter storms. When bathroom or kitchen waterproofing fails, the damage is often invisible until demolition starts. We’ve pulled up subfloors in Highland bathrooms and found rot that extended into the joists.
- Permit-triggered seismic and wildfire code upgrades. Any Highland remodel that touches structure near the wildland edge can trigger requirements for ignition-resistant assemblies, ember-resistant vents, or seismic strapping that the original construction never had. If your contractor didn’t write allowances for that, the cost lands on you as a surprise.
- Poor site drainage eating foundations and slabs. Highland sits on the alluvial fan where the San Bernardino Mountains meet the valley, and water moves fast down those slopes in winter. Homes without proper grading or drainage see slab cracks and crawlspace moisture that surface years later as a much bigger repair.
Pricing for Home Remodeling in Highland, CA
Highland remodel pricing tracks close to the broader Inland Empire market, but the foothill factor adds real cost when wildfire-resistant materials and slope-related engineering come into play. A flat-lot kitchen remodel in the valley-floor neighborhoods might land at the low end of the range. The same scope on a hillside street near the National Forest boundary can push 15 to 20 percent higher because of the materials and inspection requirements. Here’s what we see across Highland:
| Project Type | Typical Highland Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Home Addition | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| ADU Construction | $90,000 – $220,000 |
| Garage Conversion | $30,000 – $80,000 |
Every estimate we write includes allowance lines for the unknowns: wiring condition, framing integrity, waterproofing state, and any wildfire-code upgrades that may surface during inspection. You’ll see those numbers on paper before you sign. Call (833) 467-7020 for a free, itemized estimate on your Highland remodel. We walk the property, open what we can, and give you a real number.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highland
Alder Contractors works throughout the eastern Inland Empire beyond our Highland projects. We regularly handle Home Remodeling jobs in San Bernardino, Muscoy, Redlands, and Loma Linda. If you’re just over the city line or considering a project in a neighboring community, we’re already set up to work there. Home Remodeling in Highland remains our busiest market, but our crews move throughout the region weekly.
Serving Highland, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highland 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 Home Remodeling in Highland
We write allowance lines into the contract before work starts, then price any change order in writing before we proceed. Opening a wall in a Highland home built in the 1960s or 1980s frequently reveals cloth wiring, aluminum branch circuits, or framing that doesn’t meet current code. You’ll know the exact cost of the fix before our crew touches it. That’s how we keep a remodel from becoming a runaway invoice. Call (833) 467-7020 if you want to walk through a specific house and see what allowances make sense for it.
Yes, if your home sits within the wildland-urban interface zone, which covers much of Highland’s foothill neighborhoods along the San Bernardino National Forest boundary. The city and county enforce ignition-resistant construction standards on remodels that touch the exterior envelope: Class A roofing, ember-resistant vents, and non-combustible siding in some cases. We spec these materials from the first bid so the inspection doesn’t surprise you. Homes on the flat valley floor further south typically don’t trigger the same requirements.
A change order is a written document that adds or removes scope from your contract, with a fixed price attached. You might need one when demolition reveals rot, outdated wiring, or structural issues that weren’t visible during the estimate. In Highland, where older housing stock is common, change orders are normal. The key is that ours come in writing with a price before work continues. If a contractor does work first and prices it after, you’ve lost control of the budget.
We tie payments to completed milestones, not calendar dates. You pay for what’s been built and inspected, not for promises. Combined with the allowance system, that keeps the budget visible at every stage. If a change order is needed, it’s priced and approved before the next draw. You always know where the project stands against the original estimate.
Highland remodels require inspections at multiple stages: rough framing, electrical and plumbing rough-in, insulation, and final. The city inspects to current code, which means an older home may need upgrades that weren’t in the original scope, especially near the foothills where wildfire-resistant assemblies apply. Alder Contractors pulls the permits and schedules the inspections as part of our service. You don’t chase the city. You get a signed-off project that’s legal and insurable.
Planning a remodel in Highland? Call (833) 467-7020 to schedule your free estimate. We’ll walk the property, open what we can, and give you a written number with allowances built in. No pressure, no vague promises. Just a real plan for your house.
Written by Nelson Ibarra, Owner at Alder Contractors, serving Highland since our first foothill remodel years ago.