General Contractor & Home Remodeling in Lexington, MA

Almost always, yes. Lexington’s Building Office handles all permitting online through the OpenGov / ViewPoint Cloud system, and building, electrical, plumbing, gas, and mechanical permits are pulled separately. What makes Lexington different is how much has to be cleared before the Building Office can issue anything: depending on your property, that can include zoning calculations, a certified plot plan, Historic Districts Commission review, demolition delay review, Conservation, and energy code documentation. As your general contractor, we map which of those apply to your address and file them in the right order.

Lexington is one of ten Massachusetts communities in the state’s Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Demonstration Program, and its bylaw took effect on March 21, 2024. No building permit is issued for new construction or a major renovation that installs new on-site fossil fuel infrastructure, meaning new piping for natural gas, propane, or oil. A major renovation is generally one that alters more than half the existing building. If your project is under that threshold, the bylaw does not apply. This is the single most important thing to establish early on a Lexington project, because it drives your heating, hot water, and appliance decisions — and it is why we confirm your project’s status with the Town before any mechanical design is finalized.

It depends on the scale of your project, and the rules here have been actively revised, so this is one to confirm rather than assume. For a kitchen remodel that does not rise to a major renovation, the bylaw is not triggered. Within a major renovation, the Town’s guidance has been that existing fossil fuel equipment can stay, but equipment you choose to replace must be replaced with non-fossil-fuel equipment — a gas range swapped during that kind of project would go to electric or induction. Lexington’s treatment of indoor cooking appliances has been amended since the bylaw took effect, so we verify the current rule with the Building Office at the start of every kitchen project rather than relying on what was true last year.

Lexington has four local historic districts, and the Historic Districts Commission must approve all exterior architectural changes to buildings within them — construction, exterior renovation, demolition, signs, and even color changes. The Commission meets once a month, so its calendar needs to be built into your schedule from the start. Interior work is not subject to that review, which is why kitchens, bathrooms, basements, and attics usually move forward without it. The Building Office cannot issue your permit until the required historic documentation is in hand.

Lexington’s demolition delay bylaw is among the longest in the region. It applies to buildings on the National Register, listed in the Town’s Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey, or otherwise determined significant by the Historical Commission. If such a building is found to be preferably preserved, a delay of up to 21 months applies before a demolition permit can issue, reduced to 12 months where site plan approval is in place. That matters well beyond teardowns, because significant structural removal on an older Lexington home can bring the bylaw into play. We check your property against the inventory during feasibility.

Often, yes. Massachusetts now allows accessory dwelling units by right in single-family zoning districts statewide, subject to local rules on siting, parking, and permitting, and Lexington has its own requirements layered on top. An ADU can be created within the existing house, in a basement or attic conversion, above a garage, or as a detached structure. Because an ADU adds a full dwelling unit, it interacts with the fossil fuel free bylaw, energy code, and — on an older home — historic review. We assess what your lot and house will actually support before design begins.

Every project is scoped and priced individually, but these ranges reflect what we typically see in Lexington: a kitchen remodel from about $100,000 for an updated kitchen to $200,000 or more for a full gut with custom cabinetry; a bathroom remodel from about $35,000 to $90,000; a finished basement or attic conversion from about $45,000 to $120,000; and a whole-home remodel from about $350,000 upward. Lexington’s energy requirements and the fossil fuel free bylaw can add cost on larger projects, particularly where heating and hot water move to electric, so we build that into the budget rather than surfacing it later.

We work throughout Lexington, including Lexington Center, East Lexington, Munroe, Meriam Hill, Pierce’s Bridge, and the Countryside and Follen Hill areas, along with neighboring communities such as Arlington, Belmont, Winchester, Burlington, Bedford, Concord, Lincoln, and Waltham.