Whole House Remodeling in El Paso, One Phase at a Time

Start with two facts about the house, not the finishes: whether the lot carries the City's historic overlay, and what the roof, the structure and the systems need before anything new goes on top of them. Those two decide the order of everything else.

The overlay comes first. If the lot sits in one of the City's historic districts, the exterior plan goes through historic review before any building permit can issue, and that review changes the calendar more than any finish choice does. The historic district section below covers who reviews what.

Then the house itself. A roof near the end of its life, a floor plan that needs a wall moved, or an electrical service, plumbing or cooling system that has to be replaced decides which phase goes first. Where those systems are part of the question, each one is assessed before the phases are set, and what that shows can change the order.

The practical first step is the complimentary consultation: send photos through the consultation form, and the section after the frequently asked questions explains what comes back and what follows.

Because the City has to approve some of the work before it starts and see some of it before anything covers it, and every phase of a whole house remodel is scheduled around those two points.

Approvals come first. On a historic property, that means the approvals in the historic district section below. Inside the City of El Paso, Sage then pulls the permit for its own scope under its City registration, LCCR26-00183, and trade work carries its own permits, because the City requires separate permits for building, gas, plumbing, mechanical and electrical work (El Paso Municipal Code 18.02.105.4).

What is inside the walls goes before what is on them. Framing changes come first, then each trade rough-in, then the City's inspections. The City's code says structural framework may not be covered or concealed until the building official releases it (El Paso Municipal Code 18.02.107.8), so insulation and drywall are scheduled after each release, never ahead of it.

The rest of the order is the one any El Paso project follows: the roof and exterior openings are closed before drywall, tile and flooring go in, and the yard goes last, as the trades guide explains.

A phased plan also has to keep its permits alive. An El Paso building permit expires if work does not start within six months, stops for six months, or goes six months without an inspection, and residential roofing, window replacement, water heater and air conditioning conversion permits expire one month from issue, with no extension (El Paso Municipal Code 18.02.105.23). So a long remodel keeps inspections moving, and each phase is permitted when it is ready to build. The permits guide explains the rest.

Often, yes, for most of it, when the phases are planned around the rooms you need most: a working bathroom, a place to cook and a bedroom with cooling. Some days are better spent somewhere else, and those days are named in the schedule ahead of time.

The usual approach is to keep one bathroom working while another is rebuilt, and to set up a temporary kitchen area before the kitchen comes out. A house with a single bathroom changes that plan, and it is one of the first things the Feasibility Audit looks at.

The days to plan around are demolition days, the days water or power is shut off for a tie-in, and floor finishing, when a room or a hallway cannot be walked on. In summer, the day the cooling is replaced or rerouted is scheduled as a short, announced window, placed outside the hottest weeks where the plan allows.

Dust is the everyday cost of living in a remodel. Work areas are closed off with dust barriers, and during El Paso's spring wind season any opening in an exterior wall is closed or covered before the end of the day.

Two City rules shape the day. Permitted work may run Monday through Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and work on Sundays or legal holidays needs an after-hours permit (El Paso Municipal Code 18.02.105.20.1). A dumpster or storage container kept on the property for more than seven days needs a City permit, and one on a City street always does (City of El Paso, When Do I Need a Permit).

Usually, yes, and in El Paso each of those moves changes the framing and the paperwork before it changes the floor plan.

Taking out a wall that carries load is demolition under the City's code, which defines demolition to include removing any load-supporting structural member. That makes it permitted work, and for interior demolition the City's application includes a hazardous material report (El Paso Municipal Code 18.02.108.1). The beam or header that replaces the wall is sized on paper first, with the design sealed by a Texas-licensed professional engineer where the scope requires one. The demolition page covers that permit in full.

Moving a bathroom, a laundry or a sink onto an outside wall has its own El Paso rule. The City's residential code prohibits plumbing inside exterior walls unless the wall is framed at least 2 by 6 and the pipes are protected from freezing, and water lines in a ceiling must sit on the warm side with at least 10 inches of insulation on the roof side (El Paso Municipal Code 18.10.240). A 2 by 4 exterior wall is reframed before pipe runs in it, or the line is routed through an interior wall instead, and that choice is written into the phase.

Every habitable room also needs real heating and cooling under an El Paso amendment (El Paso Municipal Code 18.10.060), so a den that becomes a bedroom is reached by a heating and cooling design under its own mechanical permit; the room additions page explains the rule.

Moving a kitchen sink to an island on a slab foundation is its own question, answered on the kitchen remodel page.

You need the City's historic approval for the exterior work before any building permit can issue, and interior work is usually not reviewed. No building permit is issued for work on a landmark or a property with the historic overlay until the Historic Landmark Commission issues a certificate of appropriateness or the Historic Preservation Officer grants administrative approval, and that approval comes in addition to the permit, not instead of it (El Paso Municipal Code 20.20.080(B)). The permits guide covers the rule that historic review applies even when no building permit is needed.

The City's historic preservation FAQ lists nine locally designated historic districts: Austin Terrace, Chihuahuita, Downtown, Magoffin, Manhattan Heights, Mission Trail, Old San Francisco, Sunset Heights and Ysleta, and the City's open data map of historic districts maps all nine. The FAQ also names two districts on the National Register of Historic Places, Rio Grande and Montana Avenue. Local districts show as an H overlay on the City's official zoning map, and the Historic Preservation Office checks an address on request. The FAQ is undated, so confirm the district list and the steps below with that office for your address.

Review covers the exterior and the whole lot, not only the house: the FAQ names landscaping, driveways, windows, roofing, fencing and walkways. Interiors are not reviewed unless an interior has been designated, and interior work is acceptable as long as no structural members affecting the facades are modified. That condition is the one a whole house remodel meets most often, because moving a bearing wall, a window or a roofline can reach the facade.

Many minor exterior changes are approved administratively by the Historic Preservation Office. Additions, major exterior changes and work outside the adopted guidelines go to the Historic Landmark Commission for a certificate of appropriateness. The painting, roofing, windows and doors, stucco and demolition pages each explain how the City reviews that item.

The City's FAQ puts a certificate of appropriateness at approximately one month, pending any postponement by the Commission, with complete applications due two weeks before the Commission meeting. The code adds that the Commission hears an application on 10 days' written notice, and if it takes no action within 45 days of a complete application, the application is approved as submitted (El Paso Municipal Code 20.20.080(G)(1), (3)). The application asks for a scaled plot plan and drawings, the window and door types with a manufacturer sample of each, color and material samples, photographs of current conditions and proof of ownership (El Paso Municipal Code 20.20.080(D)), and every owner of record signs it.

Changes after approval involve the City too. Once a certificate is issued, a change to the permitted work needs a minor modification approved by the Historic Preservation Officer or a new hearing (El Paso Municipal Code 20.20.080(G)(4) and 20.20.090). The Officer inspects work done under a certificate, and work that departs from it is reported to the building official, who may issue a stop-work order (El Paso Municipal Code 20.20.110). A denied application generally cannot be resubmitted for twelve months unless conditions substantially change (El Paso Municipal Code 20.20.080(G)(5)). That is why the exterior plan for a historic house is settled on paper before it is submitted, and why every change is approved in writing before it is built.

The City also offers a historic tax exemption for the restoration or rehabilitation of qualifying historic sites, such as landmarks and contributing properties, and its application has to be filed before any restoration or rehabilitation work starts (El Paso Municipal Code 3.04.035). The Historic Preservation Office reviews most of these applications.

Inside a district, the City also reviews site work, such as new fences, walkways, driveways and landscaping. Where Sage's scope needs historic review, Sage prepares the historic-district submittal for its own scope, for the owner's signature.