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 Montara
Finding a general contractor in Montara means finding someone who understands what coastal construction actually demands. We’re San Bruno Construction, and our General Contractor team works on homes throughout the 94037 zip code, from hillside lots off Kanan Road to flat parcels near Highway 1. Montara’s marine layer, salt air, and county permitting requirements shape every project we take on here. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, a room addition, or a full-home renovation in Montara, call (866) 472-1908 for a free estimate. We’ll walk the property with you and talk through what’s realistic for your home and your budget.
Why San Bruno Construction Is Montara’s Preferred General Contractor Company
Montara homeowners call us because we coordinate every phase of a build, from the first inspection to the final walkthrough, under one contract. Led by Noel Carvalho, our team has worked in the unincorporated communities of the San Mateo coast long enough to know what the county will flag and what it won’t. That means fewer delays and fewer surprises on permits.
The feedback we get from Montara customers keeps coming back to the same thing: written change orders, clear allowances, and a single point of accountability. When a wall opens up and the framing is undersized, you’ll know what it costs before we fix it. No vague estimates. No surprise invoices. Just a straightforward scope of work, priced and approved before we proceed.
Our response time to Montara is one of the reasons homeowners here stick with us. We schedule estimates around your availability, and once a project starts, our crew is on-site consistently. You shouldn’t have to chase down your contractor. With San Bruno Construction, you won’t.
Styles & brands we work with







Residential General Contractor in Montara
Residential General Contractor work in Montara covers everything from a single-room refresh to a whole-home gut and rebuild. What sets Montara apart is the condition of the housing stock. Many homes here were built in the 1960s and 1970s, before modern seismic codes and waterproofing standards. When we open a wall on a mid-century beach cottage, we expect to find outdated wiring, corroded fasteners, or rot from decades of marine moisture. That’s not a problem, it’s a known variable. We budget for it, document it, and handle it through written change orders.
Kitchen and Bath Remodels
A kitchen remodel in Montara typically runs between $14,000 and $45,000, depending on the footprint, the cabinet line, and how much structural repair the existing framing needs. Bathroom remodels fall between $9,000 and $28,000, with smaller baths starting around $5,000. The marine layer means we specify corrosion-resistant fixtures and proper ventilation in every wet space.
Additions and ADUs
A home addition in Montara is a larger commitment, generally $45,000 to $130,000, and an ADU construction project runs $90,000 to $220,000. Both require patience for San Mateo County plan checks, especially if the parcel is on a hillside or near a bluff. We handle the full scope, from foundation and framing to cabinetry and finishes, with brands like KraftMaid and Cambria available.
Hire a General Contractor in Montara
When you hire a General Contractor in Montara, you’re hiring someone to manage permits, subs, materials, and timelines so you don’t have to. That’s the entire point. Montara has no city building department, so every permit goes through San Mateo County. That process adds weeks, sometimes months, to plan review, especially on coastal or hillside parcels that trigger geologic review. A contractor who isn’t fluent in those timelines will cost you time and money. We are.
Pre-Construction Inspection First
Before we write a contract, we walk the property and inspect what we can see: foundation, roof, siding, windows, and any visible signs of deferred maintenance. On a 1960s ranch home in Montara’s hillside lots, our crew opened a kitchen wall to discover outdated wiring and undersized framing that had been hidden for decades. We stopped work, documented the issues with photos and a written scope of work, and presented a change order priced and approved before we touched another nail. After inspection sign-off from San Mateo County, we installed KraftMaid cabinets, Cambria countertops, and a Blanco sink, turning a routine remodel into a fully upgraded, code-compliant space.
Written Allowances, No Mystery Math
Any competent contractor can give you a number. The question is whether that number holds. We write allowances for electrical, plumbing, and structural repairs into the contract up front. When something unexpected shows up, you get a line-item change order with the price attached. You approve it, you decline it, or we adjust scope. But you’ll never open an invoice and wonder where a number came from.
Trusted Brands We Service in Montara
Montara homeowners get access to 50+ vetted product brands, so you’re choosing from real options, not whatever the contractor has in the warehouse. For windows and doors, we work with ES Windows and ECO Window Systems, both of which perform well in coastal salt-air conditions. CWS products also come up frequently for Montara projects where wind-driven rain is a factor. We stock common parts for these lines locally and can turn around quote requests quickly for Montara customers. You tell us the look and the budget, we’ll show you the brands that fit.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon General Contractor Problems We See in Montara Homes
- Hidden rot and corrosion in coastal framing. Salt-laden air and persistent marine moisture mean nails, brackets, and sill plates quietly corrode over decades. By the time a remodel starts, what looked like a simple wall cover-up becomes structural repair.
- Undersized framing that won’t pass current code. Many Montara homes from the ’60s and ’70s were built to older standards. Opening a wall for a kitchen or bath often reveals headers and studs that need reinforcement before San Mateo County signs off.
- Water intrusion at the building envelope. Fog-belt conditions keep exteriors damp much of the year. Failed flashing, improper drainage, and worn single-pane windows are routine discoveries, especially on windward-facing lots.
- Permit delays from county plan check and coastal review. Because Montara is unincorporated, every fence, deck, and addition goes through San Mateo County. Bluff-top parcels often trigger additional geologic review, and a contractor who doesn’t plan for that will stall the project.
Pricing for General Contractor in Montara, CA
Here’s what Montara homeowners typically pay, based on the work we’ve done here:
| Project | Typical 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 |
What moves the number is the condition of what’s behind the walls. A kitchen on a slab with post-and-pier framing that’s still true will fall on the lower end. A hillside home with rot, outdated wiring, and undersized headers will push toward the top. We price allowances for that up front, so the contract reflects reality, not optimism. Call (866) 472-1908 to schedule your free estimate. We’ll give you a line-by-line breakdown before you spend a dime.
We Also Serve Cities Near Montara
Our team works up and down the San Mateo coast, so if you’re in Moss Beach, El Granada, Pacifica, or Half Moon Bay, we can help there too. General Contractor in Montara work is our specialty, but the same coastal construction knowledge applies to every community in the area. Call (866) 472-1908 and tell us where you are.
Serving Montara, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Montara 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 Montara
Every permit in Montara goes through San Mateo County, and we handle that entire process for you. Plan checks for remodels and additions typically run longer than in incorporated cities, and bluff-adjacent or hillside parcels often trigger geologic and coastal development review. We account for those timelines in the project schedule and submit drawings, engineering, and documentation in the format the county expects. That’s the difference between a project that starts on time and one that sits in review for months.
Expect the unexpected, but plan for it. Most homes built in the 1960s and 1970s in Montara have outdated wiring, corroded fasteners from salt air, and framing that no longer meets current code. Our pre-construction inspection gives us a working picture, and written allowances in the contract cover what we can’t see until the drywall comes down. When we find something, you get photos, a written scope, and a change order to approve before we proceed. For a specific quote on your project, call (866) 472-1908.
We specify corrosion-resistant fasteners, flash, and hardware throughout, and we install proper drainage planes and venting to keep the marine moisture from getting trapped. That means using materials and details that hold up in a fog belt, not just any off-the-shelf product. Windows from ES Windows and ECO Window Systems are common choices here for their coastal weather performance. For more on what’s right for your home, call (866) 472-1908.
You’ll get a written change order with the full scope and price before any additional work starts. We document what we found with photos, we explain why it needs to be fixed, and we present the cost in a line-item format. You approve it, we proceed. You don’t approve it, we stop and talk through alternatives. That’s the system we use on every Montara project, and it’s why our customers know where their money goes.
Most projects use a series of draws tied to milestones: deposit at contract signing, a draw at rough inspections, a draw at drywall or mid-project, and a final draw at completion and sign-off. The exact schedule depends on the project size and San Mateo County inspection points. We’ll lay out the draw schedule in your contract so there’s no ambiguity about when payments are due. Call (866) 472-1908 and we’ll walk you through it for your specific project.
Written by Noel Carvalho, Owner at San Bruno Construction, serving Montara and the San Mateo coast since 2005.