Home / Service Areas / San Rafael
Marin hillsides, older homes and creek-adjacent lots — and what that means for your project.
San Rafael is our main North Bay base and a genuinely mixed city to build in — older homes near the centre, hillside properties with views and access constraints, and flatter neighbourhoods that behave much like the East Bay tracts we work in daily.
Two local factors shape most projects here: terrain, which drives foundation, drainage and access costs on hillside lots, and water, since parts of the city sit low and close to creeks and the bay.
Hillside San Rafael properties share the Oakland Hills profile: pier-and-grade-beam or post-and-pier foundations, narrow access roads, and drainage that must be engineered rather than assumed. Expect a geotechnical report for structural work, and expect site access to be a real line item rather than a rounding error.
The compensation is the same too — these are often the properties where a well-placed addition or a reworked window line produces a genuinely transformative result. It is worth spending design effort here before construction effort.
Parts of San Rafael sit low, near creeks or close to the bay margin, and some parcels fall within mapped flood zones. Where they do, it affects finished floor elevation, foundation design, materials near grade and, in some cases, what can be built at all.
This is checkable for a specific address and we check it at feasibility rather than at plan check. If your property is affected it changes the design brief, and the earlier that is known the cheaper it is.
More generally in Marin, drainage deserves attention on almost any project. Water that has found a path under a house for thirty years does not stop because there is a new kitchen above it.
Every service below is delivered under CSLB licence #959458, with permits pulled and inspections scheduled by us.
Room additions, second storeys and bump-outs — engineered and framed to match the existing house instead of looking bolted on.
Full-house renovations — systems, structure and finishes handled under one contract and one schedule.
Custom cabinetry, counters, islands and full layout changes, including moving plumbing and electrical where the layout calls for it.
Detached, attached and junior ADUs — design, permits and build, whether it is for rental income or family.
Tub-to-shower conversions, primary suites, guest baths and waterproofing done properly, not just prettily.
San Rafael is our main North Bay area. We take work in nearby Marin communities case by case, depending on the project and our schedule.
It is checkable by address, and we check at feasibility stage. If it is, it affects finished floor elevation, foundation design and materials near grade — all things better known before design than during plan check.
Typically geotechnical investigation, engineered drainage, a more involved foundation and higher site-access costs. It is a real premium and we itemise it rather than burying it.
We will visit the site, talk through options and send a written line-item estimate. No obligation.
