As a general contractor in Old Town, ME, we repair and remodel older homes in a city where 36 percent of the housing dates to 1939 or earlier. In houses that age, the sills, beam and wiring set the budget before finishes do.
In short
Repairing and remodeling existing homes in Old Town, Maine is the subject here: structural and rot repair, kitchen remodels and basement finishing, run by one general contractor who looks under the house before writing a price.
Old Town's median home dates to about 1963, and the city's 2016 draft plan says the age of most of its housing suggests older homes need updating. Off Marsh Island there is no city sewer or water, so those homes rely on private wells and septic.
The figure to keep: kitchen work in Old Town averages $14,500 to $77,000+ over many remodels, with $12,000 as the starting point for a single bath.
Marsh Island shapes Old Town remodels because most of the city's developed area sits on it, between the Penobscot and Stillwater. City sewer and water stop at its edge, and flood rules follow both riverbanks.
Island houses near both rivers, checked where old sills meet damp soil
Off-island homes on wells and septic, any new bedroom sized to the system
Pre-1940 kitchens and baths opened with old wiring in the plan
You are looking at
Old Town, ME
11.1 miles from Bangor
Neighboring towns
See every town we serveOlder Old Town homes need structure first, then a kitchen, then a dry basement.
An old sill close to damp ground rots from the bottom up. Pre-1940 houses commonly stand on fieldstone or brick, and some carry joists notched long ago for a drain.
We replace a sill in short runs, sister weak joists and jack a sagging floor over several days so the plaster holds. None of it shows when we finish, which is the point.
Open the plaster in a pre-1940 Old Town kitchen and the wiring may predate grounded outlets and the drain may be old steel pipe. That goes into the scope, and any change gets a signed change order first.
Layout is the big fork: keep the sink and range where they are and the cost stays low, while moving them drags plumbing, hood vent and framing along. A bearing wall needs a sized beam before it goes.
The city's code officer issues flood hazard permits, so a basement near either river starts with FEMA's flood map for that address.
Water is the first job: find where it gets in, a low grade, a short downspout or a seep, and stop it. Radon runs high in many Maine homes, so test first, and plan an egress window for anyone sleeping below grade.
Old Town owners also hire us for three more jobs.
Old Town's Code Enforcement Officer issues building and flood hazard permits plus plumbing and electrical ones, and with over 4,000 residents the city must enforce MUBEC. We pull the permit after you sign.
From the cellar we check the sills, beam and joists, then hear what you want.
You get a written scope, price and contract. Then we file with the city's code office.
You get weekly updates, licensed electricians and plumbers do their trades, and we walk the rooms with you.
You choose a general contractor in Old Town, ME by asking what happens when an old wall opens and the house is not what it seemed. The right answer: a written change order, signed before extra work.
Ask how they handle old paint, since in homes built before 1978 the EPA's RRP lead paint rule applies to any work that disturbs it. In Old Town, that is most of the housing.
Since Maine does not license general contractors, the signed contract counts most. 10 MRSA §1487 requires one over $3,000 and holds the down payment to a third of the price.
The Old Town owners who need a general contractor most live in older houses: in 2010, about 31 percent of owner-occupied homes dated to 1939 or earlier, as did nearly 60 percent of rentals.
Old Town's water rules reach the Penobscot downtown, where a 250-foot shoreland overlay applies, and the city plan lists Pushaw Lake, Mud Pond, Birch Stream and Pushaw Stream as resources to protect.
The right time for an Old Town project is a season ahead: drawings in winter, an addition's foundation after the thaw. Interior work runs year-round.
Remodeling in Old Town costs $14,500 to $77,000+ in the kitchen, and a bath begins at $12,000. Both are averages, never quotes.
| Kitchen scope | What it usually means | Average range |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | Paint, counters and lights, cabinets kept | $14,500 to $22,500 |
| Mid-range update | New cabinets and counters, sink left in place | $22,500 to $41,000 |
| Full gut | Plaster and wiring out, plumbing redone | $46,000 to $77,000+ |
These figures average many kitchens, not a quote. Old plaster can hide what moves them.
An Old Town bathroom remodel costs from $12,000 per bath when a small bathroom needs basic updates, and extensive tile labor takes the top to $25,000 to $35,000. Moved plumbing and subfloor rot raise it most after demolition, with the vent stack and tile versus a surround next.
An Old Town addition is not priced here because the foundation, the tie-in to an older roof, heat and septic capacity off the island move it too far. We price it from drawings.
The layout moves an Old Town kitchen up its range fastest, then cabinet and counter grade, then the house itself, if old wiring or drains need replacing first.
We start on your Old Town house from underneath after you send a free estimate request. Tell us the year it went up and the rooms you want changed.
