Interior Remodeling in Tampa, FL

Before anything is torn out, it helps to write down how the room will actually be used. Where the TV goes, where people sit, which windows bring in the afternoon sun, where you need outlets and light switches. A remodel that starts from the look alone tends to end with a cord running across the floor.

This is also when you decide what stays. Keeping the floor, the doors or the ceiling can save money, but every piece that stays sets a limit on what changes around it.

Wood moves with humidity, and Tampa Bay has plenty of it. Planks should sit inside the conditioned house for several days before they go up, so they settle at the moisture level they will live with. Finishing all sides of the boards before install helps keep them from cupping.

The boards are fastened into the ceiling joists or into furring strips run across them, with a small gap left at the walls that the trim covers. Recessed lights, fans and vents are laid out before the first plank, so the cutouts fall where they should.

Most beams added in a remodel are box beams: three sides of wood built around a hidden frame, hollow and light enough to fasten to the ceiling framing. They give a room the look of exposed timber without changing the structure.

A beam that carries load is a different job. It replaces a wall or supports a span, and its size comes from engineering or the beam maker's span tables, not from the look you want. If a beam in your plans is meant to hold anything up, that question comes first. Our photos include ceiling beams and paneling going up in a long living space.

Shiplap, board and batten and wainscoting all start with layout. The pattern is centered on the wall or on the main window, and the lines are planned around outlets, switches and door casing so nothing lands awkwardly.

In a humid house, moisture-resistant MDF or primed pine holds paint well and stays straighter than raw boards. Every nail hole is filled, every joint caulked and the wall painted after install, so the paneling looks like it was built with the house.

Taking out a wall changes more than the floor plan. The first question is whether it's load-bearing. Walls under a beam or a ridge, or ones with joists resting on them, usually are, and they need a beam sized to replace them.

A wall can also hide wiring, plumbing vents or ductwork that have to be rerouted. Once it is gone, the floor, ceiling and the walls at either end need patching so the room looks like it was built that way. Ask any contractor whether the change needs a permit in your city before anything is cut.

Many Tampa Bay homes have concrete block exterior walls with drywall fastened to furring strips on the inside. That leaves a shallow cavity, which limits how deep an electrical box or a recessed shelf can go on an outside wall.

Most houses here also sit on a concrete slab. Moving a floor outlet or a drain on a slab means cutting concrete, so it pays to settle the layout before the remodel starts. In ranch homes with eight-foot ceilings, a beam or a heavy crown can make the room feel lower, so sizes are worth checking against the real ceiling height.

Our photos include one kitchen, shown before and after on our projects page. When a kitchen is part of an interior remodel, the order of work matters. Walls and ceilings get finished and primed before cabinets go in, cabinets are set level before the countertop is measured, and the backsplash and final paint come last.

If your remodel touches the kitchen, bring it up when you call, so it's part of the estimate conversation from the start.

An interior remodel usually ends in drywall, texture, trim, doors, cabinets and paint, and all of those are on our list of services, so the whole room can be quoted together.

Rafael, the owner, comes out for the estimate and walks the space with you. The quote comes in writing after that visit, and we follow up with you afterward. We are licensed and insured, and we work across Tampa, Riverview, Apollo Beach, Lutz, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.