Remodeling a house in Hillsdale
Kitchen, bath and whole home remodels for Hillsdale's postwar houses, permitted in Portland.
Talk to Don about your projectHe comes out and prices it himself
- Oregon CCB
- #208048
- Washington L&I
- #DWVCOCL7540W
- Coverage
- Bonded and insured
- Established
- 2008
Dairy land until after World War II.
John Addison Slavin homesteaded 160 acres here about 1851, and his road is now Capitol Highway. Dairies followed, among them the Fulton Park Dairy, sold to Gustav Wardin in 1908. By 1926 twenty Red Electric trains a day passed through Bertha Station, and Bertha Boulevard is built on the rail bed.
Most of the dairy land was sold after World War II and became the town center, two schools and subdivisions such as the 300 lot Woodrow Wilson plat south of Vermont Street. The dairy had closed by 1953.
What is behind the walls of your house.
The age of the house moves the price more than anything you can see. This is what is typical for a Portland house of that age. The site walk confirms what yours has.
6 of 8 are likely on a 1955 house.
Knob and tube or early cloth wrapped wiring is common in houses of this age, and it is live in more rooms than the panel suggests.
Electrical service and panel: $2,000 to $12,000
What DWV does: Full electrical replacement with a service upgrade, as on the Foster-Powell bungalow.
Ask Don about thisGalvanized steel supply lines narrow with age. On the Foster-Powell bungalow they were replaced from the meter through every fixture.
Part of the electrical, plumbing and heating line
What DWV does: New plumbing from the meter through every fixture.
Ask Don about thisThe waste lines in these houses are often the original cast iron, out of sight under the floors.
Part of the electrical, plumbing and heating line
What DWV does: Replaced with the plumbing where they have failed.
Ask Don about thisBrick chimneys of this age are unreinforced masonry, which matters as soon as the structure around them changes.
Priced on the estimate after the site walk
What DWV does: Looked at with the structure before any wall around it moves.
Ask Don about thisThe walls are usually uninsulated and the windows are single pane wood. Insulation comes up to energy code once the walls are open.
Part of the structure and envelope line
What DWV does: Insulation to current energy code while the walls are open.
Ask Don about thisMany of these houses were first heated with oil, and the tank can still be under the yard. A tank taken out of use is decommissioned by a DEQ licensed service provider.
What is behind the walls: $8,000 to $60,000
What DWV does: Decommissioned by a DEQ licensed service provider.
Ask Don about thisPaint applied before 1978 is treated as lead paint under the renovation rule, and work that disturbs it follows lead safe practices.
A line item, priced before demolition
What DWV does: Lead safe practices, priced before demolition.
Ask Don about thisOregon DEQ requires a survey by an accredited inspector before a house built before 2004 is renovated. Older duct wrap and sheet flooring get tested before anything is disturbed.
A line item, priced before demolition
What DWV does: Surveyed first, then handled the way the survey says.
Ask Don about this
Same spot, before and after.
Before
AfterA leaking tile deck over the garage, rebuilt watertight with pavers and new cedar siding.
See the project
The damage was bigger than expected. The estimate was right.
“We recently discovered that we had a water leak in the tiles of our front deck which overlies our garage that was resulting in damage to the underlying structures as well as the siding. We needed to replace some of the underlying support as well as the waterproof membrane, the tile and the siding as well as paint the new siding. We got several bids but the approach proposed by Don Vedaa and Mark Stumpf made the most sense and their price was competitive. We were very impressed and pleased with the attention to detail and genuine concern that things be done right. They really went the extra mile, as if it were their own house they were working on. Communication was good throughout the project and the people who did the work were very thoughtful of our neighbors and very pleasant to have around. The damage turned out to be more extensive than originally thought so the project took a bit longer than anticipated but the cost estimate was accurate. The overall cost turned out to be over the original estimate also but that was because we added new windows, new lights, and requested a change in the paint, all things that were not included in the original proposal. We are very pleased with the end result and are happy we chose to go with DWV Construction. We recommend them highly.”
Jeff WeeksGoogle reviewThe work Hillsdale houses ask for.
The photographs are from our own jobs. The closest is a deck over a garage in Southwest Portland.
Kitchens in postwar houses
Most full kitchens we build take six to ten weeks. The five week kitchen on this site kept its layout and went from demolition to finished in under five weeks.
Bathrooms
A hall bath takes three to four weeks and a primary bath four to six, from demolition through final inspection.
A walk in shower where the tub was
When a tub comes out we build a tiled walk in shower in its place. We do not install conversion kits.
Decks
Most of our decks and outdoor jobs take one to six weeks. A deck more than 30 inches above the ground needs a building permit.
City of Portland permits, and the Hillsdale Plan District.
Hillsdale is a City of Portland neighborhood, and permits come from Portland Permitting & Development. The zoning code has a Hillsdale Plan District, chapter 33.534, so the rules for an address near the town center are confirmed before design.
It is not a historic district. Terwilliger Parkway, on the east edge, went on the National Register in 2021, and the city has had a design zone along it since 1959.
A house from the 1950s was built before the rule dates for lead paint and asbestos. Paint applied before 1978 is treated as lead paint, and a house built before 2004 needs an asbestos survey before it is renovated.
Check which permits your job needsOur jobs near Hillsdale.
Our closest job is the deck over a garage in Southwest Portland. Tap a pin to see the job.
SW Portland
A leaking deck over the garage, rebuilt with new cedar siding.
See this jobNext door: Multnomah Village, Bridlemile, Council Crest
Questions from Hillsdale homeowners.
No. No historic or conservation district named for Hillsdale is on the city's list. Terwilliger Parkway, along the east edge, is a National Register district.
It can. The city created a special design zone for Terwilliger Parkway in 1959 and adopted design guidelines in 1983. We check whether your lot is inside it before exterior work is drawn.
Galvanized water lines and cast iron drains are still common in houses built before 1960, and many were first heated with oil. Knob and tube wiring is typical only before 1950. The slider on this page shows it by year.
On a sloped lot, yes. Portland requires a slope hazard evaluation for additions where its slope conditions apply, and that is checked by address.
Talk directly to Don about your project.
Or pick a time for Don's site walk
“Don provided clear and transparent pricing that remained constant throughout the entire remodel.”
Steven Smith · Google review