Can the original framing stay?

Often it can. On the Foster-Powell bungalow, built before 1920, the framing was sound and stayed while everything inside it was rebuilt. The site walk and the first openings show what yours can keep.

Does all the old wiring and plumbing have to come out?

On both bungalows on this page it did. Each got a full electrical replacement with a service upgrade and new supply and waste lines from the meter. How much of yours is original is one of the first things Don looks at on the site walk.

What about lead paint and asbestos?

Paint applied before 1978 is treated as lead paint under the federal renovation rule, and work that disturbs it follows lead safe practices. Oregon DEQ requires an asbestos survey by an accredited inspector before a house built before 2004 is renovated. Both are priced before demolition.

Can we add on without changing how the house looks from the street?

Yes. The Creston-Kenilworth bungalow took a rear addition with a new primary suite. It was matched to the original roof pitch and exterior detailing, and the street front did not change.

Do we need historic review?

Only if the house is in a historic district or is a landmark. In a Portland historic district such as Irvington or Ladd's Addition, changes to the outside of the house go through the city's historic resource review unless an exemption applies. Check the address before anything is drawn.

Should we bolt the house to the foundation while the work is going on?

It is the right time to ask. Portland calls bolting the sill to the foundation and adding plywood to the short walls under the floor the two most cost effective steps, and the city has a sample plan for it. The work takes a permit. Bring it up on the site walk.

What does it cost to remodel an old Portland house?

Most Portland whole home remodels land between $300,000 and $550,000. On a house built before 1960, hold back 15 to 20 percent for what is behind the walls. The cost guide on this site works a budget through line by line.

A Foster-Powell Craftsman bungalow restored in navy

Craftsman living room with a box beam ceiling and refinished hardwood

Gray and white kitchen in the Creston-Kenilworth bungalow with a view to the dining room

Subway tile shower and tub in the Creston-Kenilworth bungalow

By Don Vedaa · Updated November 2026

Remodeling a Portland bungalow or Craftsman built before 1978

The age of the house decides most of the job. This is what is behind the walls, what stays, and what gets replaced, on two bungalows we rebuilt in Southeast Portland.

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The front of a house stripped to the sheathing with water damage showing — SW Portland, stripped to the sheathing

A kitchen wall opened with insulation and wiring exposed — Walls opened on a kitchen job

A kitchen stripped to the framing with the subfloor exposed — Down to the framing

A slate tile deck over a garage before the work — The leaking deck before the work

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.

Your house was built in1925

8 of 8 are likely on a 1925 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 this
Galvanized 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 this
The 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 this
Brick 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 this
The 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 this
Many 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 this
Paint 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 this
Oregon 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

What stays and what gets replaced.

The parts of an old house worth keeping are the ones nobody builds anymore. This is how it went on two Southeast Portland bungalows, one built before 1920 and one in 1924.

A brown Portland bungalow with failing paint before the work

The framing

On the Foster-Powell bungalow, built before 1920, the original framing was sound and it stayed. The siding profile and the floor plan of the main level stayed with it.

See the Foster-Powell bungalow

Creston-Kenilworth dining room with a period pendant and the original window run

Trim, casings and windows

Casings and trim are restored where the original can be saved and matched where it cannot. On the Creston-Kenilworth bungalow the original window run in the dining room stayed.

Original fir stairs in an older Portland house, refinished

Floors and stairs

The Creston-Kenilworth floors are the original hardwood, refinished and matched where the addition meets the old house. The original stair treads stayed too.

See the Creston-Kenilworth bungalow

A rebuilt kitchen in an older house with stained glass windows over the counter

Wiring, plumbing, kitchen and baths

These get rebuilt. Both bungalows got a full electrical replacement with a service upgrade, new supply and waste lines from the meter, insulation to current energy code, a new kitchen and two new baths.

Same spot, before and after.

The brown bungalow before the work, from the homeowner's own photo — A pre-1920 Craftsman restored from the original framing out.
See the project

The same bungalow restored in navy with a rebuilt porch, from the homeowner's own photo — A pre-1920 Craftsman restored from the original framing out.
See the project

Permits on an older Portland house.

Two kinds of work bring an engineer and plan review into the job. The cost guide shows what each does to the budget.

Oak beams carrying the floor above where a wall came out

Moving a wall

A wall that carries the floor above needs an engineer, a beam and plan review before the permit issues. We coordinate the engineering and file the drawings.

New concrete stem walls with anchor bolts set beside an older house

Adding on

The Creston-Kenilworth addition went through structural engineering and the city's plan review. It was matched to the bungalow's roof pitch and detailing, so the house reads the same from the street.

Finished white kitchen in the Foster-Powell bungalow

Common questions.

Often it can. On the Foster-Powell bungalow, built before 1920, the framing was sound and stayed while everything inside it was rebuilt. The site walk and the first openings show what yours can keep.
On both bungalows on this page it did. Each got a full electrical replacement with a service upgrade and new supply and waste lines from the meter. How much of yours is original is one of the first things Don looks at on the site walk.
Paint applied before 1978 is treated as lead paint under the federal renovation rule, and work that disturbs it follows lead safe practices. Oregon DEQ requires an asbestos survey by an accredited inspector before a house built before 2004 is renovated. Both are priced before demolition.
Yes. The Creston-Kenilworth bungalow took a rear addition with a new primary suite. It was matched to the original roof pitch and exterior detailing, and the street front did not change.
Only if the house is in a historic district or is a landmark. In a Portland historic district such as Irvington or Ladd's Addition, changes to the outside of the house go through the city's historic resource review unless an exemption applies. Check the address before anything is drawn.
It is the right time to ask. Portland calls bolting the sill to the foundation and adding plywood to the short walls under the floor the two most cost effective steps, and the city has a sample plan for it. The work takes a permit. Bring it up on the site walk.
Most Portland whole home remodels land between $300,000 and $550,000. On a house built before 1960, hold back 15 to 20 percent for what is behind the walls. The cost guide on this site works a budget through line by line.

Talk directly to Don about your project.

Request a quote (503) 805-5762

Or pick a time for Don's site walk