Caminito Northland

When we bought this La Jolla home in 2020, it had already been through a bad build. A previous contractor had left serious defects throughout, and the house was stripped to the studs in multiple areas. Nearly everything had to be redone.

Fixing a bad contractor's work isn't a remodel. It's an investigation first.

Before we touched anything, I brought in my own trusted inspectors and structural engineers to confirm the true scope of the damage, including what was hidden behind walls and under floors. Their findings became our map.

“Most people can build a house. Far fewer know how to take apart someone else's mistakes and put it back right.”

With poor work, you can't just patch the mistakes you can see. You have to unwind everything the previous contractor did, and often go several steps past the obvious errors to reach work you can trust. Sometimes that meant removing work that looked fine on the surface, because what it was tied into wasn't. It's slower up front, but it's the only way to know a house is safe and built right.

Every defect was found, fixed, and documented, so the owner has a clear record of what was wrong and how it was corrected. That record protects the home's value when it's time to insure, refinance, or sell.

At the same time, we worked the project through the city's permit process. Then we rebuilt the home completely: we added 850 square feet, remodeled every room, and added a pool and solar. The only things left from the original house were the foundation and some of the exterior framing.

The renovation came in at just over $1.3 million. The owner kept the home and rents it for more than $25,000 a month. It's now valued at over $5.5 million.