Cabin Remodeling in Show Low

Kitchens, baths, whole-cabin renovations, and additions in the pines. We update older White Mountains cabins with code-current systems, better layouts, and finishes that hold up to the winters up here.

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Tired of Dealing with Other people's Compromises?

Most cabins up here were built decades ago for weekend use, not for the way families use them now. That usually shows up as a chopped-up floor plan, a kitchen no one can cook in, one undersized bathroom, aging wiring and plumbing, and insulation thin enough that you feel every January. Selling and starting over means competing for limited inventory and inheriting someone else’s compromises all over again.

A Remodel That Fits How You Actually Live

Remodeling keeps what you already bought, the lot, the trees, and the view, and fixes everything else. We open up closed-in layouts, bring wiring, plumbing, and insulation current, replace the finishes that are past their life, and add square footage where you actually need it. The result is a cabin designed around how you use it, not one you keep working around.

We Handle Everything. Permits, Demo, Build, Inspections. You Just Show Up at the Finish Line.

Most contractors hand your remodel off to three different subs and hope the schedule holds. We keep it in-house: design, permitting, demolition, framing, electrical, plumbing, and finish work. One point of contact. One contract. One crew that shows up until the cabin is done. Get a free walkthrough and find out exactly what your cabin will support.

Why White Mountains Homeowners Choose Us

Code-Compliant

Every remodel is permitted through the City of Show Low or Navajo County and inspected on their schedule. No shortcuts. No surprises at inspection.

In-House Build Crews

We don't sub your remodel out to crews you've never met. Our people handle your cabin from demo through finish.

Bonded & Insured

ROC licensed general contractor. Full liability coverage. You're protected at every phase.

Built for This Climate

Snow loads, frost depth, and forty-year-old cabins are our normal. We remodel for winters at 6,400 feet, not for the Valley floor.

Cabin Remodeling in Show Low: Common Questions

How long does a cabin remodel take in Show Low?

Most cabin remodels run about 6 to 16 weeks on site, with larger whole-cabin projects and additions running longer.

A kitchen or bath lands at the short end. A full gut, a structural change, or an addition lands at the long end, plus permitting and plan review before anyone swings a hammer. Lead times on cabinets and windows drive the schedule as much as the labor does. We build the calendar around your actual scope at the walkthrough.

Does a cabin remodel need a permit?

Most remodels need a permit, and the answer depends on your scope and whether the cabin sits inside city limits or out in the county.

The City of Show Low issues separate residential, addition, plumbing, and solar permits, and inspections have to be called in 24 hours ahead. Parcels outside the city go through Navajo County. Purely cosmetic work often doesn’t require one. Anything structural, electrical, or plumbing usually does. We pull the permits and schedule the inspections as part of the job.

What's involved in opening up a closed-off cabin floor plan?

Opening up a cabin floor plan is usually possible, but the wall you want gone determines how involved it gets.

A non-bearing wall comes out in a day. A bearing wall means a beam, posts, and a load path down to the foundation, sometimes with engineering and a footing. Old cabins also hide ductwork, plumbing, and wiring in the walls you want opened. We identify what’s structural before we quote, so the number doesn’t move mid-project.

Our cabin is 40+ years old. What should we do about the wiring, plumbing, and insulation?

On a cabin from the 70s or 80s, the systems behind the walls are usually the part that matters most.

We look for aluminum branch wiring, ungrounded circuits, undersized panels, galvanized or polybutylene supply lines, and R-values that stopped being adequate a long time ago. While the walls are open is the cheapest time to fix all of it. Our guide to building a custom home in Show Low covers the same code standards we remodel to.

Can we stay in the cabin while you remodel it?

Sometimes, and it depends on which rooms we’re in and how long the mechanical systems have to be down.

Plenty of clients stay through a bathroom or a single-room project. A kitchen gut, a whole-cabin remodel, or anything that takes water and heat offline for a stretch is usually easier to be out for. Winter work adds another reason to plan around it. We tell you honestly at the walkthrough which one you’re looking at.

How do we decide between remodeling inside the existing footprint and adding on?

It’s usually both, and the split comes down to what your existing walls, foundation, and lot will support.

Reworking the interior is faster and cheaper per square foot. An addition is the right call when you genuinely need more room and the site allows it, and it gets built to new-construction standards with its own foundation and framing. If the cabin sits on a hillside, our guide to making the most of a sloped lot is worth a read.

How does a remodel affect the roof and how the cabin handles snow?

Any change to the roof structure has to meet Show Low’s snow load, and that shapes what a remodel can do overhead.

City code sets 35 lb. for roofs under a 4:12 pitch and 30 lb. at 4:12 and greater, with engineering required for unusual or long-span roof systems. Show Low builds under the 2018 IBC and IRC. Vaulting a ceiling, adding a dormer, or extending a roofline all get designed to that standard.

I live in the Valley. How do you keep me updated on a remodel I can't drive up to every week?

One point of contact and regular photo updates, so you always know what happened this week.

Plenty of our remodel clients live in the Phoenix area and get up here once a month at best. We send progress photos, raise selections and decisions before they turn into delays, and schedule walkthroughs around your trips. You are never guessing what your money bought.

Can you work from plans or a designer we already have?

Yes, and we can also design the remodel from scratch or work from ideas you have been collecting.

Some clients arrive with a full drawing set, some with a designer already hired, and some with nothing but a cabin they’re tired of. All three work. If you have plans, we review them against Show Low code and what we find once the walls are open. If you don’t, we start with design.