Kitchen remodeling
Bathroom remodeling
Home additions & ADU
Roofing
Windows & doors
Driveway & pavers
FenceFree written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable General Contractor Across San Jose
A general contractor in San Jose typically charges between $16,520 and $153,400 depending on whether you’re doing a kitchen remodel in the 95110 corridor or a full home addition on an oversized lot near Willow Glen. We know those numbers because we walk these job sites every week, and we scope from the dirt up, not from a brochure. If you’re planning a remodel, an ADU, a roof replacement, or a whole-home renovation in San Jose, call us at (855) 473-5620 and we’ll give you a written, line-item estimate.
San Jose isn’t one market. It’s 95110 and 95112 with their post-war tract ranches, 95113’s downtown adaptive-reuse projects, and the larger parcels out in the former orchard land where county rules and city rules collide. A contractor who only does tight-lot remodels will price your open-lot ADU wrong on day one. We’ve been doing this long enough to ask the right questions before we quote.
Key takeaways:
- Full general contracting coverage for San Jose ZIPs 95103, 95106, 95108, and 95109, plus the core 95110 – 95113 neighborhoods.
- One contractor for every trade: roofing, windows, kitchens, baths, hardscaping, and ADUs.
- Written line-item pricing before work starts. No allowance games.
- Led by Ruben Castillo, who’s on the job site, not in a call center.
Why San Bernardino Contractors Is San Jose’s Preferred General Contractor Company
We’re not a San Jose native shop that only knows one type of build. We’re a full-service General Contractor team that works across the entire San Jose footprint, from the stucco ranch houses in Buena Vista to the larger lots in Alum Rock where the old orchard grid still shows in the soil. Ruben Castillo runs the crew, and he’s the one who walks your property before we commit to a number.
San Jose homeowners call us when they’ve already gotten two or three quotes and something feels off. The quote was too low. The scope sheet was too vague. Nobody mentioned the Zinsco panel, the galvanized supply lines, or the Title 24 trigger that kicks in the moment you pull a permit. We put those items in writing up front. That’s why our San Jose customers in Seven Trees and Communications Hill keep our number after the job’s done.
Response time to San Jose is realistic, not a marketing line. We schedule site visits around your schedule, not ours. When we say we’ll be there, we’re there. And the estimate you get is the estimate we build from. Ruben signs off on every scope of work before it reaches your hands.
Styles & brands we work with







Remodeling Contractor in San Jose
A remodeling contractor in San Jose needs to understand that most of the houses being remodeled in the core ZIPs were built between 1945 and 1965. These are slab-on-grade or raised-foundation ranches with stucco cladding, original plumbing, and electrical panels that no longer meet code. So a simple kitchen remodel in the 95110 through 95112 corridor rarely stops at cabinets and countertops. It pulls in panel upgrades, supply line replacement, and seismic strapping before the first cabinet goes up.
In San Jose, a kitchen remodel runs $16,520 to $53,100. A bathroom remodel runs $10,620 to $33,040. Those numbers assume the usual San Jose ranch house conditions: hidden stucco repairs, slab work, and some degree of electrical and plumbing modernization. If you want KraftMaid cabinets or Cambria quartz countertops, we order them directly. You pick the brand. We handle the build.
Whole-home remodels and additions
When a San Jose homeowner decides the 1,100 square-foot ranch isn’t enough anymore, the question is whether to add on or add up. A home addition in San Jose runs $53,100 to $153,400, and on an acreage lot, that number flexes with setback requirements, septic placement, and the actual soil you’re building on.
We scope everything before quoting. That means walking the lot, checking the county’s parcel map for easements and setbacks, and confirming what the foundation has to sit on. No surprises. No change orders built into the job as a business model.
ADUs and garage conversions
An ADU in San Jose runs $106,200 to $259,600 depending on whether you go the prefab route with a partner like Abodu or Dvele, or we do a stick-built addition. A garage conversion runs $35,400 to $94,400. The cheaper number assumes the garage slab and framing are sound. In San Jose’s older housing stock, that’s not a safe assumption until we’ve opened the walls and looked.
Licensed General Contractor in San Jose
A licensed general contractor in San Jose is the difference between a permit that clears and a stop-work order that costs you weeks. We’re fully licensed and insured, and we pull permits the right way: with the City of San Jose when the job is a city infill lot, and through Santa Clara County when the parcel has acreage, septic, or well components that trigger county review.
On a recent detached ADU in Willow Glen, our crew walked onto a 1950s ranch that sat on what was once a prune orchard. Before forming footings, we over-excavated for buried stumps and an old irrigation line nobody had mapped. We scoped the grading and drainage, ran the permits through the proper agency, and set a draw schedule so the homeowner could see every allowance in writing before we ordered the cabinetry. That’s the kind of thing that never shows up in a generic bid.
Why the license matters out here
San Jose sits on top of the Santa Clara Valley’s old agricultural grid. That means county permit conditions, well and septic setbacks, and grading requirements that an infill-only contractor won’t know to check. When you hire us, Ruben Castillo reviews the parcel’s permit history and county records before we quote. We’d rather lose a bid for being thorough than win one for guessing.
Seismic and Title 24 compliance
Any permitted remodel in San Jose triggers Title 24 energy requirements and, on older homes, seismic bracing and strapping requirements. We handle both. Our quotes include the energy calc, the shear wall work, and the inspection coordination. You won’t get a line item surprise when the inspector shows up.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Jose
You pick the finish level. We bring the supply chain. That means roofing from GAF and CertainTeed, plumbing fixtures from Grohe and Sterling, and a full menu of cabinetry, countertop, window, and hardscaping lines that most single-trade contractors can’t access. In San Jose, we keep local supplier relationships so there’s no three-week pause waiting for a fixture to ship from a warehouse in another state. From the roof down to the pavers, one contractor handles every phase, every material, every inspection.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterCommon General Contractor Problems We See in San Jose Homes
- Quoting a county-permitted acreage job off city assumptions. San Jose parcels with septic and well systems have setback distances that change where your foundation can sit. Miss that, and the whole footprint shifts after the quote is signed.
- Treating an open lot like a tight city lot. On the larger San Jose parcels east of 101, long material hauls, temporary power runs, and equipment access add real cost. Contractors who only do infill work under-price the logistics and then come back with a change order.
- Leaving grading and drainage out of the scope. San Jose’s winter atmospheric-river storms are not negotiable. If the grading plan isn’t in writing before the first foundation pour, runoff gets redirected into your new structure and you’re the one paying to fix it.
- Discovering old orchard conditions after excavation starts. In Northside and Willow Glen, buried stumps and irrigation lines from the valley’s orchard era are common. Over-excavation has to be in the original bid, not a surprise line item after the backhoe shows up.
Pricing for General Contractor in San Jose, CA
Here’s what general contractor work actually costs in San Jose. These are the numbers we quote from, not spun-up marketing ranges. A kitchen remodel runs $16,520 to $53,100. A bathroom remodel runs $10,620 to $33,040. An ADU on an acreage lot runs $106,200 to $259,600. A garage conversion runs $35,400 to $94,400. A home addition runs $53,100 to $153,400.
| Project Type | San Jose Price Range |
|---|---|
| ADU Construction | $106,200 – $259,600 |
| Home Addition | $53,100 – $153,400 |
| Garage Conversion | $35,400 – $94,400 |
| Kitchen Remodel | $16,520 – $53,100 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $10,620 – $33,040 |
What moves the number? The lot. A tight 95110 infill lot with alley access prices differently than a half-acre Alum Rock parcel with septic and well setbacks. Soil conditions matter. Foundation type matters. Permit path matters. We walk the property, check the county records, and give you a written, line-item estimate. Call (855) 473-5620 to schedule a site visit. The estimate’s free, and it’s built for San Jose, not a spreadsheet that works everywhere.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Jose
Our General Contractor in San Jose team also covers the surrounding communities where the same orchard history and ranch housing stock applies. We work in Buena Vista, Seven Trees, Communications Hill, and Alum Rock, and we bring the same written-scope discipline to every job, from a quick bathroom vanity replacement to a full acreage ADU build. If you’re in one of those neighborhoods, call (855) 473-5620 and ask to speak with Ruben Castillo directly about your project.
Serving San Jose, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Jose area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About General Contractor in San Jose
It depends on the parcel. City of San Jose permits apply when the property is on city utilities and standard infill infrastructure. But when the lot has a septic system, a well, or acreage-level setbacks, Santa Clara County becomes the lead agency, and we pull permits through the county. We confirm which path applies before we quote so the schedule and the budget reflect reality, not a guess. Call (855) 473-5620 and we’ll look up your parcel.
Because the logistics eat the savings. On an open San Jose lot, you’re paying for longer material hauls, temporary power and water runs, equipment access, and often a grader to establish proper drainage. A tight infill lot already has utilities at the curb and a flat building pad. We account for all of that in the first written quote. If your estimate didn’t mention temporary power, it probably didn’t mention money you’re about to spend.
Setbacks dictate where the structure can physically sit. A well has a required clearance that varies by county code, and a septic system and its leach field have their own exclusion zone. On small or oddly shaped San Jose parcels, those setback circles can push your outbuilding, shop, or ADU into a different part of the lot. We pull the county’s parcel map and mark those zones before we draw the site plan. Call us at (855) 473-5620 for a site review.
Yes. We handle Title 24 energy calculations, shear wall upgrades, foundation bolting, and seismic strapping as part of the permitted scope. On San Jose’s 1950s and 1960s ranch houses, these upgrades are almost always required when you pull a permit for a remodel. We put them in the original line-item estimate so the inspector’s walkthrough doesn’t turn into your change order. Free estimates: call (855) 473-5620.
We sequence the work around San Jose’s dry-season window, roughly late May through October. That means we schedule roofing, stucco, concrete, and exterior trim work for the dry months and reserve interior finish work for the winter stretch. If a project spans both seasons, we grade and drain the site first so winter runoff doesn’t stall the job. Call (855) 473-5620 to get your project on the calendar before the season fills.
Written by Ruben Castillo, Owner at San Bernardino Contractors, serving San Jose and the surrounding communities.