Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable General Contractor Across Westwood Lakes
General contractor work in Westwood Lakes runs $9,000 for a small bathroom remodel up to $130,000 for a home addition, with most kitchen and bath projects falling between $14,000 and $45,000. Call (949) 850-9896 to schedule your free estimate and get a written price before any work starts.
We’ve been walking through Westwood Lakes homes long enough to know what waits behind the drywall. The concrete-block ranches and split-levels built between the late 1960s and mid-1990s here were put up before Hurricane Andrew rewrote Miami-Dade’s building code, and that matters the moment you pull a permit. Our crews coordinate dispatch from our Miami office and carry the full Cedarwell Care Promise on every Westwood Lakes job: drop cloths on your floors, shoe covers at the door, quiet tools during nap and school hours where we can manage it, and pet-safe product choices where there’s an option. We’re the General Contractor team families hire when they need the house left in better shape than we found it.
Why Elmstead Remodeling Is Westwood Lakes’s Preferred General Contractor Company
Westwood Lakes homeowners call us back because we name what we’ll protect before we name what we’ll build. The Cedarwell Care Promise means we ask before moving furniture, we photograph the clean-up before we leave, and every project carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise – if it’s not right after completion, we make it right. That’s the longest-standing post-project commitment in our service area.
Our phones are answered by a live person 24 hours a day, not a voicemail box or automated system. When you call (949) 850-9896, you talk to someone who can schedule your free estimate and explain how our written pricing works. No estimate grows after the crew arrives. The price you approve in writing is the price you pay.
Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed, so families know exactly who’s walking through the door. We use named-brand materials homeowners can research independently – KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinets, Cambria and Silestone countertops, Kohler and Moen fixtures, James Hardie siding – and those manufacturer warranties travel with your finished project.
We know Westwood Lakes specifically: the shallow water table off the canal streets, the pre-1992 roof sheathing that fails inspection, the seasonal sheet-flow that can delay a pour for weeks if you don’t plan for it. This isn’t generic Miami-Dade knowledge. It’s the difference between a quote that holds and one that doesn’t.
Styles & brands we work with
Remodeling Contractor in Westwood Lakes
Remodeling Contractor work in Westwood Lakes means opening walls in homes built before the 1992 code overhaul and finding what’s actually there – not what the finish surfaces suggest. A typical kitchen remodel here runs $14,000 – $45,000, a small kitchen $9,000 – $20,000, and a bathroom remodel $9,000 – $28,000. These aren’t placeholder figures. They’re what we see on written quotes for Westwood Lakes properties after we’ve looked at the structure.
What We Find When Walls Come Down
On a 1978 concrete-block ranch off the canal side of the neighborhood, we opened the kitchen wall for a load-bearing header and found the original roof sheathing nailed at 6-inch spacing – an automatic pre-1992 deficiency that kills inspection sign-off on anything above the plate line under Miami-Dade’s post-Andrew code. We wrote the re-nail and hurricane-strap retrofit into the scope of work as a line-item allowance, priced it before we touched the wall, and pulled permits on the corrected rough-in so the inspector cleared the framing in one pass. The clients ended up with a 6/6 pattern roof deck, tied roof-to-wall connections, and a kitchen that passed punch list without a change order surprise.
Written Allowances, Not Surprises
Every Westwood Lakes remodel contract we write includes allowances for hidden conditions – framing defects, outdated wiring, failed waterproofing behind tile. If we find something, we price it, you approve it in writing, and only then do we proceed. No verbal “oh by the way” additions. No invoice shock.
Licensed General Contractor in Westwood Lakes
Licensed General Contractor work in Westwood Lakes carries obligations that higher-elevation Miami-Dade neighborhoods don’t face. Because Westwood Lakes sits on reclaimed land at the edge of the Everglades buffer, the water table here can be as shallow as 18 – 24 inches below grade over weak marl and muck – so any slab or footing work must be engineered for ground instability that contractors working a mile east on higher ground simply don’t design for. A home addition runs $45,000 – $130,000, a garage conversion $30,000 – $80,000, and ADU construction $90,000 – $220,000 in this market.
Engineering for Soil and Wind
Miami-Dade’s post-Hurricane Andrew building code requires 175+ mph wind-load compliance, the strictest in the continental US. For Westwood Lakes additions, that means impact-rated openings, properly tied roof-to-wall connections, and drainage tie-ins to the local canal system that higher-ground builds skip. We pull permits, we pass inspections, and we don’t pour concrete until we know the excavation won’t turn into a pond in October.
Permits as Protection, Not Red Tape
Pulling permits in Westwood Lakes triggers mandatory inspections that catch the deficiencies pre-1992 homes hide. We treat this as a feature, not an obstacle. Our contracts spell out permit costs, inspection scheduling, and what happens if an inspector flags something – because in this neighborhood, they often do, and we’d rather you know that going in.
Trusted Brands We Service in Westwood Lakes
We specify named-brand materials on every Westwood Lakes project so homeowners can verify warranties independently. Our cabinet partners include KraftMaid and Wellborn; countertops come from Cambria, Silestone, and Caesarstone; fixtures from Kohler, Moen, and Grohe carry manufacturer backing we don’t have to invent. For exterior work, we use James Hardie siding and GAF roofing systems rated for Miami-Dade’s wind-load requirements. We also work with specialized prefabricated structure partners including Abodu and Dvele when an ADU or modular addition fits the project better than stick-built. Every brand we name is one you can research, compare, and hold accountable – just like we expect you to hold us.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon General Contractor Problems We See in Westwood Lakes Homes
- Pre-1992 roof sheathing that fails inspection. The original 6-inch nailing pattern on homes built before Andrew’s code overhaul voids sign-off for any work above the plate line. We inspect for this before we quote, not after permits are pulled.
- Missing hurricane straps and unrated openings. Many Westwood Lakes homes were built without the metal connectors and impact-rated windows now required. We build these upgrades into the scope as line-item allowances with real prices attached.
- Shallow water table saturating excavations. Seasonal sheet-flow from May through October can flood footings and corrode rebar before concrete cures. We engineer drainage and schedule pours with the wet season in mind.
- Change orders that should have been allowances. Contractors who quote off cosmetic assumptions in Westwood Lakes hit hidden framing or waterproofing defects and convert them to after-the-fact charges. We price the unknowns upfront and get written approval before proceeding.
Pricing for General Contractor in Westwood Lakes, FL
Here is what general contractor projects typically run in the Westwood Lakes market. Every figure below comes from written quotes we’ve delivered to homeowners in this area, and every project gets its own fixed-price contract before work begins.
| Project Type | Price Range in Westwood Lakes |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Home Addition | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| Roof Replacement | $8,000 – $20,000 |
| Impact Window Installation | $8,000 – $25,000 |
What moves a quote within these ranges? Cabinet grade and layout complexity for kitchens. Fixture selection and whether we’re moving plumbing for baths. Square footage, foundation type, and structural engineering for additions. Roof pitch, material, and whether we’re re-nailing the deck for code compliance. Window count, opening size, and impact-rating level. Every quote we write breaks these out line by line. Call (949) 850-9896 for your free estimate – the price we give you is the price you’ll pay.
We Also Serve Cities Near Westwood Lakes
Our crews work throughout Miami-Dade County, and we regularly run projects in Westwood Lakes alongside neighboring communities. If you’re in Miami, Hialeah, Miami Gardens, or Homestead and need a general contractor who pulls permits, passes inspections, and leaves your home cleaner than we found it, we cover your area too. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Miami office, with local crews assigned to each job site.
Serving Westwood Lakes, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Westwood Lakes 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 Westwood Lakes
Because the original construction predates Miami-Dade’s post-Andrew code, inspectors now require 6/6 pattern roof sheathing nailing, hurricane straps, and impact-rated openings for any permitted work above the plate line – upgrades that weren’t built in and aren’t visible until walls are open. We price these as allowances before we start, so you know the potential range before we touch a wall. Call (949) 850-9896 and we’ll walk through what your specific home’s age and permit history suggest.
We stop work, photograph the condition, write a line-item scope and price, and get your written approval before proceeding. No verbal approvals, no invoice surprises. The Cedarwell Care Promise includes explaining the price before any additional work – it’s one of our four C.A.R.E. values: Clean up like it’s our own home; Ask before we move or touch anything; Respect the family’s time and quiet hours; Explain the price before the work.
It means excavations can flood seasonally, marl and muck soils shift under load, and embedded rebar corrodes faster if drainage isn’t engineered into the design. We account for this in our footing specs, our pour scheduling, and our tie-ins to the local canal system – engineering that contractors on higher ground don’t need to specify. Call (949) 850-9896 for a free estimate on your addition or slab project.
You need permits, and they’re not red tape – they’re how you find out your pre-1992 home won’t pass inspection without structural upgrades. Unpermitted work in Miami-Dade exposes you to fines, insurance denial, and forced demolition if discovered. We pull permits on every job, schedule inspections, and build the compliance work into our fixed-price contracts so you’re not scrambling mid-project.
The exact scope, the fixed price, the payment schedule tied to inspection milestones, allowances for hidden conditions with dollar ranges, the permit and inspection plan, the material brands and model numbers, the start and projected completion dates, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. We include all of these on every Westwood Lakes contract, every time, with no optional add-ons. Call (949) 850-9896 to review how our contracts work.
Call (949) 850-9896 today to schedule your free estimate. We’ll give you a written price before any work starts, and every project carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner at Elmstead Remodeling, serving Westwood Lakes as part of the Cedarwell network since 2005.
