In this episode of The Mazzamuto Method, Gino and Mario Mazzamuto answer a real email from a homeowner named Sarah. She has a 1960s home in Walnut Creek, three growing boys, and a list every remodeling family will recognize: add a bedroom, update the kitchen and bathrooms, keep disruption manageable while she works from home, and make sure the money is well spent on an older house. Here is how two third-generation contractors answered her questions, with timestamps so you can jump to each moment in the episode.
Should We Move Out During a Remodel or Stay in the House?
Move out if you can. The Mazzamuto brothers are direct about this: staying somewhere else during a major remodel sounds more expensive, but it usually ends up cheaper, because the crew can gut the whole house and put all their people on it without pausing to keep living areas functional every day. It is also faster and far less stressful.
“Always, always move out. It’s going to be cheaper. It’s going to be less stressful. But in the case that you absolutely can’t, there’s ways around that… your contractor can mitigate that, but they have to set you up for it.” — 7:23
Clients handle it different ways: staying with family, extended-stay hotels (some even take small dogs), or timing the work around travel. The hosts have remodeled bathrooms for clients who left on a 30-day vacation and came home to a finished bathroom. What makes that possible is pre-construction planning: every decision, down to the exact paint color and cabinet-pull model number, is locked in before demolition, so nobody is calling you while you are exploring Spain to ask what color to paint your bathroom.
Should We Start With an Architect or Go Straight to the Contractor?
You can come straight to the contractor, and the brothers argue you should, specifically to a design-build firm that brings the architect, designer, contractor, and homeowner together from day one. Plans drawn in isolation are often overbuilt for the budget, because most architects never ask what you can afford to spend on the construction side.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that this is a team effort… we grab the architect, we grab the designer, get the homeowners and us… and that’s the absolute best way to start.” — 10:16
They share a cautionary tale from around the 41:15 mark: a homeowner spent more than $25,000 on plans for a second-story addition that his architect estimated at roughly $100,000 to build. Every contractor he called told him the same thing: not possible at that number. Building the plans around a real budget from the start, with a contractor’s architect, avoids paying for drawings you can never afford to build.
How Do We Make Sure a Remodel Is a Good Investment on an Older Home?
Talk to someone who knows your market, a real estate agent or an appraiser, and make sure you do not overbuild for the neighborhood. Mario Mazzamuto, a real estate appraiser since 2001, says the ROI math is often simple: in a three-bedroom, two-bath neighborhood, adding a bedroom and bathroom to a two-bed, one-bath house will likely return your full investment plus some.
“How many times have you entertained in your IRA? How many times have you cooked a beautiful meal in your retirement account? You don’t. It’s just numbers on a screen.” — Mario, 18:28
“If the average house in your area is 2,500 square feet and you want to go to 5,000, every square foot above 2,500 is going to be a point of diminishing returns.” — 26:20
Then balance the numbers against the personal side: is this your forever home? If you will not sell for decades, build what makes you happy. In Sarah’s case, the hosts note that a fourth bedroom in most parts of Walnut Creek is a good investment, and updating original 1960s bathrooms will bring a good return “for sure.”
How Can We Remodel With Minimal Disruption if I Work From Home?
If you do stay, the plan of attack matters. For a whole-house remodel, the Mazzamuto crew starts on the opposite side of the house from your office, or moves your office to the far side first, so the workday noise stays as far from your Zoom calls as possible.
“What I would recommend is we start on the opposite side of the house from where your office is… that way it’s furthest away from all the noise.” — 50:33
For kitchen remodels they offer a temporary kitchen: a plumbed-in wash basin and an outlet with enough amperage for a hot plate, microwave, and coffee maker, so you are not washing dishes in the bathroom sink. With two bathrooms in the scope, one stays operational throughout, which does extend the schedule since the crew has to come back and finish that bathroom last.
What Is the Best Way to Budget for a Kitchen and Bathroom Remodel?
Answer the budget question first, honestly, and work with a firm that can price the entire job. Most contractors quote only the construction and leave you to figure out flooring, cabinets, appliances, and engineering on your own. A design-build firm prices the whole picture in one place.
“The first question I ask every single client is: what is your budget? … I don’t want anybody wasting any money or their time. Time is precious.” — 42:57
“We don’t do an estimate, we do a takeoff… we’re not going in there and manipulating the numbers. It just ends up being what it is, because we have a calculation per square foot, a material cost, and all that.” — 45:00
Because the family also owns Bellacasa Cabinets, they include a mid-grade cabinet price and a quick 3D rendering of your kitchen with every estimate, so you walk in knowing your middle-range budget and can decide where to go from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do remodeling plans cost?
For a project like Sarah’s, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and an addition, the hosts say plans typically run about $8,000 to $14,000. They have seen homeowners pay far more: one client spent $40,000 on plans before coming to them. Working with a contractor’s in-house architect keeps the plans aligned with a construction budget you can actually afford.
Is adding a fourth bedroom in Walnut Creek a good investment?
Mario, an appraiser since 2001, says a fourth bedroom in most parts of Walnut Creek is going to be a good investment, though it always comes down to the specific neighborhood and comparable homes. His broader rule: a home that matches its neighborhood’s typical bedroom and bath count appeals to more buyers, which protects your return.
Will updating original 1960s bathrooms pay off?
Yes. If the bathrooms are original to a 1960s home, the hosts say you will get a good return on updating them, calling it the easy part of the decision. The harder investment questions come with additions and extra square footage, where building beyond what is normal for the neighborhood hits a point of diminishing returns.
Can I hire my own flooring contractor during a remodel?
You can, but the Mazzamutos discourage it. Their subcontractors’ work is warrantied and insured, their name is on the permit, and outside trades disrupt a tightly sequenced schedule. Gino recalls an early-career job where a homeowner’s outside helper broke an ankle and sued, and floors were scratched. Any outside sub must submit proper insurance paperwork first.
Should we remodel our current home or buy a different house?
After years in a house, you know its problems and have likely fixed most of them. A house you buy has been made market-ready, so you will not discover its defects until after you move in. If you love the neighborhood and schools, and it is your forever home, the hosts lean toward remodeling, especially well-built older homes.
Why does a contractor ask for your budget up front?
So nobody wastes money or time. Sharing a realistic budget lets the team design plans you can actually build, like steering one client away from an impossible second-story addition toward a more affordable bump-out. And because the firm prices by takeoff, square footage and material cost, the price is not simply built up to match your number.
About the Author: Gino Mazzamuto is co-owner of Mazzamuto Construction Inc., a third-generation, family-owned design-build firm in Martinez, California, building since 1960 and ranked in the top 5% of licensed California contractors. Have a remodeling question you would like answered on The Mazzamuto Method? Call (925) 228-7376 or visit mazzconst.com.
