Home Remodeling in Augusta, ME
Kenneth Cox Construction has remodeled homes in Augusta, ME, since 1988. Whether it’s a kitchen refresh or a full gut, each project gets the care a homeowner would give their own house.
- 38 years in business, since 1988
- Over 250 projects completed
- Affordable work, two-year written warranty
The cheapest square footage in Augusta is already yours: the lower level under your feet. Whether it can become a real room depends on where your house sits on the hill, because the ground around a Kennebec River lot behaves very differently from a lot up near Capitol Park.
Finishing a basement here is a water job first, insulation second, and drywall a distant third. Do it in that order and the space stays warm and quiet. Skip the outside work and you end up finishing the same room twice, which is a fair share of what we get called to fix.
Ken Cox has been remodeling Kennebec County houses since 1988, and every job carries a written 2-year workmanship warranty. Augusta Code Enforcement requires a permit for structural and electrical work, so plan that step into your schedule early.
Why Augusta Residents Hire Us for a Home Remodel
Ken has remodeled Kennebec County houses since 1988. A fair amount of that work has involved redoing lower levels that someone finished without fixing the outside first.
We’re BBB accredited. Every remodel includes a written 2-year workmanship warranty.
If something goes wrong during those 2 years, call us and we’ll come back.
Get a remodeling estimate for your Augusta home
Fill out this quiz form in 60 seconds to get your estimate request sent.
What other contractor services do we offer in Augusta?
Where else do we do home remodeling near Augusta?
Where is our shop?
Directions from Augusta, ME to our shop in Searsmont
128 New England RoadSearsmont, ME 04973
What Remodeling Services Do We Offer in Augusta?
- kitchen remodeling
- bathroom remodeling
- whole-home remodeling
What is our home remodeling process in Augusta, ME?
Get your free quote
Ken walks the grade around the house and looks at the lower level before he draws anything.
We bring your project to life
Drainage, permits, framing, mechanicals and finish all run on one schedule with one person accountable.
Enjoy your new space
Handed back on the agreed date, with two years of warranty in writing.
Custom Home Remodeling in Augusta
Choose us for home remodeling in Augusta, ME, because we’ll tell you what a basement needs before anyone tries to turn it into a room. Many Augusta houses have a lower level used for storage and a furnace.
Owners often assume finishing it means hanging drywall.
It doesn’t. Water comes first.
Then insulation. The finishes come much later.
Get that order wrong and you may end up finishing the basement twice.
Fix the outside, and the space can be excellent: warm, quiet and cheaper per square foot than an addition above grade.
The cheapest square footage in Augusta is the space you already own downstairs. Whether it can become a real room depends almost entirely on the ground around it, and that varies enormously from one street to the next here.
Ken will tell you honestly what category your house falls into. Every remodel comes with a written 2-year workmanship warranty from a BBB-accredited company.
Most of our Augusta clients are families who need another room and would rather find it within their existing footprint than build an addition.
We also work with owners farther up the hill whose high, dry lower levels have far more potential than anyone told them.
We handle drawings and permitting through Augusta Code Enforcement, then the framing and mechanical work. We also coordinate inspections and apply the final coat.
On a lower-level project, the remodel includes the exterior work. Grading, gutter discharge and footing drains aren’t problems to leave for another year.
We work across Augusta, from the streets rising away from the Kennebec to newer neighborhoods toward Windsor and Chelsea.
Higher lots usually make for dry, straightforward projects. Low ground near the river needs water managed before the first stud goes up.
Cold months are usually the right time for an interior Augusta remodel. We do much of this work between November and April, when trades are easier to schedule.
Excavation is the exception. That work needs open, unfrozen ground, so those projects begin during the warmer months and finish inside.
Augusta remodeling is shaped by the hill. Water drains from the high neighborhoods toward the river, so lower-level conditions can differ completely between houses only a mile apart.
The houses have histories, too. Many were divided into apartments during the state-government years.
Their plumbing, electrical panels and framing may have been altered at least once, often without documentation. Honestly, some of it is a mess.
Then there’s the code office. Finished living space downstairs has firm requirements for egress and headroom, along with heat.
Those decisions happen during permitting, not at the inspection.
Learn those conditions before design begins. That’s how a remodel stays on its number instead of finding new reasons to grow.
Start with water, not the layout. Before a contractor describes the finished room, ask what they would do outside the house.
Get the 2-year warranty in writing. And look up the company yourself through the Better Business Bureau before signing anything.
The ground beneath an Augusta house determines much of the remodeling cost, so we don’t publish a price per square foot. A finished room on a dry hill lot costs very differently from the same room on wet ground near the river.
Ken assesses the site before pricing the actual scope. That’s why our estimates don’t climb after work begins.
What should you ask before hiring in Augusta?
Can any basement be finished?
Not any basement can be finished, and we will tell you if yours is a poor candidate. It is a much cheaper conversation than finding out afterward.
Do I need an egress window?
You need an egress window for a bedroom, and often for other habitable rooms. We build that into the design rather than discovering it at inspection.
Can I live in the house while you work?
You can usually live in the house while we work. Lower-level work is easier to isolate than a kitchen, and we set up containment so the rest of the house stays livable.
How long does a project like this take?
A project like this takes several weeks rather than months. Anything needing exterior drainage adds time at the front.
Single-Room vs. Whole-Home Remodeling in Augusta
Start with one room if the rest of the house works well and its mechanical systems can support the change. If the kitchen, bath, wiring and circulation all need attention, a whole-home plan is usually the better value.
Opening and repairing the same walls twice wastes money.
How do you get a price for your Augusta project?
To get a price for your Augusta project, show Ken the space you’ve been using for storage. He’ll tell you plainly whether it should become a room and what the work would require.
The visit is free. Nobody follows up unless you ask.
Ken answers at 207-386-9235.