Remodeling Media PA

What we know about Media homes

The defining Media remodel happens in pre-1940 housing stock — and the same realities show up on both kitchen and bath projects. After 35+ years, a few patterns repeat:

• Stone twins and rowhomes built between 1890 and 1930. Kitchens are small back-of-house spaces (typically 80–120 sq ft) that almost every client wants opened up to the dining room or a former butler’s pantry, with inset or Shaker cabinetry to match the architecture, paneled appliances where the budget supports it, and original pine floors preserved and refinished in place. Bathrooms are on the second floor directly above the kitchen, typically 40–60 sq ft for primary baths, and almost always need full replumbing as part of any meaningful remodel — most clients also expand the footprint by absorbing an adjacent closet, smaller bedroom, or hallway to support a frameless-glass walk-in shower, freestanding tub, and double vanity.
• Wood-frame Victorians and 19th-century singles on the surrounding blocks. Plaster walls, original wood floors worth preserving, original windows that often stay through the remodel.
• Infrastructure is the project. Knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines, cast-iron drain stacks, 1960s/70s 100-amp panels, and lath-and-plaster walls everywhere. We tell Media clients up front: 60–65% of the project budget goes to visible finishes; the other 35–40% is everything behind the wall. Plan for plaster ceiling restoration below the bathroom — almost any meaningful bath remodel on a pre-1940 home requires opening the ceiling below to access plumbing, and it adds 2–4 weeks to the timeline.
• Historic district overlays affect anything visible from the street — facades, windows, exterior doors, visible chimney work — through HARB review. Interior kitchen and bath work is rarely affected.

There are some newer pockets in greater Media — the post-1950 housing further out from the borough, into Upper Providence and Nether Providence Townships — but the bulk of our Media work is in the older borough housing.

Recent Media work:

• Kitchen (1908 borough stone twin) — $135,000 / 9 weeks. Replaced the entire first-floor electrical service, new copper supply throughout, replaced lath-and-plaster on three walls, custom inset painted cabinetry with quartz counters, marble subway backsplash, paneled Sub-Zero refrigeration, GE Café range, refinished original pine floors.
• Bathroom (1924 borough rowhome primary) — $86,000 / 8 weeks. Expanded the footprint by absorbing an adjacent closet, replumbed the entire second-floor stack, reinforced the floor system for a freestanding tub, frameless walk-in shower with subway tile to the ceiling, custom stained vanity with marble top, Carrara hex floor with radiant heat, full plaster ceiling restoration below.