La Mesa design-build · Since 2005
La Mesa home remodeling, designed and built by one team.
Accredited, certified and held to accountCalifornia contractor #922807, since 2005
La Mesa · San Diego County
Whole home remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, additions and ADUs in La Mesa.
La Mesa's Village, Mount Helix and the Grossmont hills hold everything from 1920s cottages to custom view homes, and the City of La Mesa handles their permits.
Kaminskiy Design and Remodeling was founded in San Diego by Sergei Kaminskiy in 2005 and is still founder-led. In La Mesa our designers, architectural drafters and project managers take your home from the first sketch to the final walkthrough, on one contract, and we handle the plans and permits with the City of La Mesa. No handoffs, no finger-pointing, no surprises.
Start with a complimentary consultationWhat to know first
La Mesa is the Jewel of the Hills, with a Village from the 1920s. Here is what shapes a remodel.
La Mesa is its own city on the hills east of San Diego: the 1920s to 1940s Craftsman and Spanish homes around the Village and Mount Nebo, post-war tracts around Lake Murray and Grossmont, and hillside houses toward Mount Helix, which is unincorporated County. The City issues its own permits and has a historic preservation program for its older homes. We have not yet published a La Mesa gallery project, but La Mesa is where our Kaminskiy Gives Back program gave its first remodel, a $25,000 project for a family of first responders in 2024, and our El Cajon work is ten minutes east and shown below.
La Mesa, San Diego County. Our Design Center in Rancho Bernardo is about 30 minutes away off peak; the first meeting is at your home.
La Mesa is its own city, so permits come from the City of La Mesa Community Development Department at City Hall, not from the County or the City of San Diego. Mount Helix and the hills south of the city use La Mesa mail but are unincorporated County and go to the County's counter; we check the parcel first. Most remodels are a building permit with no hearing.
Our architectural team draws it, files it and handles every question the plan checker sends back.
Source: City of La Mesa
The Village, Mount Nebo and the streets around them hold Craftsman bungalows, Spanish houses and 1920s cottages, and La Mesa runs a historic preservation program that reviews exterior changes to designated homes and can bring Mills Act tax contracts to them. A remodel there keeps the porch, the proportions and the wood windows that make the house what it is, and we carry the review as part of the permit.
Source: City of La Mesa
The 1920s to 1940s homes near the Village have small kitchens, one bath, raised floors and hundred-year-old systems. The post-war tracts around Lake Murray and Grossmont are single-story ranches with a closed kitchen, small baths and a slab. Both get the plan opened, the systems replaced and a second or better bath; the difference is in the floor under your feet and the wiring in the walls.
La Mesa's hills give views and bring hillside rules: a geotechnical report for an addition on a steep lot, and at the edges toward Mount Helix, Cal Fire's higher fire hazard severity zones with their ignition-resistant construction rules. Kitchens and baths inside the walls are not affected.
Under state law a single-family lot may add one accessory dwelling unit and one junior unit, the City of La Mesa issues the permit, and the older lots near the Village often have a detached garage on an alley that makes the natural unit. The Lake Murray tracts take a garage conversion or a compact backyard unit. Few La Mesa streets have HOAs, so the City permit is usually the only approval.
In 2024 the first Kaminskiy Gives Back campaign chose a La Mesa family of first responders and remodeled their home at no charge, a $25,000 project that made the local news. It is not in our gallery as a client project, but it is our work in La Mesa, and the family's house is the same post-war ranch most La Mesa clients own.
To orient yourself: La Mesa Boulevard runs through the Village past the trolley station, Lake Murray lies to the north below Cowles Mountain, Grossmont Center and the hospital sit to the east, and Mount Helix rises to the south. Our nearest gallery projects are in El Cajon, ten minutes east. Finishes are chosen at our Design Center in Rancho Bernardo, about 30 minutes away; every project starts with a visit to your home, not to ours.
What we design and build in La Mesa
La Mesa remodeling services: five ways to fall back in love with your home.
01 · Most requestedWhole Home Remodeling
Two rooms or the entire floor plan, designed as one cohesive home instead of a collection of projects.
Whole home remodels
02Kitchen Remodeling
Custom cabinetry, islands that work, lighting in layers. Designed around how you cook and gather.
Kitchens
03Bathroom Remodeling
Spa primaries, hall baths, universal design.
Bathrooms
04Room Additions
Build out or build up. Additions that look original.
Additions
05ADUs and Conversions
Detached casitas, attached suites, garage conversions.
ADUsRemodeling in La Mesa
Every service. One local team.
Whole home remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, additions, ADUs and outdoor living, all designed and built by the same team, all in La Mesa.
Nearby neighborhoods
We work in every neighborhood of San Diego County. See all thirty-seven neighborhood pages or schedule a consultation.
Recent work near La Mesa
Recent remodels close to La Mesa. Real homes. Real families.
Projects from El Cajon and North Park, close to La Mesa, designed and built by the same team that would work on your home. Every photo is a Kaminskiy project.
The La Mesa remodeling guide
What we remodel in La Mesa, room by room.
What La Mesa homeowners ask us for, room by room. Our El Cajon projects, ten minutes east, are in the gallery below.
A Village Craftsman rewired, replumbed and opened at the back with its front rooms kept; or a Lake Murray ranch opened up, its ceilings raised and its systems replaced. The historic program applies to designated homes; the hillside rules to steep lots.
Whole home remodelingThe small back kitchen of a 1920s house opened to the dining room, or the ranch kitchen opened to the family room with an island; in both, the panel upgraded and the hood finally vented outside.
Kitchen remodelingThe one-bath house gets a second; the ranch primary bath becomes a suite by borrowing the closet. Our El Cajon spa-inspired primary bath in the gallery is the same project, ten minutes east.
Bathroom remodelingGround-floor additions on the tract lots; rear additions that keep the street face on the older homes; a geotechnical report on the steep lots; the fire rules toward Mount Helix.
Room additionsThe alley garage near the Village, a conversion or backyard unit in the tracts. The City permits them; few streets have an HOA. Our El Cajon garage-to-apartment conversion in the gallery is the same project, one city over.
ADUs and conversionsShade for the inland heat, a deck toward the view on the hillside lots, and planting that meets the fire rules at the edges.
Outdoor livingLa Mesa's single-story ranches are easy to age in, and many of their owners have been there for decades. Level thresholds, a roll-in shower and 36-inch doors, drawn into the plan rather than added afterward.
Universal designGood questions
La Mesa remodeling FAQ: a few straight answers before you call.
Permits with the City of La Mesa, timelines, where you choose materials, and what the first meeting costs. More on the full FAQ page.
Read all FAQsYes, though not yet on a client project in our gallery: in 2024 our Kaminskiy Gives Back program remodeled a La Mesa first-responder family's home at no charge. Our nearest gallery projects are in El Cajon, ten minutes east, and they are below.
The City of La Mesa Community Development Department at City Hall, for addresses inside the city. Mount Helix and the hills south of town are unincorporated County and go to the County; we check the parcel first.
If it is designated under the City's historic preservation program and the permit changes the exterior, yes. Interior work is not reviewed. We design to the house's character and carry the review as part of the permit.
Nothing. The in-home design consultation is complimentary anywhere in La Mesa. A designer comes to your home, listens to what you want to change, takes measurements and photos, and tells you honestly whether we are the right fit for the project.
We do. Permits for La Mesa homes are issued by the City of La Mesa. Our design and architectural team drafts the construction documents, a licensed structural engineer stamps them where the scope calls for it, and we submit them and manage the whole process for you.
All of La Mesa, zip codes 91941 and 91942, and the neighborhoods around it: Lemon Grove, El Cajon, North Park and Santee. If your street is not on our list, call us anyway. We serve every city in San Diego County.
A kitchen remodel usually takes about 4 to 8 months from the first consultation to completion. A bathroom typically takes 3 to 5 months. The design and permit phases come first, and construction is the shorter part. Permit review times vary with the City of La Mesa, and we plan around them.
At the Kaminskiy Design Center, 12396 World Trade Dr, Suite 108, San Diego, CA 92128, with your designer. Most clients visit once or twice during the design phase. The first meeting, though, happens at your La Mesa home.
Yes. Kaminskiy Design and Remodeling is a fully licensed and insured California contractor, license #922807, in business in San Diego since 2005.
Start here
Schedule your complimentary in-home design consultation anywhere in La Mesa.
- A designer comes to you, measures, listens and shares first ideas.
- No pressure and no obligation. We tell you if we are not the right fit.
- Our Client Care team calls back during the time slot you choose.