Remodeling in Baltimore, MD

A Baltimore remodeler based in the City

Our office is on Gist Avenue in Glen, the northwest Baltimore neighborhood between Cheswolde, Fallstaff and Cross Country, with Mount Washington, Cylburn Arboretum and the Park Heights blocks around Pimlico all close by. That part of the City mixes detached and semi-detached houses with rows, so one job can be a detached house with a yard and the next a brick row a mile away.

Being based inside City limits matters because Baltimore City is its own jurisdiction, separate from Baltimore County. It has its own building code, its own DHCD permits office on East Fayette Street, and its own historic preservation commission.

Working on an attached house in the City

Most City jobs happen in a house with neighbors on both sides, and that shapes the permits, the drawings and the day-to-day logistics. Full rowhouse and whole-house renovations are covered on our home remodeling page. On a City job, these are the pieces we look at first:

• Party walls. Work that bears on or digs beside a shared wall, such as a rooftop deck or basement underpinning, comes with written-notice rules for the neighbor.
• Rear decks and stairs. Second-story decks and the steps down to the yard take the most weather. See our Baltimore deck building page and our exterior stairs and front steps work.
• Narrow kitchens and stacked baths. Rowhouse layouts leave little slack, which is why our Baltimore kitchen remodeling and Baltimore bathroom remodeling pages start with the floor plan and get to finishes later.
• The roof overhead. If your house has a flat roof, a tear-off is often the moment to fix parapet flashing and vents. Our flat roof replacement page covers the process.

Is my neighborhood a CHAP historic district?

It depends on the block, and the answer changes what exterior work involves. CHAP local districts include Mount Washington, the closest one to our office, plus Ashburton, Wyndhurst, Dickeyville and Woodberry in the north and west, and Bolton Hill, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Butchers Hill and Union Square closer to the center. In those districts, windows, doors, steps, decks and facade work need CHAP sign-off, and DHCD notes that some work exempt elsewhere, like exterior painting, needs a permit there.

Canton, Hampden, Remington, Patterson Park/Highlandtown, Charles Village and Locust Point are listed on the National Register only. That listing alone puts no local design review on private alterations. Roland Park is different again: its deed covenants give the neighborhood some design review, separate from CHAP.

Which City rules surprise homeowners?

Most surprises come from rules that turn small jobs into permit jobs. A low deck needs a permit and a scaled site plan. So does a backyard fence. Removing Formstone needs a permit filed by the contractor with a bond. Front steps that reach into the sidewalk may need a Minor Privilege permit from DOT. Replacing shingles or roof tarring, on the other hand, is exempt outside CHAP districts.

Trade work follows its own rule. The building permit is filed for the project, while plumbing and electrical permits can only be issued to City-licensed master plumbers and licensed electricians. Some projects, such as a rooftop deck, also need a design professional’s seal, and we tell you up front if yours does.

Near the harbor in Canton, Fells Point and Locust Point, land within 1,000 feet of tidal water falls under the City’s Critical Area program, and floodplain parcels get extra review from Planning.