Dallas, Dallas County

Home Renovation and Remodeling in Dallas, TX

We are a family-owned crew updating the early-1900s homes of Oak Cliff, Lakewood, and the Swiss Avenue Historic District, licensed across every trade a Dallas remodel touches.

Get a free quote Call (682) 337-0863

Local conditions

Remodeling an Older Dallas Home

5.0 5 Google reviews
Serving
Dallas + nearby Irving, Coppell, Carrollton
Licensed
HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical (TX)
Family-owned
Based in Flower Mound
Service
Same-day & emergency
Call (682) 337-0863

Dallas is a core city, not a master-planned suburb, and that shapes every remodel here. Neighborhoods like Oak Cliff and East Dallas anchor a housing stock that predates the region's postwar growth, so the homes carry the quirks of their decade: plaster-and-lath walls instead of drywall, cloth-wrapped or aging wiring behind that plaster, cast-iron drain lines, and room layouts drawn for how families lived a century ago. Updating one of these homes is less about cosmetics and more about bringing the systems inside the walls up to how you actually live, without erasing the character that made you buy in Dallas in the first place.

The Swiss Avenue Historic District in Old East Dallas was the city's first designated historic district, and the majority of its roughly 200 homes went up in the 1910s and 1920s. That designation means exterior changes there answer to design review before a permit issues, and the same sensitivity carries into Lakewood's older streets and the bungalow blocks of North Oak Cliff around the Bishop Arts District. We plan those remodels so the street-facing character stays intact while the kitchen, baths, and mechanical systems behind it get fully modernized.

Permits in Dallas run through the City of Dallas Planning & Development Department, and water and sewer service comes from Dallas Water Utilities. On an older home that matters, because reworking a kitchen or a bath usually means touching supply and drain lines that are decades past their design life. We pull the permits, schedule the inspections, and coordinate the utility connections as part of the job rather than leaving that paperwork on you.

Homes in Dallas

The Dallas Housing Eras We Remodel

The heart of our Dallas work is the pre-war and early-20th-century home. In the Swiss Avenue Historic District, along Lakewood's tree-lined streets, and across the bungalows of Oak Cliff, we open up compartmentalized floor plans, replace original plaster where it has failed, and swap tired galvanized and cast-iron plumbing for modern lines, all while keeping the trim profiles, arched openings, and hardwood that give these homes their value. Deep Ellum's older residential and converted stock brings the same challenges in a denser setting.

These houses were built before central air, before modern electrical loads, and before the open kitchen. A real remodel here means running new HVAC through a structure that never had ductwork, upsizing electrical service for today's appliances, and reframing openings so a 1920s kitchen can become the room the family lives in. Because the plaster, the wiring, and the layout problems all sit inside the same walls, they have to be solved together, in one sequence, not by trades taking turns.

Dallas is not only its historic core. Uptown, parts of Preston Hollow, and Lake Highlands hold newer infill and rebuilt homes where the work is closer to a finish-level update than a full systems overhaul. We scope those honestly: if a home already has sound wiring and modern plumbing, we tell you so and put the budget into the kitchen, baths, flooring, and finishes rather than tearing into walls that do not need it.

What we do

Renovation services in Dallas.

A Dallas remodel almost never stays in one trade. Move a kitchen wall in an Oak Cliff bungalow and you are into plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and structure at once. Lantern is licensed across all three trades and runs the job with one in-house crew, as a single sequence rather than a chain of subcontractor handoffs, so nobody is waiting on the next contractor to show up. Under that one roof we handle kitchen design, bathroom remodels, flooring, interior and exterior painting, demolition, and structural modifications for homes across Dallas.

Where we work

Neighborhoods and areas we serve near Dallas

We remodel throughout Dallas, from Oak Cliff, the Bishop Arts District, and Deep Ellum to Lakewood, Preston Hollow, Uptown, Lake Highlands, and the Swiss Avenue Historic District, and we serve the surrounding communities of Irving, Coppell, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Addison, and University Park. To be straight with you, we do not keep a storefront in Dallas. Our shop is our Flower Mound base, and our crew drives in for the work from about 28 miles to the northwest.

Dallas neighborhoods

  • Oak Cliff
  • Bishop Arts District (North Oak Cliff)
  • Deep Ellum
  • Lakewood
  • Preston Hollow
  • Uptown
  • Lake Highlands
  • Swiss Avenue Historic District (Old East Dallas)

Also serving nearby

  • Irving
  • Coppell
  • Carrollton
  • Farmers Branch
  • Addison
  • University Park

Remodel permits in Dallas are issued by the City of Dallas Planning & Development Department, and we handle the application and inspections for you. If your home sits in the Swiss Avenue Historic District, or in another of the city's historic or conservation overlays, exterior work goes through design review before a permit is granted. We build that review step into the schedule up front so it does not stall your project midway.

Free quote

Book a free renovation visit in Dallas.

Tell us about your project. A Lantern team member will reach out within 24 hours. Or call directly: (682) 337-0863

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FAQ

Dallas renovation questions.

Most Dallas remodels need a permit from the City of Dallas Planning & Development Department, and we pull it for you. If your home is in the Swiss Avenue Historic District or another historic or conservation overlay, exterior changes also go through design review before the permit issues. Interior work generally does not, but we confirm your property's status before we scope the job so there are no surprises.
In neighborhoods like Oak Cliff, Lakewood, and East Dallas, the homes often still have original plaster, dated wiring, and cast-iron or galvanized plumbing behind the walls. A real remodel there usually pairs the kitchen or bath you want with the systems update the house needs: new plumbing lines, added electrical capacity, and HVAC the original structure never had. We scope both together so the finished room is built on sound systems.
It depends on scope. A single bathroom in a Dallas home often runs a few weeks, a kitchen longer, and a full historic-home update with systems work longer still. Older Dallas homes tend to reveal more once the walls are open, so we build a realistic timeline after we see the house and keep you updated at each phase rather than quoting a number we cannot stand behind.
Usually yes, especially if the work is contained to one part of the house. For a single-room or single-bath project in Dallas we stage the work and set up dust containment so the rest of the home stays livable. For a full gut of an older home, we talk through the phases honestly so you can decide whether to stay put or step out for the heaviest stretch.
We handle all of it. Lantern holds Texas licenses across plumbing, electrical, and HVAC, so a Dallas remodel runs with one in-house crew on one schedule. On an older home where a wall move touches water lines, wiring, and ductwork all at once, that means the trades are sequenced by the same team instead of waiting on separate subcontractors to coordinate among themselves.
We do not quote a price before seeing the home, because an honest number depends on the scope and on what an older Dallas house is hiding behind its plaster. A finish-level update in a newer Uptown or Lake Highlands home carries a very different budget than a full systems overhaul in a 1920s Swiss Avenue house. We walk the property, scope it clearly, and give you a written estimate you can plan around.

Keep exploring

This page covers renovation work in Dallas. For the bigger picture, see our renovation services across Dallas-Fort Worth, or browse every community Lantern covers.

Let's Bring Your Dallas Home Up to Date!

Tell us about your Oak Cliff bungalow or your Lakewood kitchen and we will walk the home, scope the work, and give you a straight estimate.

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