Home Remodeling in Naperville, IL

According to Census Reporter 5-year data covering 2020 to 2024, Naperville has about 57,000 housing units, and the median home was built in 1990. About half went up in the 1980s and 1990s. Roughly 1 in 7 dates to the 1970s, and about 1 in 4 was built before 1980. About 15% date to the 2000s, and fewer than 1 in 10 is newer than 2010.

About 63% are detached houses and about 12% are townhomes or other attached homes. About 1 in 5 units sits in a building with five or more units.

The 2024 one-year survey adds two details. About 3 in 4 homes are owner-occupied. The median owner home value is about $579,000, about double Aurora's figure.

For remodeling, that mix means a lot of houses with about 35 years of family life behind them. Original oak cabinets, laminate counters and the first carpet may still be in place, or may have been swapped once and be due again.

Nobody publishes a list of remodeling projects by town, Naperville included. This list comes from the age and style of the homes here, mostly 1980s and 1990s single-family houses plus some condos and townhomes. Your home may need one of these, several, or none.

Say your Naperville house is from the 1990s, and the formal living room by the front door hardly gets used. You'd like a home office with a door that shuts, or a wider opening into the kitchen. Here's how that kind of job usually goes.

You tell us what you want the room to do. During the walk-through, ask whether the wall you want to open is load-bearing and what runs inside it, like ducts, pipes or wires. That answer can change the scope more than anything else.

After the walk-through comes a free written quote. Naperville wants a permit before an alteration to an existing home, and any electrical work needs one too, so new outlets or lighting for an office fall under that rule. Agree in writing on who pulls each permit, and keep copies.

Then the work. Furniture moves out, floors get covered and the wall is opened or reframed. If a load-bearing wall comes out, something has to carry that load, often a beam. Wiring follows, then inspections, drywall, trim and paint. If the old carpet is coming up anyway, ask about running Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring or Hardwood Floor Installation through both rooms. Ask how dust will be kept out of the rest of the house.

Naperville handles permits through Building Permits and Inspections at 400 S. Eagle St. You need a permit before starting an addition or alteration to an existing home, including a basement build-out. All decks need one, any electrical work needs one, and the city issues plumbing permits too.

Electrical contractors have to register with the city. For other trades, ask the city whether your remodeler needs to register. Get proof of insurance from the remodeler, and ask which state license their trade needs.

If your home is in the Naperville Historic District on the older east side, call the city before planning outside changes and ask how its historic review works. Adding on near the river? Look up your address on the FEMA flood map.

Under the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act, work over $1,000 needs a written contract showing the total cost and the business name and address. For anything else, check with the city.

If you plan to stay in your Naperville house, the next remodel is a good time to think ahead. A curbless shower and grab bars are easier to add during a bath project than after. A Basement In-Law Suite gives parents or grown kids their own space.

Naperville's Sanitary Sewer Backflow Device Reimbursement Program pays 75% of the approved cost of a backflow device for sanitary backups from intense rain. It doesn't cover stormwater flooding in the basement, so ask the city before you finish one.

Radon testing makes sense on both sides of the county line. On the Will County side, a state report found 37% of tested homes above the action level. Test before a basement project and again after. Start with our basement page or bathroom options.

Naperville is a city in DuPage and Will counties. Naper Settlement, Moser Tower and the Millennium Carillon, and Centennial Beach are among its landmarks. The Naperville Historic District covers 573 buildings on the older east side. It was listed on the National Register in 1977 and became a local district in 1986. Students attend Naperville CUSD 203 or Indian Prairie SD 204. The Naperville station serves Metra's BNSF Line and Amtrak. I-88, US 34 (Ogden Avenue) and IL 59 are the main roads, and parts of the city drain to the West Branch of the DuPage River.

Aurora sits just west of Naperville, and our home page is the place to start for Aurora projects. North Aurora is nearby to the northwest. Browse every community on our service areas list. Wherever you live, the quotes are free, with no obligation to hire.

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