Home Remodeling Service Areas Around Aurora, IL

Aurora is the second-most populous city in Illinois, behind only Chicago, and it doesn't stop neatly at its own edges. North Aurora and Montgomery both share a border with it, and Naperville meets it on the east side. That's why this site covers the whole cluster instead of one city.

Here's the short version of how it works. You send one request with your address and a few lines about the job, and the quote is free. Going ahead is your call, and saying no costs nothing.

This page gives you the list of towns we take requests from, how far each one sits from Aurora, and a few local rules that are good to know before anyone starts pulling out cabinets.

Each distance below is an approximate drive from Aurora City Hall on Downer Place with no traffic, so treat it as a rough guide.

Montgomery is the closest, about 3 miles and 6 minutes southwest. It's a village that sits in both Kane and Kendall counties, and the Fox River runs right through it.

North Aurora is about 3.8 miles and 8 minutes north. This Kane County village has Aurora along its south and east edges and Batavia to the north.

Oswego sits about 6.4 miles and 11 minutes to the south-southwest. The village reaches into both Kendall and Will counties.

Batavia is about 7 miles and 14 minutes north. It's a city, mostly in Kane County with a small piece in DuPage.

Sugar Grove is about 7.7 miles and 16 minutes west, a Kane County village with Aurora on its east side.

Naperville is about 9.2 miles and 18 minutes east if you drive to its downtown. The two cities meet much closer than that, though. The Route 59 Metra station sits right on the border.

Geneva is the farthest town on the list, about 10.1 miles and 20 minutes north. It's the county seat of Kane County.

And then there's Aurora itself. A request from the West Side goes through the same form as one from the Far East Side.

Aurora is one of only three Illinois cities that spans four counties: DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will. The Fox River runs through the middle of it. The West Side is everything west of the river. The East Side runs from the river over to the DuPage County line, and the Far East Side, also called the Fox Valley, lies past that line. Downtown and Stolp Island make up the old center of the city.

The river ties most of the service area together. It runs north to south through North Aurora, Montgomery spans it, and Batavia and Geneva are river towns too.

County lines show up in places you might not expect. North Aurora, Sugar Grove and Geneva are in Kane County. Batavia is mostly Kane with a bit of DuPage. Montgomery straddles Kane and Kendall, Oswego straddles Kendall and Will, and Naperville is split between DuPage and Will.

Radon is one place the county matters. Kane County's health department lists the county in EPA Zone 1, the highest risk group, with an average home test of 4.6 pCi/L next to a national average of 1.3. If you're planning a basement project anywhere in the area, test for radon before the walls go up and again once the work is done.

Every town around Aurora runs its own building department, and they don't ask the same things of contractors. A remodeler who can pull a permit in one village may still have paperwork to file before working in the next one. Here's what the towns' own websites say.

Montgomery says all contracted work must be done by a contractor registered with the village. Sugar Grove wants every contractor registered before a permit is issued. North Aurora dropped its registration rule as of December 20, 2021. Oswego says registration is no longer required, though permit submittals still need the contractor's contact info and any state licenses. Geneva says it does not have contractor registration at all. Aurora wants every contractor to meet the city's licensing rules before it will hand out a permit. For Batavia and Naperville, check with the city.

Older neighborhoods add one more layer for outside work. Exterior remodeling in Aurora's four local historic districts, Palace Street, Tanner, Riddle Highlands and Near Eastside, needs a Historic Certificate of Appropriateness. Work inside those homes is exempt. In Geneva, outside work on a landmarked home or one in a Historic District goes to the Historic Preservation Commission for review, with that application filed alongside the permit.

Use the rules in this section as your list of questions. Ask any remodeler whether they're registered or licensed where your town requires it, and agree in writing on who pulls the permit.

Type "remodeler near me" into a search bar and you'll get a screen full of map pins. Distance is only part of it. A remodeler based a few minutes away in Batavia still works under Montgomery's rules when the house is in Montgomery. For a remodeling job, near really means someone ready to work with your town's permit office.

That's why this site stays small: Aurora plus seven towns that touch it or sit a short drive away. When you send a request, include the town and street, not only a ZIP code, so it's clear which town's rules apply.

Whoever you end up hiring, a few habits help. The Illinois Attorney General's home repair page tells homeowners to collect several written estimates. The same page warns about anyone who wants cash or the full price up front, asks you to write a check to someone else, or lists only a P.O. box. Those tips apply in Oswego just as much as in Naperville.