The goal of a remodel is to change the functionality and finishes of your current home. Maybe a new kitchen or bathroom, an addition, a pool, or even a complete demolition of the internal structure of the house to reorganize the interior space. The more extensive the remodel, the more opportunity there is to also retrofit the structure to increase its performance.

The goal of a retrofit is to improve the performance of your home. This could involve adding insulation, replacing windows and doors, increasing airtightness where possible, and other measures that improve comfort, health, durability, and sustainability. Some retrofit work can be accomplished without remodeling. Performance improvements tend to compound. Over time, homes that are better insulated, more airtight, and properly detailed feel more stable, quieter, and easier to maintain. They’re less reactive to weather, less stressful to live in, and more resilient as conditions change.

Improving your home can address issues that go beyond aesthetics—things like rooms that are always too cold or too hot, high energy bills, persistent drafts, moisture concerns, poor air quality, excessive noise, decaying siding, wood rot, mold, even foundation or basement issues. Many homeowners come to us simply feeling like something is “off” in their house. Our work focuses on identifying the root causes and fixing them in a way that improves comfort, health, and long-term durability, and sustainability.

A retrofit can make the temperature in your home stable and consistent everywhere - even in the dead of winter or peak of summer. Adding continuous insulation and high-quality windows and solid doors also increases soundproofing, turning your home into a quiet and peaceful oasis - even if you live on a noisy street. 

Improving the airtightness of your current home’s building envelope will greatly improve Indoor air quality, and some of our clients say that it’s even enabled them to stop taking allergy meds. Adding air and moisture control layers also prevents the buildup of mold, which can aggravate asthma, respiratory conditions, and other health issues. Making your home quieter can improve sleep, which will improve overall wellbeing. 

Siding and windows are two of the most common and expensive fail points in a traditional house. When we replace them with robust, high-performing options during a retrofit, you’ll enjoy much greater durability and also lower ongoing maintenance costs. If we improve the wall assembly with a water-resistant barrier, ventilated rainscreen, and other high-performance features, this will greatly reduce the risk of wood rot, mold, and other common issues. 

Normally a retrofit can’t quite reach the level of a new Kala home in terms of energy savings, but it can make a big difference. Adding insulation in key areas and replacing decaying, leaky windows and doors with high-performance options will help your home stay cool during summer and retain warmth in winter, with only small energy inputs. 

The term “retrofit” covers a broad range of potential projects. There can be easy wins like re-venting and re-insulating your attic or adding insulation in other key areas. A bit more involved is replacing key windows and/or doors with high-performance options that are precisely installed by experts. The ultimate performance play is to thicken the exterior walls of your house and make them airtight and moisture resistant. Every project is different and we work with you to determine what is best.

We begin with an analytical process that allows us to better understand your home and then create a set of viable options you can consider. Based on our experience using the principles of passive house - the highest green building standard in the world -  we understand how to cost-effectively add the control layers that manage thermal, water, air, and vapor to dramatically change how your house feels and operates.

Insulation can be installed in key areas pretty quickly. New windows can take a while to spec, order, and deliver, but the installation can usually be condensed into a short period of time.. Rebuilding walls is more complex and takes more time. We will ensure that you have realistic time and budget expectations for your retrofit and that it fits with your family’s schedule.

This depends entirely on how deep you wish to go. Adding insulation creates a bit of mess for a short period of time but is generally not very disruptive. Replacing windows and doors can be disruptive but generally happens in a few days or weeks. Rebuilding the exterior of your perimeter walls can be fairly disruptive during demo and reconstruction but we do everything possible to move quickly, treat your home with respect, and minimize the mess. 

It’s an analytical process, during which we combine our expertise in building performance with your needs and wants. We will help prioritize everything you want from your project and then perform the work in a logical progression so that it’s completed to an exemplary standard. It’s important to note that remodel projects do not have to involve retrofit components. But we will point out low-hanging fruit that might be appropriate.

No. Performance upgrades don’t dictate a particular look or style. In fact, we see them as an opportunity to support better design decisions including any goals you might have for a remodel. Our goal is to integrate performance improvements in ways that complement your aesthetic preferences and functional needs, not override them.

Much like designing and building a new home, every remodel/retrofit project begins with a budget you establish and are in control of. Our job is to 1) help you evaluate your needs and desires in the context of your budget, 2) develop a prioritized workplan based on those, and, 3) communicate progress along the way so that we never exceed your budget, only your expectations.

We’re selective by design. Rather than chasing trends or one-off upgrades, we focus on changes that measurably improve how your home performs as a system. We’ll explain why certain improvements matter, why others don’t, and help you avoid investments that look good on paper but don’t meaningfully improve daily living.

That’s completely fine. Many clients start by exploring options, understanding tradeoffs, or planning for future work. We’re comfortable meeting you where you are—whether that means a small scope now, a long-term roadmap, or simply clarity about what’s worth doing and what’s not.

We believe sustainability should support everyday life, not complicate it. That means weighing environmental impact alongside cost, durability, comfort, and longevity. Sometimes the most sustainable choice is a modest, well-targeted improvement that extends the useful life of your home rather than a more extreme intervention.

By being transparent and realistic. Kala is uniquely credentialed to analyze your current situation and develop a plan to improve the performance of your house. Every home has different constraints and opportunities. Part of our job is to help you understand what’s achievable given your home’s construction, condition, and context. We’ll be clear about what can be meaningfully improved, what may be cost-prohibitive, and where expectations should be adjusted—so you can make decisions with confidence.