Howard County, Maryland
Kitchen and Bath Remodeling in Howard County, Maryland
A Howard County contractor, based in Howard County. TCO Services is run by Anthony Thomas out of Woodbine, in the western end of the county rather than an hour away from it. Glenelg, Dayton, Clarksville and Lisbon are neighbours. Ellicott City and Columbia are a run down 32 or 70.
The Houses
Three Counties Wearing One County Name
Howard is not one housing stock, it is three, and the work is different in each of them.
The original Columbia houses, most of them late sixties through the seventies, have good bones and a kitchen closed off behind a wall that was never load bearing to begin with. Opening that wall is the single change that does the most, and in these houses it is often possible without a beam. We check before we promise.
Ellicott City has older stock, a historic district, and houses where nothing behind the plaster is where a drawing says it is. Old framing, plumbing modified three times, wiring updated in stages. That is the normal condition there, not an exception, and it is why we open things up carefully before committing to a finish date.
Out west in Glenelg, Highland, Dayton and Clarksville the houses are newer and bigger. The work is usually a primary bath that has dated badly, or a kitchen that was builder grade from day one: sound cabinets in the wrong finish, a small island, a countertop that never suited the room.
Before & After
What a Built-In Does to a Room
The Columbia houses are full of bays, half walls and landings that a standard piece of furniture never fits. This is what the alternative looks like.
A dining room wall that held nothing, turned into floor to ceiling storage built for the room it sits in.
Scope
What We Handle
| Kitchens | Demolition, framing, electric, cabinetry, quartz cut for your room, backsplash, flooring, trim and the punch list. |
|---|---|
| Bathrooms | Primary baths, hall baths and powder rooms, gutted and waterproofed properly, tiled, and vented the way they should have been vented. |
| Built-ins | Worth a mention in Howard specifically. The Columbia houses came with awkward architectural bays, half walls and split-level landings that a standard furniture piece never fits. That is exactly what a built-in solves. |
| Lower levels | The Columbia split and the western county colonial both leave a basement that got a carpet and a TV and nothing else. Framing, insulation, drywall, electric, finished properly, with egress where a bedroom is going in. |
| Exterior and repairs | Porches, screened porches, steps, decks, trim and siding repair, plus doors, drywall, rot and the ordinary list. |
| One contractor | Anthony runs the job from the estimate to the last piece of trim. One schedule, one number to call. |
Approvals
What Howard County Actually Requires
Most of a kitchen or bathroom remodel does not need a permit. In Howard there is a second layer worth knowing about before you start.
County permits
New circuits, moved plumbing and anything structural go through the Howard County Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits. We handle the application and the inspections.
Columbia covenants
Property in Columbia is subject to covenants. Exterior changes go through an Exterior Alteration Application to your village architectural committee before work begins, covering decks, doors, windows, siding and roofing. Interior work generally does not need village approval.
Which village
Wilde Lake, Harper’s Choice, Oakland Mills, Long Reach, Owen Brown, Kings Contrivance, Hickory Ridge, River Hill, Dorsey’s Search and Town Center each run their own review. Tell us your village at the estimate and we will build the approval time into the schedule.
Ellicott City historic district
If your property sits in the historic district there are additional design requirements for exterior changes. We flag that at the estimate rather than after the fact.
Requirements change from time to time. We confirm current requirements with the county or your village association before we file.
Service Area
Where We Work in Howard County
The shop is in Woodbine, so western Howard is home turf. Everything from Route 29 west is comfortably inside our area, and we work east of it too.
Next door, we also work across Carroll County, including Sykesville and Eldersburg, and in Montgomery County.
Questions
What Howard County Homeowners Ask Us
My house is in Columbia. Do I need approval from my village before work starts?
For exterior work, yes. Exterior changes go through an Exterior Alteration Application to your village architectural committee before the work begins. Howard County’s permit process flags Columbia Association assessed property for exactly this reason. Interior work such as a kitchen or bathroom remodel generally does not need village approval, though the county permit still applies.
Do you pull the Howard County permits?
Yes, on work that needs them, through the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits. If your property is in Columbia the village approval comes first, so we build that time into the schedule rather than discovering it later.
We are in Ellicott City in an older house. Can you work with what is behind the walls?
That is the normal condition in Ellicott City. Old framing, plaster, plumbing that has been modified three times, wiring updated in stages. We open things up carefully, look properly, and tell you what is actually there before we commit to a finish date.
Can you work in a house we are still living in?
Most of our jobs are occupied houses. We dust-wall the work area, keep the route in and out clean, and tell you honestly which days will be loud and which days you will not have water or a stove. A kitchen means a few weeks of a temporary setup somewhere else in the house, and it is worth planning that properly rather than improvising in week one.
Are you licensed and insured in Maryland?
Yes. Licensed and insured, MHIC #167344. Maryland requires a Home Improvement Commission licence for this work, and it is a fair question to ask anyone quoting your job.
What happens at the estimate?
It is free. Anthony comes out, measures, asks what you actually want out of the room, and points out anything that looks like it will complicate the job. You get a written scope and a price. Nothing is signed at the visit and no deposit is taken there.
Tell Us What Is Not Working
A Columbia kitchen that needs the wall taken out, an Ellicott City bathroom that has been waiting years, or a porch in Glenelg that has seen better winters. Anthony will come out and give you a written price.