Santee design-build · Since 2005
Santee home remodeling, designed and built by one team.
Accredited, certified and held to accountCalifornia contractor #922807, in business in San Diego for 21 years
Santee · San Diego County
Whole home remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, additions and ADUs in Santee.
Santee's family homes from the 1970s onward, many on larger lots near the river, are a natural fit for kitchen remodels, primary suites and ADUs.
Kaminskiy Design and Remodeling was founded in San Diego by Sergei Kaminskiy in 2005 and is still founder-led. In Santee our designers, architectural drafters and project managers take your home from the first sketch to the final walkthrough, on one contract, and we handle the plans and permits with the City of Santee. No handoffs, no finger-pointing, no surprises.
Start with a complimentary consultationWhat to know first
Santee is 1970s and 1980s tracts under the hills, with the lakes in the middle. Here is what shapes a remodel.
Santee grew up along the San Diego River in the 1970s and 1980s, with tracts of single and two-story homes in Carlton Hills and along Mission Gorge Road, older ranches on larger lots toward Lakeside, and the 2000s hillside homes of Sky Ranch above them. The City issues its own permits, summers run hot, and the hills around the city sit in the fire zones that the 2003 Cedar Fire reached. We have not yet published a Santee project; our nearest work is in El Cajon and Scripps Ranch, ten minutes either way, and it is shown below, labelled as such.
Santee, San Diego County. Our Design Center in Rancho Bernardo is about 25 minutes away off peak; the first meeting is at your home.
Santee is its own city, so permits come from the City of Santee Development Services Department at City Hall, not from the County or the City of San Diego. Most remodels are a building permit with no hearing. Lakeside and the river addresses east of the city use neighboring mail but are unincorporated County; we check the parcel first.
You will not stand at the permit counter; our team files the set and sees it through to issuance.
Source: City of Santee
Santee's builders repeated a handful of plans: a closed kitchen off the entry, a family room with a fireplace behind it, three or four bedrooms, a primary bath the size of a closet, a slab and a two-car garage. The remodel opens the kitchen to the family room, carves a real suite from two small rooms, and replaces the panel and the furnace. Our Scripps Ranch whole home remodel in the gallery is the same era of house, ten minutes west.
The 2003 Cedar Fire burned down to Santee's edges, and the hills around the city, Sky Ranch and the slopes above Carlton Hills sit in Cal Fire's higher fire hazard severity zones. Additions and ADUs there are built to the ignition-resistant rules with defensible space; kitchens and baths inside the walls are not affected.
The San Diego River runs through the city past Santee Lakes and Town Center, and the lots nearest it sit in FEMA's mapped floodplain. A substantial remodel or an addition there can carry floodproofing rules. We check the flood map for your parcel at the first visit.
Source: FEMA Flood Map Service Center
Santee summers run well past ninety, and the 1970s houses were built with thin insulation and single-pane windows. Insulation and attic ventilation while the walls are open, windows chosen for heat gain, deep covered patios on the west side and right-sized HVAC make an August evening livable. California's Title 24 energy code sets the floor; the climate sets the target.
Every single-family lot in California may now carry an ADU and a junior ADU by right, the City of Santee issues the permit, and the tract lots take a garage conversion or a compact backyard unit; the larger lots toward Lakeside take a detached casita. Sky Ranch and the newer tracts have homeowner associations that shape the design; the older streets have none.
To orient yourself: Mission Gorge Road and Magnolia Avenue cross at Town Center, Santee Lakes lie to the northwest, the trolley ends at Santee Town Center, State Route 52 runs along the south, and Sky Ranch climbs the hills to the north. Our nearest gallery projects are in El Cajon and Scripps Ranch. Finishes are chosen at our Design Center in Rancho Bernardo, about 25 minutes away; the first conversation happens at your kitchen table.
What we design and build in Santee
Santee remodeling services: five ways to fall back in love with your home.
01 · Most requestedWhole Home Remodeling
Two rooms or the entire floor plan, designed as one cohesive home instead of a collection of projects.
Whole home remodels
02Kitchen Remodeling
Custom cabinetry, islands that work, lighting in layers. Designed around how you cook and gather.
Kitchens
03Bathroom Remodeling
Spa primaries, hall baths, universal design.
Bathrooms
04Room Additions
Build out or build up. Additions that look original.
Additions
05ADUs and Conversions
Detached casitas, attached suites, garage conversions.
ADUsRemodeling in Santee
Every service. One local team.
Whole home remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, additions, ADUs and outdoor living, all designed and built by the same team, all in Santee.
Nearby neighborhoods
We work in every neighborhood of San Diego County. See all thirty-seven neighborhood pages or schedule a consultation.
Recent work near Santee
Recent remodels close to Santee. Real homes. Real families.
Projects from El Cajon and Poway, close to Santee, designed and built by the same team that would work on your home. Every photo is a Kaminskiy project.
The Santee remodeling guide
What we remodel in Santee, room by room.
What Santee homeowners ask us for, room by room. Our El Cajon and Scripps Ranch projects, ten minutes either way, are in the gallery below.
The 1970s tract done once: plan opened, every system replaced, insulation and ventilation for the heat, the house turned toward its yard. Our Scripps Ranch whole home remodel in the gallery is the same era of house.
Whole home remodelingBehind a wall in nearly every Santee plan. The wall comes down, a beam carries the floor above, the island replaces the peninsula, and the panel is upgraded for the appliances.
Kitchen remodelingWhat a kitchen costs in San Diego in 2026
The closet-sized primary bath becomes a suite by borrowing from the bedroom; the hall bath gets a layout two children can share. Our El Cajon spa-inspired primary bath in the gallery shows the finished standard.
Bathroom remodelingGround-floor additions on the larger lots; a room over the garage in the tracts; the fire rules in the hills and the flood map by the river. Our Scripps Ranch children's addition in the gallery is the same project, ten minutes west.
Room additionsA garage conversion in the tracts, a casita on the larger lots. The City permits them; the newer HOAs shape them. Our El Cajon garage-to-apartment conversion in the gallery is the local example.
ADUs and conversionsShade first: a deep covered patio on the west side, fans, a pool with a real deck, and planting that meets the fire rules in the hills.
Outdoor livingSantee's single-story tracts are easy to age in. A no-step entry, a curbless shower and wider doors, designed in during a remodel.
Universal designGood questions
Santee remodeling FAQ: a few straight answers before you call.
Permits with the City of Santee, timelines, where you choose materials, and what the first meeting costs. More on the full FAQ page.
Read all FAQsNot yet on a project we have published. Our nearest work is in El Cajon and Scripps Ranch, ten minutes either way, in the same era of housing, and it is in the gallery below.
Homes in the hills, in Sky Ranch and above Carlton Hills often are. We check Cal Fire's map for your lot at the first visit; additions and ADUs in the zone are designed to the ignition-resistant rules from the start.
The City of Santee Development Services Department at City Hall, for addresses inside the city. Lakeside and the river addresses to the east are unincorporated County; we check the parcel first.
Nothing. The in-home design consultation is complimentary anywhere in Santee. A designer comes to your home, listens to what you want to change, takes measurements and photos, and tells you honestly whether we are the right fit for the project.
We do. Permits for Santee homes are issued by the City of Santee. Our design and architectural team drafts the construction documents, a licensed structural engineer stamps them where the scope calls for it, and we submit them and manage the whole process for you.
All of Santee, zip code 92071, and the neighborhoods around it: El Cajon, Poway, La Mesa, Scripps Ranch and Tierrasanta. If your street is not on our list, call us anyway. We serve every city in San Diego County.
A kitchen remodel usually takes about 4 to 8 months from the first consultation to completion. A bathroom typically takes 3 to 5 months. The design and permit phases come first, and construction is the shorter part. Permit review times vary with the City of Santee, and we plan around them.
At the Kaminskiy Design Center, 12396 World Trade Dr, Suite 108, San Diego, CA 92128, with your designer. Most clients visit once or twice during the design phase. The first meeting, though, happens at your Santee home.
Yes. Kaminskiy Design and Remodeling is a fully licensed and insured California contractor, license #922807, in business in San Diego since 2005.
Start here
Schedule your complimentary in-home design consultation anywhere in Santee.
- A designer comes to you, measures, listens and shares first ideas.
- No pressure and no obligation. We tell you if we are not the right fit.
- Our Client Care team calls back during the time slot you choose.