Aurora custom home builder and home remodeling contractor

Aurora homes by era, from Hoffman Heights to the southeast

Aurora grew outward from its original core along East Colfax, so a house's distance from that corridor is a rough guide to its age and to the kind of work it needs.

Postwar ranches in north and original Aurora

Neighborhoods such as Hoffman Heights filled in with modest single-story ranches after World War II. Small footprints and simple roofs make them good candidates for a rear addition or a reworked floor plan. Expect older electrical service, galvanized or cast iron drain lines and windows that have been replaced more than once.

1970s and 1980s tract homes in central Aurora

Large swaths of central Aurora are split-levels, bi-levels and two-story tract houses from these decades. The structure is usually sound. What dates them is the closed kitchen, the original bathrooms and the aging roof, siding and windows.

Master-planned neighborhoods to the southeast and northeast

Saddle Rock, Tallyn's Reach and The Aurora Highlands are examples of Aurora's newer planned communities. Many houses here were delivered with unfinished basements and builder-grade finishes, so the most common projects are lower levels, kitchens and outdoor space.

Aurora permits across three counties

Aurora spans parts of Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties. Inside city limits, residential building permits come from the City of Aurora's building division no matter which county the house sits in. Some nearby addresses are unincorporated county land, though, and those are permitted by the county. Confirm jurisdiction by address before any drawings go in.

In much of newer Aurora a second layer of approval applies. HOAs and metro districts commonly publish design guidelines that govern decks, additions, fences, roofing material and exterior color. Most want an application approved before you pull a city permit, so submit to both early and plan the schedule around the slower of the two.

Hail, wind and clay soils on the plains

Aurora sits on open ground on the east side of the metro, and its weather shows up first on the roof. Hail is frequent along the Front Range, and wind drives it sideways into siding, window frames and screens. On any exterior project it's worth comparing impact-rated shingles and harder siding such as fiber cement against what is there now. Our roofing, siding and windows page covers those tradeoffs in detail.

Below ground, expansive clay soils are common. Finished basements on the Front Range are typically framed with floating walls that let the slab move without lifting the walls above it, and any new foundation or addition should start with a soils report.

Projects Aurora homeowners ask about most

Basements top the list in southeast Aurora. Finishing one means egress windows for bedrooms, a radon test, floating walls and a plan for mechanical equipment that was placed with no thought of a finished room around it. Start with our guide to finishing a basement.

In 1970s and 1980s houses, the usual project is opening the kitchen to the living area, often with a beam replacing a bearing wall. See kitchen remodels for layout and sequencing.

Outdoor living rounds it out. A new deck or covered patio has to clear HOA review, and Aurora's water-conserving landscape rules may affect the yard around it. Read more about decks and outdoor living.

If your project is just across a city line, our Denver and Centennial pages cover how those jurisdictions differ.