What We Build in North Reading
Most North Reading homes went up during the 1950s building boom, and their kitchens were designed for that era — small, closed off, and walled away from the dining room. Our kitchen remodeling opens them up, taking down a wall between a Martins Pond ranch’s kitchen and family room or reworking a split-level’s layout so it cooks the way your family actually lives.
Bathrooms in these homes are often the originals, untouched since the house was framed. Our bathroom remodeling updates the plumbing, fixtures, and tile and reworks tight, dated layouts — including the single upstairs bath that so many mid-century capes were built with.
When a North Reading home runs out of room, we add it. Our home additions range from primary-suite additions to second-story builds and in-law suites, designed to match the rooflines and proportions of the ranch, cape, or colonial they grow out of so the new work never looks bolted on. And when a seventy-year-old ranch or cape has outlived its layout, its systems, and its structure all at once, our custom home construction team takes it down and builds new on the same lot.
New England weather is hard on homes built decades ago, and aging siding, trim, and windows show it first. Our exterior remodeling handles siding, windows, doors, and trim carpentry, and we’re a SunPro Certified Dealer for exterior work.
For the businesses along Main Street and the Route 28 corridor, our commercial construction team handles renovations and tenant build-outs right here in town.
Remodeling in North Reading: What to Know
North Reading grew up fast after World War II. Only a small share of the town’s homes predate the war — the 1950s alone added hundreds of houses, and the building boom carried on through the 1960s and 70s. So most of what we remodel here is a mid-century ranch, cape, Garrison colonial, or split-level: solid, well-framed homes that are now hitting the age where the kitchen, the baths, the systems, and the layout all want updating at once.
A smaller, treasured part of town is genuinely old. Around the Town Common, the Center Village Historic District preserves North Reading’s earliest homes — the Greek Revival Third Meeting House from 1829, the Rev. Daniel Putnam House, and antique colonials with hand-hewn beams, wide-pine floors, and center chimneys. These houses reward a careful hand, and for a home inside the district, exterior work may need Historic District Commission review. We plan for that from the start.
Permitting runs through the North Reading building department, and we pull every permit ourselves and carry the license and insurance the town requires. A lot of North Reading property sits near water, including Martins Pond, the Ipswich River, the Skug River, and the wetlands around Bear Meadow, so an addition or a deck on one of those lots may need Conservation Commission review under the Wetlands Protection Act before construction begins. Being based in town, we know which lots trigger it and we build that review into the schedule rather than springing it on you later.
Our Process, Right Here at Home
The same White Glove Five-Step Process we bring to every town starts at home in North Reading: Survey, Strategize, Solidify, Secure, and Showcase. We get to know your home and your goals, design the project, lock the budget and timeline, handle the permits and logistics, and finish with a walkthrough. And because we’re in town, you can stop by our Design Center & Showroom on Main Street to walk through cabinetry, tile, and countertop options in person before you commit to anything.
Serving North Reading and Nearby
North Reading is the center of everything we do, and from our Main Street shop we also remodel homes in nearby Reading, Wilmington, Wakefield, Andover, and Middleton. If your home is in North Reading, start your project with a visit to our Design Center, and ask about 0% financing for up to 21 months through Hearth. Contact CJM Builders to get started, or see all the communities we serve on our service areas page.
