Read the ‘Ask Ed’ March ’26 newsletter to learn how your home can be made wildfire resilient, energy efficient, and how functional upgrades, rather than purely cosmetic renovations, can enhance its value.

Dear Clients, Partner Vendors, Family, and Friends,

As we face the end of the first quarter of 2026, and leading up to Easter Sunday—and to those who do celebrate, we wish you a Very Happy Easter—I hope this newsletter finds you all doing well and enjoying the beautiful Spring flowers. Bright yellow daffodils and fragrant orange roses are among my wife’s most favorite!

Although we are supposed to face some rain today, for the most part we’ve enjoyed warm and wonderful March weather making it perfect for outdoor activities, such as biking and hiking, which are things we like to do. Here’s to an April with lots of sunshine and warm days ahead!

As of March 2026, Northern California and Bay Area homeowners residing within our service area, are focused on remodeling projects and home improvements that prioritize 3 key things:

1. Wildfire Resilience
2. Energy Efficiency 
3. Functional Upgrades (rather than purely cosmetic renovations)

Among Bay Area homeowners, 56% are undertaking projects aimed at adapting their homes for both value and long-term comfort, often referred to as aging in place. And due to the rising insurance challenges and costs, “home hardening” is of top concern, particularly in Solano County and the Sacramento corridor.

So, what’s driving this focus? It’s the high interest rates and low housing inventory that make remodeling or improving the preferred choice over buying a new home and moving. Put simply, the prevailing message for today’s California homeowner is, “Don’t Move, Improve!”

Prioritizing Wildfire Resilience – Protecting your Home’s Armor

In Northern California, the “Roofing Insurability Crisis” has reached a peak, largely driven by a shift in how carriers are assessing risk. Increasingly, today’s insurance carriers are using high-resolution aerial surveillance and AI-driven imaging to identify minor roof wear—such as granule loss or shingle curling—that previously went unnoticed. At this point in time, such evidence in the condition of a roof is no longer considered “just cosmetic wear.” Instead, these conditions are cited as “insurability metrics” that carriers are using to trigger non-renewals.

If you are unfamiliar, granules are the ceramic-coated mineral particles embedded in the surface of asphalt shingles. It happens that asphalt shingles are the most popular roofing material in California and the Bay Area, with estimates suggesting they cover roughly 75% to 80% of residential roofs. While tile (clay or concrete) is very common in certain Mediterranean-style neighborhoods, asphalt shingles remain the dominant choice in Northern California for their affordability, versatility, and fire-rated options.

The granules in asphalt shingles act as the primary defense against heat, UV radiation, and physical impact. You can come to spot granule loss in your gutters, where large amounts of sand-like grit will tend to collect, or at the downspout outlet, especially after a rain. Also, on your roof you might spot dark shiny patches or “bald spots” where the underlying black asphalt is exposed.

Why is granule loss concerning? It’s concerning because these crushed mineral particles serve as the “armor” for your roof’s underlying asphalt and fiberglass layers. While some minor shedding is normal for new roofs, significant loss accelerates a “downward spiral” of deterioration. Once granule loss occurs, the sun’s UV rays bake the exposed asphalt causing it to become brittle and to crack. In turn, this significantly accelerates the process and path to water leaks and structural rot.

And what is shingle curling? Otherwise referred to as loss of “flatness,” shingle curling occurs when the edge or corner of a shingle starts “cupping” (turns upward) or “clawing” (turns downwards) while the middle lifts. 

Why is roof shingle curling a serious concern? Curled edges allow wind to get underneath the shingle, making it more vulnerable to storms and inclement weather that “zip” or blow off entire sections of your roof! Additionally, the curling breaks the watertight seal of your roof system, allowing water intrusion during rainfall to be driven underneath the shingle and into your home’s structure.

Consequently, with respect to roofs, insurance companies are now using high-resolution aerial imagery and AI to scan your home to seek out these specific problem patterns.

What happens if an AI scan detects significant curling or bald spots? Your insurance carrier will typically issue a 30-day “correct or cancel” notice. To your insurance company, these signs indicate a high probability of future insurance claims—for water damage or structural rot—and this can lead your carrier to classify your home as a “high-risk asset” rather than a standard residence. Therefore, caring for your roof helps to ensure your home preserves its value and doesn’t hamper a future sale! If you have a problem or concern regarding your roof, please don’t hesitate to give me a call for an assessment and free estimate for needed roof repairs or replacement.

Obviously, your home is a significant asset and investment. For our clients in higher fire-risk areas, we recommend routine roof checks and the selection of high-performance, Class A fire-rated roofing. This is particularly important for a roof older than 12 years, because such homes can face non-renewal from their insurance carrier.

For our service area clients—those in Marin and Contra Costa counties—Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) compliance is very important! Specifically, features like non-combustible siding and tempered glass windows, are most critical for homeowners in very high Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ). These requirements became mandatory for all new and major construction alterations as of January 1, 2026 under the updated state building codes (Title 24, Part 7).  In Napa county, WUI compliance is now standard for almost all hillside and rural valley floor renovation projects.

Energy Efficiency and Electrification

Those of you living in our beautiful state, are likely acutely aware of the stricter Title 24 codes. In combination with higher utility costs, the new codes are driving ever more energy-focused home improvements. We’ve observed that the 2025 Title 24 Energy Code (active as of 1-1-26) and a major PG&E bill restructuring is fundamentally changing how homeowners are approaching remodeling.

What has the 2025 code update done? It has significantly raised the “performance baseline” for any project requiring a permit, including additions and any major alterations. Given the code’s “single-fuel baseline” it prescriptively requires electric heat pumps for water and space heating and necessitates a more complex (and often more expensive) “performance” compliance path for those who want to use gas.

What are the requirements for replacement windows? Requirements for  replacement windows have tightened. New windows now have a U-factor requirement of 0.30 or less (lowered to 0.27 in many Northern California climate zones for additions over 700 square feet), and a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of 0.23 or less. 

Additionally, mandatory minimum wall insulation has increased—from R-13 to R-15 for 2×4 framing—and for additions with “cathedral ceilings,” a minimum of R-38 insulation is required across all climate zones.

Not surprisingly, new standards require expanded infrastructure for EV charging and “battery-ready” electrical panels—in some cases minimum 225-amp bus bar —to support future energy storage.

Upgrading Your Home For Function Over Aesthetics

ADUs/JADUs:

Because homeowners are planning to remain in their homes well into their retirement years, construction trends are increasingly moving toward modernization and aging in place. 

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior ADUs (JADUs) continue to be in high demand because of their ability to accommodate multigenerational living and for their rental income. New laws, such as SB 79, are making the process easier.

What is Senate Bill 79? SB 79 primarily targets large-scale multifamily developments near transit. It creates a new “optionality” for Northern California and Bay Area homeowners by significantly increasing the potential value and future utility of their land. Homeowners in the half-mile transit corridors covered by SB 79 (including areas near BART, Caltrain, and VTA) are seeing their property values shift as the law moves toward its 7-1-26 effective date. 

What is optionality and how does it impact accessory units? Optionality allows a homeowner to build a detached ADU today and unlocks much higher density on those same parcels. Your land now has “future-proofed” value as a potential site for a multi-unit redevelopment down the road. SB 79, combined with other laws like SB 9, makes building “middle housing”—such as cottage clusters or duplexes with ADUs—on small residential lots more viable by overriding local density caps that previously blocked such projects. 

Thanks to AB 1154, owner-occupancy is no longer required for JADUs if they have their own private bathroom. This allows homeowners to rent out both their primary house and a JADU simultaneously. Local agencies must now issue a “completeness determination” for ADU applications within 15 business days. If they miss this window, the application is automatically deemed complete, accelerating the start of the 60-day approval clock.

Additional good news is that SB 543 allows fee exemptions. ADUs and JADUs with 500 square feet or less of interior livable space are now exempt from school impact fees, which can save homeowners several thousand dollars.

Kitchen Trends:

But what else are homeowners doing instead of building ADUs or doing full gut renovations? “Living-in-Place” has officially overtaken the “flip-style” renovations of the past. In Northern California, homeowners are shifting their budgets away from high-end aesthetics to structural integrity and daily utility. This is being done to ensure your home remains functional for the next 20 years or well into your retirement.

What are kitchen remodels now looking like? Homeowners are choosing performance over “show” and massive, open-concept in favor of high-efficiency and durable zones. Consequently, gas ranges are being swapped out for high-performance induction cooktops that deliver an added benefit of better indoor air quality as well as precision cooking.

Additionally, instead of expensive custom cabinetry throughout, some homeowners are choosing walk-in pantries for storing noisy appliances – like air fryers and espresso machines – to keep the main kitchen quiet and free of clutter. 

Task efficiency is being prioritized over symmetry. This means that single-basin, oversized sinks—with integrated cutting boards and drying racks—are the most common options.

There is also quite a shift in countertop surfaces from the marble and granite that was previously popular, to sintered stone and recycled porcelain. Sintered stone and recycled porcelain have become the leading choices for Northern California homeowners who prioritize “bulletproof” durability and sustainable luxury over traditional materials like marble or quartz. This preference is the result of the indestructibility of these countertops. They are impressively heat-proof, scratch-proof, and non-porous! Both are man-made surfaces created from natural minerals (clay, quartz, feldspar, and silica).

Because they are UV-stable and won’t fade in the sun, these countertops are the only high-end engineered materials that can flow seamlessly from an indoor kitchen to an outdoor patio or BBQ station. Additionally, following strict 2025 California regulations on high-silica stone to protect workers, many top brands have reformulated using recycled porcelain and glass, making these materials the “moral and legal imperative” of the 2026 market. And thanks to advanced 3D printing technology, these surfaces now allow for “through-body” veining, where the marble-like patterns extend through the entire thickness of the slab, allowing for beautiful, realistic edges. I’ve enjoyed taking my clients to some of the Bay Area and Napa showrooms to view full-sized jumbo slabs of these materials.

Bathroom Trends:

Today’s bathroom remodel is all about wellness and accessibility. More and more, our clients are choosing high-functioning “wet rooms” with curbless walk-in showers making it both easier to enter as well as easier to clean.

Integrated smart toilets/bidets are now a fairly standard functional upgrade because they not only reduce paper waste, but they dramatically improve hygiene. There are several on the market with a number of welcome options that increase their efficiency and offer greater personal comfort.

Instead of soaking tubs, some homeowners are choosing steam showers with programmable circadian lighting to reduce stress and help improve sleep cycles. Contributing to the wellness trend of functional “peace of mind,” some systems include smart shut-off valves installed behind the walls to prevent catastrophic water damage.

Foundation First Structural Safety:

As a direct consequence of the volatility of the insurance market, many homeowners are choosing “invisible” upgrades to keep their insurance policies and safeguard their homes.

In the Bay Area, homeowners of older “raised foundation” homes are seeking cripple wall bracing and foundation bolting – ways to secure your home to its foundation and prevent it from sliding off during an earthquake. Owners of homes with living space over a garage are installing steel “moment frames” to prevent collapse. A moment frame is a heavy-duty steel “U” or “O” shape bolted into the garage’s foundation and tucked just inside the door opening. 

In Napa, a “Sewer Lateral Certificate” is required before a property can be sold. As a result, homeowners are wisely and proactively replacing old clay pipes with trenchless HDPE piping during other yard or foundation work.

What is HDPE piping? High-Density Polyethylene piping is a tough, flexible plastic polymer that is significantly more resilient than traditional PVC or clay. Its “viscoelastic” properties allow it to bend and absorb ground shifts, making it the preferred choice for earthquake-prone regions like the Bay Area.

HDPE happens to be the “gold standard” for Northern California homeowners performing yard and foundation work. Its popularity is driven by its extreme durability, flexibility, and suitability for trenchless installation, which protects expensive Bay Area landscaping and hardscaping from traditional excavation damage. 

Are You Interested in Knowing More?

If anything discussed in this newsletter piques your interest, please call or text me (707-999-5878) for a chat. Or, if you’re ready to start a construction project, then I’m happy to arrange a free consultation. Please send email to: ed@edneirconstruction.com. I do try to cover key trends and important changes that my team and I encounter. This often includes new legislation and any building code changes that come to impact our clients (and prospective clients) within our service area.

If there’s something you’re interested in learning more about, but we’ve not yet covered it within our newsletters, I hope you’ll reply with your ideas, requests, or suggestions! We’re working hard to make sure we do more than beautify, protect, and preserve your property values. We want to become your reliable resource and trusted general contractor for home, commercial, and Ag building construction, as well as a valued-added provider of helpful education and information on design trends, applicable legislation, and property value preservation. 

Thank you for your time, your business, and any feedback you care to share with us! Please feel free to share this newsletter with your family and friends, encouraging them to subscribe by scrolling down to the footer on our website!

‘NAILING IT’ BLOG POSTS

Five Times Homeowners Should Avoid DIY

Homeowners Prioritize Functional Luxury, Open Concept Connectivity, and Indoor/Outdoor Integration For 2026 Kitchen Remodels

The Real Costs of A Poorly Done or Unpermitted Home Improvement Project

Bathroom Trends for 2026 Emphasize Spa-Like Comfort, Smart Technologies, and Aging in Place

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION, SUGGESTION, OR RECIPE

Is there anything you would like to know – a question you would like to ask a licensed general contractor – or is there something you’d like to learn about/gather information on? We’re happy to address your question individually, respond more in depth with an upcoming NAILING IT blog, or via a specially prepared FAQ that can be downloaded as a PDF for easy reference.

To submit your question, blog topic idea or suggestion, or to send in a delicious recipe you might care to share, please click here. We do our best to respond to every inbound email as promptly as possible, typically within 24-48 hours.

ENJOY A FEW RECIPES FROM THE NEIR KITCHEN:

Incredible Italian Easter Cake (Incredibile Pigna di Pasqua)

This is a delicious vanilla bundt cake topped with simple glaze and sprinkles that is often eaten by Italians on Easter. Depending on the region of Italy, flavors of this cake can vary with some adding Vermouth, fresh lemon juice, or almond extract. It can served to family and friends and makes a lovely Hostess Gift. 

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups sugar (granulated)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (vegetable oil can also work)
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon Himilayan salt
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour

Glaze Ingredients:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• Pastel colored sprinkles for decorating (optional, but very pretty!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position baking rack in center of oven. Grease a standard bundt cake pan with your favorite nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy (about 1 minute with an electric mixer). Add in the oil and milk. Mix together until well blended.
3. Add to your batter mixture the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Next add in the flour. Mix until just combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl and ensure that all ingredients are incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Bake on the center rack in your oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place on wire cooling rack and let sit for 15 minutes. Once slightly cooled, gently flip cake out of pan and let cool completely.
5. After the cake has cooled, make the frosting by whisking together the powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle the frosting over the cooled cake and top with sprinkles.

NOTE: 

You can add the juice of 1 whole lemon for a yummy lemon-flavored cake, or substitute 1 teaspoon of the vanilla for 1 teaspoon of almond extract for an almond-flavored cake.

One Pan Tuscan Chicken

This delicious Italian chicken dish makes a great meal by itself, or you can add your favorite pasta or garlic bread for a heartier meal to sop up the wonderful sauce. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (drained & thinly sliced)
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (firmly packed freshly grated parmesan)
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (halved or butterflied)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Himalayan salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• 5 packed cups baby spinach
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Cooking Instructions:

1. Cut 2 large chicken breasts in half horizontally and pat dry with paper towels. Season all over with 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt and black pepper.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of the chicken in a single layer and sear until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a large plate (the chicken will not be fully cooked). Add 1 tablespoon of EVOO to pan and browning the remaining chicken. Transfer to the same plate.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining EVOO and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and Italian seasoning. Cook until fragrant, for about 1 minute. Add baby spinach 1 handful at a time. Cook, stirring regularly, until spinach is just wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the cheese, heavy cream, and the remaining salt. Bring mixture to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Return the chicken and any juices on the plate to the pan. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our ‘Ask Ed’ March 2026 newsletter – share it freely with family, friends, neighbors, and business associates!

If you’re interested in discussing any upcoming remodeling plans, needed home repairs, construction of an ADU, or any construction work on your commercial property, business, or farming operation, please give me a call or send a text for a free consultation and estimate at (707) 999-5878.

Thank you for taking the time to read our monthly newsletter and for letting us know what we can do to make it better!

Ed Neir, General Contractor
License #: 928715

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