Kitchens, bathrooms, additions, and whole-cottage updates for Hope and East Hope — remodeling that respects what these older lake houses are, from a builder based in Sandpoint.
Remodeling an older Hope cottage is really a small custom-building problem: what's behind the plaster, what the foundation is doing on that hillside, what the roof has endured. Dihedral Builders approaches it that way because we are custom home builders — roughly twenty years of building and remodeling across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska under Chad Gailey, much of it on waterfront and steep sites like the ones around Hope.
We've had roots in Sandpoint since 2020 and now work from a permanent office at 213 Hard Pack Lane, carrying Idaho contractor registration 4181115. Our completed remodel portfolio is Washington work, and we're upfront about that. The Selle Valley Custom near Sandpoint is our first Idaho build, in progress now, and the same crews and standards come with us up Highway 200.
One point of contact runs your project, our trades are personally vetted, and our record — on time, on budget, 5.0-star reviews — is the thing we protect hardest.
A kitchen remodel in Hope often starts inside a cottage footprint that was never meant for modern living. We open walls where the structure allows, capture the lake view the original layout ignored, and build kitchens that work as hard in January as they do in July.
Bathroom remodels in older Hope and East Hope homes usually mean updating plumbing and ventilation along with the finishes. We fix what's behind the wall first, then deliver bathrooms detailed for a lakeside climate — proper waterproofing, real ventilation, surfaces that last.
Adding on to a hillside home above Lake Pend Oreille takes structural care: new foundations stepped into the grade, framing tied cleanly into the original, rooflines that still make sense. We design and build additions that look like they were always part of the house.
Hope's housing stock tells the town's history — cottages and cabins built decades ago along Highway 200 and the East Hope shoreline, many of them still on their original kitchens, bathrooms, and systems. These houses have character worth keeping and shortcomings worth fixing, and the remodeler's job is knowing which is which. Good bones get preserved; tired wiring, plumbing, and insulation get replaced.
The hillside complicates things in ways a flatland remodeler may not expect. Foundations on grade settle differently, drainage runs toward somebody, and an addition has to be engineered into the slope rather than tacked onto it. Two decades of steep-site and waterfront work in Washington is exactly the background this kind of remodeling calls for.
And because Hope is small, the practical things carry extra weight: a crew that actually shows up, a dumpster that doesn't sit in the lane all summer, a builder who communicates with the neighbors as well as the client. We're up the road in Sandpoint, close enough to be on site quickly and often — which is how small-town projects should run.
My wife and I did a major home renovation this year, our first time doing something of this nature, and we were both very glad to have Dihedral Builders as our contractor. Their employees and sub-contractors were all top-notch. Highly recommend giving them a call and consideration if remodel or decking is in your near future.
Jon and Heidi N. · Client testimonial · Mount Vernon, WA
Dihedral Builders recently did a room addition to our house. Chad came out to take measurements and to put together an estimate. Their estimate came in the middle of our other estimates. What made us decide to go with Dihedral Builders instead of the other contractors was the personal service that we received. Most of the other builders emailed us the estimate. Chad made an appointment to go over the estimate himself and answer any questions that we might have had. After getting all of the bids in and deciding on hiring Dihedral Builders we received a schedule of work. Dihedral Builders kept to the schedule and to our budget. Chad was very easy to reach and returned all calls and emails before, during and after the build.
Darby Darrow · Yelp review
Often, yes. Many of Hope's older homes have sound structure and a character that new construction can't replicate, and a well-scoped remodel — systems, insulation, kitchen, bathrooms — can carry them another generation. Dihedral Builders evaluates the building honestly first, and if the structure argues for replacement instead, we'll tell you that too.
Yes, provided the site and structure cooperate. Additions on Hope's hillside lots need foundations engineered into the grade and framing tied properly into the original building, which is builder's work more than decorator's work. That's why Dihedral Builders, a custom home builder by trade, is a good match for it.
The same way it should work anywhere, just with less room for excuses. We build a realistic schedule before we start, sequence trades so the house isn't torn open longer than necessary, and keep one point of contact responsible for the whole job. Our Sandpoint office is a short drive down Highway 200, so site visits are routine, not events.
We handle the whole scope. Dihedral Builders runs kitchen and bathroom remodels, additions, and full-house updates under one contract with personally vetted trades, which is especially valuable in Hope where coordinating multiple out-of-town contractors is its own headache.
Tell us what the house needs and we'll look at it with you. Call (208) 714-0250 — we're just down Highway 200 in Sandpoint.
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