Re-cladding or re-glazing a multi-unit property is a different discipline from working on a single house. It calls for a contractor who plans around occupancy, capital budgets, and boards — and, in a town like Orinda, around wildfire compliance that scales across many units at once. Bay Area Siding Company, a Larkspur-based siding and window contractor, works with property managers, HOA and condominium boards, and apartment owners across Orinda and Lamorinda on large-scale exterior renovation: portfolio re-siding, community-wide window replacement, and the phased scheduling that keeps a property livable while the work gets done.

Planning a building or a community? Request a bid or call (415) 619-5167 to schedule a consultation.

Built for occupied, multi-unit work

On a multifamily project the walls are rarely the hard part — doing the work around people who live there is. What we plan for:

• Phasing and sequencing. We stage building by building or elevation by elevation so residents keep access, parking, and reasonable quiet, and so no unit is left open to weather overnight.
• Owner, board, and tenant communication. Clear notice before crews reach a given unit, coordinated with your management or board so residents know what's happening and when.
• One consistent specification. Across a portfolio the value is in doing every unit to the same standard, so the property ages evenly and future maintenance stays predictable.
• Disruption control. Dust management, secured staging, and daily cleanup matter more, not less, when many households share the site.

Fire compliance across a whole property — the Orinda factor

This is where an Orinda multifamily project differs from one in a flatland city. Orinda is heavily wooded and hilly, and a large portion — north Orinda in particular — sits in state-mapped Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone terrain served by the Moraga-Orinda Fire District. On a multi-unit property, the fire question isn't answered once; it can touch every building on the site. Where a parcel carries a Very High designation, California Building Code Chapter 7A governs the exterior wall and opening assemblies and generally steers cladding toward noncombustible or tested ignition-resistant materials and glazing toward tempered, multi-pane units.

The nuance that governs the whole project: 7A applies to specific assemblies and openings on designated parcels, not automatically to every unit or every repair, and whether it reaches your scope depends on the property's mapping and the work being done. On a large property we confirm the designation and scope with the City of Orinda up front and build the compliance approach into the specification, rather than discovering it building by building. For owners choosing a new cladding standard on a fire-mapped property, noncombustible fiber cement is frequently the material that resolves both the compliance and the long-term maintenance questions at once.

Where the long-term savings come from

For an owner or a board, exterior renovation is a capital decision, and the case for doing it well is a maintenance-cost case. Moving an aging complex to low-maintenance cladding — fiber cement, insulated vinyl, or a CertainTeed system — ends the recurring repaint-and-patch cycle that drains reserve budgets. Replacing tired single-pane or failed dual-pane windows across a community cuts drafts, complaints, and energy loss. We help you weigh the upfront cost against the years of deferred maintenance you're buying out of.

Architectural consistency for HOA and condo boards

For a board, uniformity is often the entire point. Orinda communities carry architectural guidelines, and a re-side or window replacement has to hold the approved palette, profile, and trim across every building so the property reads as one coherent development. We work from your architectural standards, document the specification, and install to it consistently. Where the board is selecting a new standard — including a fire-zone-appropriate material — we lay out the options so the decision is made once and applied everywhere. That consistency also protects unit values, which is ultimately what a board is stewarding.

What we handle

• Full re-siding of apartment and condominium buildings, including tear-off to the sheathing and substrate, inspection and renewal of the water-resistive barrier and flashing, and installation of the chosen system to spec across every unit. (Framing only enters the scope where the sheathing itself has failed.)
• Community-wide window replacement — retrofit or full-frame, matched to each opening's condition — in brands including Milgard, Anlin, and others, meeting Title 24 and any fire-zone glazing requirements.
• Combined scopes where siding and windows are done together to consolidate disruption and permitting into one mobilization.

What drives a multifamily budget

Every property is priced on its own, and the drivers are portfolio-scale versions of the usual ones: the number of buildings and units, total wall area and elevation complexity, the material and window brand selected, retrofit versus full-frame window installs, whether Chapter 7A fire-zone detailing or Title 24 upgrades apply across the property, what the tear-off uncovers on an aging complex, hillside access and staging, and the phasing plan. We scope the property, put the specification in writing, and give you a number and a schedule your board or ownership group can plan around.

FAQ

Can you work on an occupied Orinda apartment or condo community? Yes — that's most of what multifamily work is. We phase by building or elevation, coordinate notice with your management or board, and stage the work so residents keep access and no unit is left open to weather. Disruption control is built into the plan.

How do fire-zone rules affect a multi-unit Orinda property? On a designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone parcel, Chapter 7A can reach the exterior assemblies across the property, generally favoring noncombustible cladding and tempered glazing. Because it applies by parcel and scope rather than blanket, we confirm the designation with the City of Orinda and build the compliance approach into the specification up front.

Will you follow our HOA's architectural guidelines? Yes. We install to your community's approved palette, profile, and trim so the property stays consistent, and we document the specification. Where the board is choosing a new standard, we lay out the options so it's decided once and applied everywhere.

How do you handle budgeting for a board or owner? We scope the full property, put the specification and phasing plan in writing, and provide a number and schedule you can take to a board or ownership group — framed around the long-term maintenance savings, not just the upfront cost.

Schedule a multifamily consultation

Call (415) 619-5167 or request a bid. We serve Orinda and the wider Contra Costa area — see completed exteriors in our project gallery. For single-home projects, see Orinda siding replacement and Orinda window replacement.