Service area El Paso County
Monument home remodeling on the Palmer Divide
Monument sits near 7,000 feet on the southern slope of the Palmer Divide, and its population grew more than fivefold between 2000 and 2020.
Monument within the Front Range service area
Illustration
Overview
Remodeling Monument homes
Remodeling For Less plans Monument home remodeling for houses in town and across the Tri-Lakes area, covering kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, basement finishing, open floor plans and whole-home refreshes. It's for owners who want to know how big the job really is before committing to it.
Monument is in El Paso County, and its permitting comes in two parts. The Town's Planning Department issues a Town permit through its Community Connect portal, and many projects also need a submittal to the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, which administers the building code the Town has adopted.
Areas and neighborhoods in Monument
- Historic Downtown Monument
- Woodmoor
The housing
Monument's housing, from railroad stop to boom town
Monument grew up as a stop on the Rio Grande line in the early 1870s and incorporated in 1879, then stayed small for a century: it had 690 residents in 1980. Building the Air Force Academy, starting in 1954, brought the first real wave of homes to the area.
The old railroad town
Monument's historic downtown keeps the scale of a small railroad town, and the Tri-Lakes Chamber on Second Street offers a self-guided walking tour of it. These are the oldest buildings in the area, and older houses tend to hide surprises: framing altered over generations, wiring and plumbing added piecemeal, and floors that are no longer level. When walls open up, a full remodel is often the honest scope. Talk with the Town's Planning Department about zoning before you plan exterior changes or an addition.
Woodmoor and the Tri-Lakes name
East of town, Woodmoor is an unincorporated community governed by El Paso County, though it uses the Monument post office. The area took the Tri-Lakes name around 1970, when Lake Woodmoor was built, and Woodmoor had about 1,500 residents by 1980, more than twice Monument's count. The community sits at close to 7,300 feet. The oldest are now around half a century old, when kitchens, baths and windows come due together, and anything outside also goes through the neighborhood's architectural review.
The boom inside town limits
Monument's own growth began in earnest around 1990. The town went from 1,971 residents in 2000 to 5,530 in 2010 and 10,399 in 2020, and in 2008 it began annexing land north of Baptist Road. Numbers like that mean a large share of the houses in town are from the last 25 years. For them, remodels lean toward finishing a lower level, updating a builder kitchen or reworking a primary bath rather than replacing worn-out systems.
Local factors
What a Monument remodel runs into
A Town permit plus Regional Building
If Monument is listed as a tax entity for your property, the Town requires its own permit, applied for and tracked through Community Connect, and many projects also need a Pikes Peak Regional Building Department submittal. The Town says its review can take 3 to 5 business days after acceptance. Every contractor, including out-of-town contractors and subcontractors, needs an active Town business license before a permit application can go in, and construction materials for permitted work are subject to the Town's use tax.
Construction hours are set by code
Monument's municipal code limits construction to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or national holidays. Violations can bring enforcement against everyone involved, including the property owner, not just the crew. The limits don't apply to homeowners doing their own work, but on a hired remodel they shape the schedule, especially for loud demolition and concrete cutting in a basement.
Woodmoor has its own review
In Woodmoor, any modification to the exterior of a home needs approval from the Woodmoor Improvement Association's Architectural Control Committee. Many applications can be approved by the ACC Administrator in the office, generally with no fee. Projects that go to the full committee usually carry administrative fees and a refundable compliance deposit, with filing deadlines one to two weeks before the meeting. Woodmoor is outside town limits, so the Town permit doesn't apply, but Regional Building still does.
If this, then that
Finding the starting point for a Monument house
| If | Then |
|---|---|
| If your house is inside town limits and was built after 2000 | Then it's likely a refresh or a basement finish, with a Town permit and a Regional Building submittal where the work requires one. |
| If you live in Woodmoor and the project changes anything outside | Then get ACC approval first. The Administrator can often sign off without a full committee meeting. |
| If your house is one of the older ones near downtown | Then budget time for opening walls before settling on a scope, since a full remodel may be the realistic level. |
Services in Monument
Basements, kitchens and refreshes around Monument
Altitude, snow and two layers of permits shape these projects more than style does.
Basement finishing
If you finish your basement in a newer Monument house, Regional Building lists basement finishes among the projects that need a permit, and the Town permit comes on top when Monument is your tax entity. Plan an escape window for any bedroom, and schedule the well excavation for a stretch without snow. Check the slab and walls for moisture before framing, and budget the Town's use tax on materials.
Kitchen remodeling
A kitchen renovation near 7,000 feet raises a few altitude questions. Gas ranges and cooktops may need a high-altitude adjustment, so confirm it with the installer when you pick appliances. Replacing cabinets on their own is treated as cosmetic by Regional Building, but moving the sink or range adds plumbing, gas or electrical work that brings permits and inspections into the schedule.
Whole-home refresh
In an older Woodmoor house, a whole-home refresh of floors, paint, trim, doors and lighting can change how the whole house feels without moving a single wall. Keep the interior and exterior separate in your planning: new flooring and interior paint are cosmetic, while exterior paint, new entry doors or other outside changes go to the Architectural Control Committee before work starts.
Planning checklist
Before you remodel in Monument
Tick them off as you go. Your list stays saved in this browser only.
Questions
Remodeling questions from Monument homeowners
-
Two offices. The Town of Monument's Planning Department issues a Town permit when Monument is the tax entity for your property, and the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department handles building code review, permits and inspections for Monument along with Colorado Springs and unincorporated El Paso County. Many remodels need both, so ask each office early.
-
No. Woodmoor is an unincorporated community governed by El Paso County, about a mile and a half east of Monument, and its residents use the Monument post office. Building permits there go through Regional Building without the Town permit, and exterior changes need approval from the Woodmoor Improvement Association's Architectural Control Committee.
-
The Town's municipal code allows construction from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, with no work on Sundays or national holidays. The limits don't apply to homeowners doing their own work. Violations can lead to enforcement against the owner as well as the contractors.
-
It affects the schedule. Monument averages far more snow than Colorado Springs, roughly 111 inches a year against about 33. Interior work carries on through winter, but window replacement, egress well digging, roofing and exterior paint are easier to plan for warmer months, so sequence those first when the season allows.
-
Regional Building generally treats replacing kitchen cabinets and most appliances as cosmetic work that doesn't need a building permit. The Town has its own permit for residential alterations, though, so check with the Planning Department if you're inside town limits. Moving plumbing, gas or wiring is a different story and needs permits.
No questions match that search. Try a shorter word.
The bottom line
The bottom line
Monument remodels come down to three questions: whether the house is inside town limits, what Regional Building needs for your scope, and whether an association like Woodmoor's reviews the outside. Sort those out, line up licensed contractors and plan exterior work around the snow. Call [Phone] to talk through your Monument or Tri-Lakes house and the level of work it needs.
Talk through your Monument project
Start with the room and what isn't working. The scope follows from there.
Illustration