Maybe your Merced bathroom has a fiberglass surround that never looks clean, or the kitchen still has the oak cabinets it was built with in the 1980s. Merced County sits at the northern edge of our service area, so it helps to know how coverage, permits, and scheduling work before you start.

Merced and nearby communities

Merced, which incorporated in 1889, is the county seat, a Highway 99 city that calls itself the Gateway to Yosemite and has been home to UC Merced, the University of California’s tenth campus, since 2005. East of the city, the unincorporated communities of Planada and Le Grand sit about 9 and 14 miles out. Dos Palos, a separate city that incorporated in 1935, is about 27 miles south-southwest of Merced. With about 90,000 residents by Census estimates, Merced is the fourth-largest city in our service area, after Fresno, Visalia, and Clovis.

Chowchilla, about 18 miles southeast of Merced in Madera County, is covered on our Madera County service area page.

About 70 minutes from our shop

Route estimates put Merced about 70 minutes from our shop at 4143 E Madison Ave, roughly 57 miles by road in light traffic. Our service area is a 60-mile radius around Fresno and Clovis, and Merced County sits at its northern edge, so the ZIP code you enter in the estimator is how we confirm whether a specific address is covered.

Merced’s housing by the numbers

Census estimates put the median Merced home at about 1983. The 2000s were the city’s biggest building decade, at roughly 1 in 5 homes, and the 1970s and 1980s each added about 17%. Even so, about 45% of homes predate 1980; roughly 10% were built before 1950 and about another 10% in the 1950s. About 44% of Merced homes are owner-occupied, a lower share than in most of the cities we serve.

What Merced kitchens and baths tend to need

• Pre-1950 homes: plaster walls, small baths with cast-iron tubs, and galvanized supply lines.

• 1950s to 1970s homes, about a third of the city’s housing: galley or closed kitchens, soffits, original tile, and tub and shower combinations.

• 1980s homes: oak cabinets and tile counters in the kitchen, cultured-marble vanity tops and fiberglass surrounds in the bath.

• 2000s homes: granite counters, primary baths built around a garden tub, and builder-grade shower pans.

Homes built before 1978 fall under EPA lead-safe rules when painted surfaces are disturbed. Tub-to-shower conversions, new vanities and counters, and fresh tile are the kinds of work the estimators are built around. Relocating plumbing or adding circuits involves licensed trades, and those pieces are reviewed in person before anything is planned.

City and county permits

Homes inside Merced city limits go through the City of Merced, covered in our City of Merced permit guide. Planada, Le Grand, and other unincorporated addresses go through Merced County; see the Merced County permit guide. Dos Palos is its own incorporated city, so its permit path is confirmed with that city. For any address, permit needs are settled during the in-home consultation.

Booking from Merced County

Choose the bathroom estimator or kitchen estimator and work through the questions. Once you’ve entered your contact details and ZIP code, a personalized planning range appears on screen. From there, a free in-home consultation can be booked for a Monday through Saturday appointment. Your estimator answers reach us before the visit, so the consultation can be spent on measurements, existing conditions, and selections.