Bathroom remodel and more in Boca Raton.

Old Floresta was laid out by Addison Mizner's company for its executives; the Robinson Company won the contract to build 29 Mizner-designed houses, the Mizner Development Corporation collapsed in 1926, and the finished houses, stucco walls, wrought-iron balconies and barrel-tile roofs, became the city's first historic district in 1990. The rest of the city came later and fast. Of 48,859 housing units, 11 percent date to the 1960s, 27 percent to the 1970s, 27 percent to the 1980s and 12 percent to the 1990s, with nearly 10 percent from the 2010s (Census ACS 2024). Forty-three percent are detached houses, 24 percent sit in buildings of 50 or more, two thirds of occupied homes are owner-occupied, and the median owner-occupied value is $722,700.

• Bathrooms first, at a written fixed price from $6,500, in a 1970s or 80s country-club house or a Century Village unit.
• Kitchens: cabinets, counters and backsplash tile from me, with the trade work handled by the licensed plumber and electrician, in a village or a house.
• Doors and windows: Boca is outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, so a replacement unit uses standard Florida product approvals for the wind-borne debris region rather than Miami-Dade approvals only.
• Popcorn ceilings, drywall: a written quote after a visit, and the 35-minute drive is on me.

Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club began in 1959 under Arvida on 450 acres with 723 original home sites; today there are 749, split 229 waterfront, 221 golf-course and 299 interior, with the RPIA homeowners association collecting $4,150 per lot each July 1 and club membership kept separate from the house. Boca West has been owned by its members since 1991 and is run by a 15-member board; membership requires a residence inside the community plus a sponsor and an interview, and real-estate sources describe about 3,400 homes across 54 or 55 villages on 1,400 acres begun in 1971, with Arbor Lake, one of the original villages, built from 1977 to 1979. Century Village Boca Raton, per listings, is 105 three- and four-story elevator buildings under 16 condominium associations and a master, with units of roughly 600 to 900 square feet, a 24-hour gate and a courtesy bus. Long Lake Estates is acre-plus lots around a 50-acre lake with no mandatory club and a steady run of teardowns and rebuilds.

• Village work in Boca West: the village association and the master both sign off before a kitchen delivery or a door swap, and their hours are the hours.
• Century Village: small units, elevators and a bus schedule mean a tight staging plan; one day's materials at a time.

The city's Innovative Sustainable Infrastructure Program is a $48 million investment in six neighborhoods chosen by underground pipe material, age and location, stormwater needs, risk of failure and sidewalk concerns. In Boca Square that means about 24,000 linear feet of water main and 6,200 feet of force main between SW 12th and SW 9th Avenues, from West Palmetto Park Road to West Camino Real, with Boca Villas and Tunnison Palms following. The water itself is Biscayne Aquifer groundwater, high in natural color, treated at the Glades Road plant by a 40-million-gallon-a-day membrane process built in 2005 beside a lime-softening plant that has run for over 50 years, 70 million gallons a day in all, to more than 130,000 customers through 740 miles of pipe. It leaves the plant at a pH of 8.0 to 8.5 with a chloramine residual of 2.0 to 3.5 mg/L, and the city doesn't add fluoride. If your street is in an iSIP phase, I check the construction schedule before the plumber books a drain or supply change at the curb.

Get a free estimateor call or text (954) 242-5924

A large portion of the city lies in a Special Flood Hazard Area on FEMA maps adopted December 20, 2024, and the city keeps elevation certificates on file for structures built or substantially improved in those zones, with an address search tool to find your zone. Its own flood brochure makes a point worth repeating: more than 40 percent of National Flood Insurance Program claims come from outside high-risk areas, so the city urges every resident to carry flood insurance, and a new policy takes 30 days to start. Development Services is at 561-393-7789.

• Condo and co-op buildings 3 stories or 50 feet and taller are recertified at 30 years, or 25 within three miles of the coast, for a $500 application fee; the Recertification Coordinator is at 561-393-7894.
• The state milestone law runs alongside: a visual phase one by an architect or engineer, and a phase two only if substantial structural deterioration turns up.
• A recertification doesn't touch a unit kitchen or bath, but it's the reason an east-side manager asks who's coming into the building.

Boca Raton has few children, 16 percent of residents under 18, and well-off households: a median income of $106,273 and 62 percent of adults with a bachelor's degree. Palm Beach County's Housing and Economic Development office at 561-233-3600 runs the repair programs. Its SHIP Emergency Repairs round gave priority to residents 62 and older, veterans and special-needs applicants, with the home's value capped at $434,000, and its Owner Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program, Phase II, listed up to $100,000; both are closed as I write this.