Tax Avoidance: Capital Gains & Depreciation Recapture

[Christopher D.]

I've got a lot of equity built up in a property in CA that I'd like to access to remodel my primary residence, but if I sell it, I'm going to get slammed with taxes on capital gains and depreciation recapture.  Does anyone know a way to avoid this?  I've already hit the ceiling on cash-out refinancing ($510k conforming loan limit).  A 1031 exchange wouldn't solve anything, because we're looking to remodel an existing residence, not buy a new property.  Please let me know if there are any other tax loopholes I'm missing here.  It's frustrating to have all that equity just sitting there.