Home Addition Contractor in Houston, TX
Silverheels Construction builds home additions and structural remodels across the Houston area — room and second-story additions, master suites, sunrooms, and opening up floor plans with load-bearing wall removal. We handle the permit process, the foundation and tie-in to the existing house, and matching the roofline and siding so an addition looks original. We build to a structural engineer's drawings; plumbing, electrical, and HVAC are a separate scope we don't take on. Free estimates.
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A home addition is the most involved thing you can do to a house short of building a new one — it touches the foundation, the framing, the roof, and the exterior, and it has to tie into a structure that's already settled and moving on Houston clay. We build additions and structural remodels across the Houston area: adding square footage, a second story, or a suite, and opening up the floor plans of older homes. It's a permitted, engineered project, and we're clear about which parts are ours and which belong to an engineer or a separate trade.
The permit process
An addition is permitted work, and doing it right protects the house's resale value and your insurance — an unpermitted addition becomes a problem the day you try to sell or file a claim. We handle the permit process: preparing the submittal from the plans, getting through review with the City of Houston or the applicable jurisdiction, and pulling the permit before work starts.
From there the project runs on staged inspections at the points the code requires — foundation, framing, and final among them. We build to the approved plans and schedule the inspections into the work so the project stays on track and everything is signed off. Permitted, inspected work is the whole point of hiring it out.
Foundation and tie-in to the existing house
A room addition needs its own foundation — slab or pier-and-beam — sized for Houston's expansive clay and tied into the existing foundation so the two move together as much as two foundations can. The tie-in is the hardest part of any addition: foundation to foundation, new wall to existing wall, and new roof to existing roof.
That connection is where additions succeed or fail. Done poorly you get cracks opening at the seam between old and new as the two settle differently; done right, the addition reads as part of the original house. We detail the structural and weather connections at every plane so the new space is genuinely joined to the house, not just parked against it.
Matching the roofline, siding, and finishes
An addition that looks bolted on drags down the whole house; one that looks like it was always there adds value. Matching is most of what makes the difference — tying the new roofline cleanly into the existing roof, and matching siding, brick, trim profiles, windows, and finishes so the eye can't find the seam.
On older Houston homes that takes sourcing: brick that no longer comes in the same run, trim profiles that aren't sold off the shelf, a roofline that has to blend two pitches. A sunroom addition, a room addition, or a second story all live or die on this. We match materials and details so the addition disappears into the house rather than announcing itself.
Second-story additions and master suites
Going up instead of out — a second-story addition or a master suite — is often the answer on a Houston lot that's already tight. Building up puts new load on the existing foundation and framing, so whether the house can carry it, and what has to be reinforced, is an engineering question (below), along with adding a stair and keeping the house weather-sealed while the roof is open.
A master suite addition — bedroom, a bathroom shell, and a closet — is one of the most common adds. We build the structure and the finishes; the plumbing that makes the bathroom work is a separate scope. Whether up or out, we frame, dry-in, and finish the new space to match the house.
Load-bearing wall removal and when a beam is needed
Opening up a closed-off older floor plan usually means taking out a wall — and if that wall is load-bearing, the load it was carrying has to be picked up by a beam, with posts carrying it down to proper footings. Whether a wall bears load, and exactly what beam and supports are required, is a structural-engineering determination, not something to eyeball.
We remove the wall and install the beam and its supports to the engineer's specification, so the ceiling above stays supported and level. This is the core of most structural remodels and whole-house remodels — turning a warren of small rooms into open, connected space — and it's done to spec, not by guess.
Scope, engineering, and phasing
Two lines we draw clearly. First, structural engineering: the drawings, load calculations, and beam sizing for an addition, a second story, or a wall removal are a licensed structural engineer's work. We build to their stamped drawings — we don't produce or stamp engineering ourselves. Second, the building systems: plumbing, electrical, and HVAC for an addition are a separate scope we don't take on. We self-perform the structure and finishes — foundation prep, framing, roof tie-in, exterior, drywall, trim, and paint — and build around that work.
On phasing, we sequence an addition so the house stays livable as long as possible: keeping the existing space sealed, weathertight, and usable while the new structure goes up, and connecting the two late in the project. Some disruption around the tie-in is unavoidable, but you shouldn't have to move out for the whole build. What drives the cost is size, building up versus out, the foundation, how much of the existing house the project touches, and the finish level — drivers, not a price, quoted after we see the house and the plans.
Frequently asked questions
Do you handle the permits for an addition?
Yes. An addition is permitted work — we prepare the submittal, get it through review with the applicable jurisdiction, pull the permit, and build to the approved plans with the required staged inspections. Permitted, inspected work protects your resale value and insurance.
Do you do the structural engineering?
No. The drawings, load calculations, and beam sizing for an addition, second story, or wall removal are a licensed structural engineer's work. We build to their stamped drawings — we don't produce or stamp engineering ourselves — and we'll tell you when an engineer is needed.
Can you remove a load-bearing wall?
Yes. If the wall carries load, a beam with posts down to proper footings picks it up, sized by a structural engineer. We remove the wall and install the beam and supports to that specification so the ceiling stays supported and level.
Do you handle the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC?
No — those are a separate scope we don't take on. We self-perform the structure and finishes: foundation prep, framing, roof tie-in, exterior, drywall, trim, and paint, and we build around that systems work.
Will the addition match my existing house?
That's the goal. We tie the new roofline into the existing roof and match siding, brick, trim profiles, and windows so the addition looks original rather than bolted on. On older homes that takes sourcing materials to match.
Can we live in the house during the addition?
Usually for much of it. We phase the work to keep the existing space sealed and usable and connect the addition late in the project. Some disruption around the tie-in is unavoidable, but a full move-out generally isn't necessary.
Service areas
- The Heights
- Bellaire
- West University
- Memorial
- Katy
- Sugar Land
- Cypress
- Kingwood