Tenant Improvement Contractor in Houston, TX
Silverheels Construction is a tenant improvement contractor in Houston that handles commercial tenant buildouts between leases. We self-perform the framing, drywall, ceilings, flooring, doors, and finishes, and bring in the right specialist for the mechanical portion when a full buildout calls for it. Free estimates.
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Tenant improvement is the work that turns an empty or dated commercial suite into a space a tenant can move into. In Houston, that usually means taking a shell or a space left behind by the last tenant and building it back out to a new floor plan — new partitions, ceilings, flooring, doors, and paint-ready finishes. Silverheels Construction runs that work as a commercial tenant improvement scope: we frame the walls, hang and finish the board, and hand off a clean space on the schedule the lease runs on.
What a tenant improvement scope covers
A tenant improvement scope is everything it takes to turn a leased commercial space into one a tenant can occupy. On a typical tenant buildout that means demising walls and interior partitions, ceilings, flooring, doors and hardware, and paint-ready finishes.
We self-perform framing, drywall, ceilings, flooring, doors, and finishes. Plumbing, new electrical circuits, panel work, and HVAC systems are a separate scope we don't take on — on a full buildout we bring in the right specialist for the mechanical portion and build the rest of the space around it. If you need one company carrying the whole project, that's a commercial general contractor role, and we scope it that way.
Working from a landlord's TI allowance and a scope of work
Most commercial leases include a TI allowance — the amount the landlord puts toward improving the space for the incoming tenant. We don't set that number, but we build to it. Give us the scope of work and the allowance, and we price the buildout against it so you can see what lands inside the allowance and what runs beyond it.
The scope of work is what keeps a tenant buildout honest. It spells out the partition layout, the ceiling and flooring, the doors and hardware, and the finish level. Most of that finish work is commercial drywall — framing the walls and hanging and finishing the board — so we read the scope, flag anything that's a separate scope we don't take on, and keep the finishes matched to what the allowance supports.
Demising walls, suites and reconfiguring a floor plan
Reconfiguring a floor plan starts with the demising walls — the partitions that separate one tenant's suite from the next. When a landlord splits a large suite in two or combines two into one, those walls move, and the layout inside changes with them.
We frame the new demising walls and interior partitions, carry them to the deck where the plan calls for it, and reset the ceilings and flooring to match the new footprint. Reworking a floor plan usually means patching back where old walls came out, so we tie the new drywall into the existing finishes and leave the suite reading as one clean space, not a repair.
Restaurant and retail buildouts — the finish scope
A restaurant tenant buildout and a retail buildout lean hard on the finish scope. The front of house carries the look — partitions, ceilings, flooring, and the wall finishes a customer sees — and that's the part we self-perform and hold to a tight standard.
On a restaurant tenant buildout, the kitchen and bar bring heavy mechanical work, and that stays a separate scope we don't take on; we bring in the right specialist for that portion and frame and finish the space around it. For retail, we build the demising walls, the storefront partitions, and the back-of-house rooms, then hand off a paint-ready space. Keeping a storefront in shape after opening is retail maintenance, and we handle that too.
Turning a suite between tenants on a schedule
A landlord turnaround runs on a clock. The old tenant is out, the next lease is signed, and the suite has to be ready by a date. We scope that turn as tenant buildout services — demo what the last tenant left, reframe the partitions the new plan needs, and refinish the space so it shows clean.
The work is sequenced so the trades that have to go first aren't waiting on us and we aren't waiting on them. On a turn that includes a separate mechanical scope, we coordinate that specialist into the schedule and keep our framing, drywall, ceilings, and finishes moving around it so the suite hits the handoff date.
Working for the landlord vs working for the tenant
Who hires us changes how the job runs, not how it's built. Working for the landlord, we're usually turning a suite to lease-ready condition or building to a base scope the allowance covers, and the landlord signs off on the finishes. Working for the tenant, we're building to how that business actually uses the space, and the tenant drives the finish decisions.
Either way the shape of a tenant improvement contractor's job is the same: frame the partitions and demising walls, hang and finish the board, set the doors and flooring, and hand off a paint-ready space. We'll tell you plainly where a separate scope we don't take on has to come in, and build everything else ourselves.
Frequently asked questions
What does a tenant improvement contractor actually do?
A tenant improvement contractor turns a leased commercial space into one a tenant can occupy. For us that's the framing, drywall, ceilings, flooring, doors, and finishes — the partitions and surfaces that make a suite usable. Plumbing, new electrical circuits, panel work, and HVAC are a separate scope we don't take on, so on a full buildout we bring in the right specialist for that portion.
Do you work from the landlord's TI allowance?
Yes. Give us the scope of work and the allowance, and we build the tenant buildout to it. We don't set the allowance — the landlord does — but we price the work against it so you can see what lands inside it and what runs beyond. We keep the finishes matched to what the allowance supports.
Can you handle a restaurant or retail buildout?
Yes. We self-perform the finish scope on a restaurant tenant buildout or a retail buildout — the partitions, ceilings, flooring, and wall finishes. The heavy kitchen and bar mechanical work stays a separate scope we don't take on; we bring in the right specialist for that portion and frame and finish the space around it.
How fast can you turn a suite between tenants?
A landlord turnaround runs to the date the next lease needs. Once we see the space and the new plan, we scope the demo, framing, and finishes and sequence them to hit that handoff. If a separate mechanical scope is involved, we coordinate that specialist into the schedule so our work keeps moving around it.
Do you do the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC too?
No — those are a separate scope we don't take on. We self-perform framing, drywall, ceilings, flooring, doors, and finishes. On a full buildout we bring in the right specialist for the mechanical portion and build the rest of the space around that work.
What areas around Houston do you cover for tenant buildouts?
We handle commercial tenant improvement across Houston and the surrounding areas — downtown, midtown, the Galleria, the Energy Corridor, Westchase, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Katy. If your suite is in the Houston metro, we can scope the buildout.
Service areas
- Downtown
- Midtown
- Galleria
- Energy Corridor
- Westchase
- Sugar Land
- The Woodlands
- Katy