Whole-home remodeling in Dallas–Fort Worth

22%² of Dallas County homes were built in the 1950s and 1960s, many of them brick ranches on concrete slabs. Slab-on-ground foundations became common in the early 1950s, and light houses on slabs over expansive soil are more exposed to damage when the soil's moisture changes.¹⁸ In a whole-house job, plumbing that runs under that slab is often the part nobody can see until the floor is cut.

Expansive clay soils swell when they take on water and shrink as they dry, and those cycles can crack foundations and walls, jam doors and tilt floors.¹⁸ Fort Worth requires a building permit and engineered plans for every residential foundation repair.¹⁶ If the floors already slope or doors already stick, have the foundation assessed and repaired before new tile, cabinets and drywall go in.

Unless a lead-based paint inspection shows otherwise, the EPA says to treat paint in homes built before 1978 as if it contains lead.¹⁹ For homes built before 1978, the EPA advises hiring contractors who use only lead-safe certified renovators.²⁰ Beyond flooring, the EPA lists vermiculite attic and wall insulation, roofing and siding shingles, textured paint and patching compounds on walls and ceilings, and hot water and steam pipes wrapped in asbestos blanket or tape among the places asbestos may be found in a home.²¹

On a Dallas landmark or in a Dallas historic district, a Certificate of Appropriateness is needed before any exterior work begins; minor routine-maintenance items get staff approval within 21 days, while other work and every demolition go to a Landmark Commission public hearing, whose decisions are final.¹⁴ Interior rooms aren't what the Landmark Commission reviews, but a whole-house plan often reaches the outside with new windows, a rear addition or a changed roofline.

Dallas conservation districts are meant to conserve a neighborhood's distinctive character, and each district's ordinance can set standards for things such as architectural style, building materials, porch styles, roof form or pitch, and windows.¹⁵ Dallas's Conservation District No. 9 covers the M Streets (Greenland Hills) neighborhood.²² In a Dallas conservation district, a review form is required for any work covered by the district's standards; for work that needs a building permit the city has 30 days to decide whether it complies, and the permit is denied if it does not.¹⁵

Fort Worth has its own districts. Fort Worth's Fairmount/Southside Historic District, about 375 acres on the near south side, was developed mainly between 1890 and 1938, and wood-frame bungalows are its most common house form.²³ Fort Worth requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before permits or construction for exterior changes to a historic property, such as siding, windows, doors, roofing, decks, additions, fences, driveways and foundation work; most are approved by staff, while new construction and demolition go to the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission.¹⁷ Ask whether the company has taken jobs through review on your street, and build the hearing calendar into the schedule.

Texas limits how much a homestead's appraised value can rise in a year to 10 percent over the prior year's value, but the market value of new improvements is added on top of that limit; repairs and ordinary maintenance don't count as new improvements.²⁴ The Dallas Central Appraisal District says the homestead limitation does not apply to new improvements added in a tax year, such as pools, room additions or any new construction.²⁵

Owners past sixty-five should also know this: The Dallas Central Appraisal District says an over-65 homeowner's school tax ceiling can rise if the home is significantly improved, such as by adding a room or a garage or significantly remodeling, but not for ordinary repairs and maintenance.²⁵ The homestead cap is state law, so it works the same way in Tarrant County; ask either appraisal district how a planned addition will be counted before you sign.

Fort Worth offers a break for qualifying historic work. Fort Worth's Historic Site Tax Exemption requires spending at least 20 percent of the property's assessed value on rehabilitation, with the application filed and the work approved by staff before it starts, and the exemption lasts ten years.¹⁷

For very dusty work such as demolition, the EPA describes isolating the work area: sealing it off with no direct access to the occupied rooms, with workers using a separate entrance until cleanup is done.¹⁹ The EPA advises keeping occupants, especially children, away from the work area during a remodel and cleaning up the site before they return.¹⁹

In a one-bath ranch, staying home through demolition is hard, and DFW Airport averages 20 days²⁶ a year at triple-digit highs, so a house without working air conditioning is no place to camp. Ask for a schedule that keeps one bathroom, the kitchen sink and the cooling running until their replacements pass inspection.

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.²⁷ Preparing for that costs least while the drywall is off and the floors are open.

Ask for solid blocking behind bathroom walls for future grab bars, a wide door to at least one bath, and a curbless shower floor recessed into the slab while it is broken open anyway. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.²⁸

Calling the number on this page connects you, on a recorded line, to one independent company that handles whole-home remodels in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. You discuss the rooms, the order of the work and the price with that company directly.

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Texas doesn't license general remodelers, so check the people doing the regulated trades and read the paperwork closely. On a Texas residential construction job, the original contractor must give the owner a written disclosure statement before the owner signs the contract.²⁹ Before construction starts on a Texas home, the original contractor must give the owner a written list of the subcontractors and suppliers it plans to use, and an updated list within 15 days of any change, unless the owner waives the list in writing.²⁹ TDLR's License Data Search lists active licenses only and can be searched by license type, license number, name or business name, city, county or ZIP code.³⁰ Check a Texas license