A free site visit, a check of what your lot allows and a written, line-item price.
Get your free estimateADU Company in Richardson, TX
An ADU, or accessory dwelling unit, is a second, smaller home built on the same lot as your main house. In Richardson, we typically see builds ranging from $185,000 for a detached backyard unit to $260,000 or more for a garage conversion with a full kitchen and bath. The climate and soil here shape every job: clay soil that shifts with the seasons, a hot, dry summer, and a housing stock that runs the full span from 1960s ranch homes near the University of Texas at Dallas to newer builds along the eastern edge of town. If you’re weighing an ADU in Richardson, call (361) 204-4652 and we’ll talk through what your lot can actually support.
Why Richardson Homes Are Different
Richardson sits on the Blackland Prairie, and the soil is the first thing we account for on every build. It’s expansive clay, which means it swells when wet and shrinks when dry. A foundation that isn’t engineered for that movement will crack within a few seasons. We specify pier-and-beam or reinforced slab designs based on a soil report for every ADU and addition we build in Richardson, because guessing at soil behavior here is how homeowners end up with a new unit that leaks at the sill plate five years in.
The housing stock matters too. West Richardson and the Reservation area are full of mid-century homes on generously sized lots, which often work well for detached ADUs. Neighborhoods closer to Arapaho Road and the Telecom Corridor, like Duck Creek and Heights Park, tend toward tighter lots where a garage conversion or an attached addition makes more sense than a freestanding unit. Some of those older garages were built with slab-on-grade foundations that were never meant to carry living space, so part of our job in Richardson is figuring out what the existing concrete can hold and what needs to be redone.
Permitting runs through the City of Richardson’s building department. The city follows Texas state law on ADUs as it applies to single-family zoned lots, but Richardson still reviews setbacks, height limits, and utility connections on every application. We pull permits and manage the inspections on every project we build here. That’s part of the written scope of work, not an extra line item that appears halfway through the job.
Our Main Richardson Services
Most Richardson homeowners come to us with one of three goals: they need more living space attached to the house they already have, they want to turn a rarely used garage into livable square footage, or they want a separate ADU in the backyard for family or rental income. Each service has its own Richardson page with the full breakdown, pricing, and what to expect.
Home Addition Contractor in Richardson
A home addition in Richardson means adding conditioned living space to the footprint of your existing house. On the older lots west of Central Expressway, that often means extending the back of the house into a deep yard or building up over a single-story section. The soil report drives the foundation design, and we’re careful to match rooflines and brick so the addition doesn’t look bolted on. Some Richardson HOAs have design-review requirements for exterior changes, and we handle that paperwork as part of the permit package. See the full scope, pricing, and neighborhood notes on our Home Addition Contractor in Richardson page.
Garage Conversion Contractor in Richardson
A garage conversion takes the existing garage footprint and turns it into a studio apartment, a home office, or an extra bedroom suite. In Richardson, the main question is almost always the existing slab. Garages built alongside 1960s and 1970s homes were rarely poured to support insulated walls and a conditioned interior, so we test the concrete and often add a structural topping or a new foundation section. Drainage matters too: many Richardson garages sit slightly below grade, and converting one without addressing water entry is a costly mistake. Our Garage Conversion Contractor in Richardson page covers the full process and price ranges.
ADU Builders in Richardson
Building a detached ADU in Richardson means starting fresh: a new foundation matched to the soil, new utility runs from the main house, and a structure sized to fit within the setback lines that apply to your specific lot. We’ve built units using panelized and prefab systems from Mighty Buildings and Boxabl where the lot access allowed delivery, and stick-built units where the yard didn’t. A freestanding ADU is the largest single project most Richardson homeowners will ever put on their lot, and the price should be in writing before the first excavation. That’s how we work. Full details are on our ADU Builders in Richardson page.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Brands We Service in Richardson
We work with several prefab and panelized building systems that fit Richardson’s lot sizes and soil conditions. Mighty Buildings, Boxabl, and Plant Prefab panels are available and can shorten on-site framing time compared to a fully stick-built ADU. When a homeowner wants a finished backyard studio or office quickly, a Tuff Shed structure with our interior fit-out is a practical option. Our team knows which manufacturers’ engineering packages the City of Richardson will accept, and we handle that matching as part of your scope. See our brands for details on each system we install and service.
Pricing for ADU Company in Richardson, TX
| Service | Typical range in Richardson |
|---|---|
| Full garage conversion with kitchen and bath | $165,000 – $220,000 |
| Detached backyard ADU (studio, no kitchen) | $185,000 – $205,000 |
| Detached backyard ADU (1-bedroom with kitchen) | $205,000 – $230,000 |
| Primary suite addition | $95,000 – $115,000 |
| Half-bath addition | $20,000 – $30,000 |
| Full bathroom addition | $45,000 – $75,000 |
| Living room addition | $70,000 – $130,000 |
| Second-story addition above garage | $180,000 – $230,000 |
| Site-built detached ADU (finished interior) | $205,000 – $235,000 |
| Prefab ADU (panelized, all-in) | $180,000 – $220,000 |
What pushes a Richardson build toward the top of those ranges is usually the soil work: a full pier-and-beam foundation with deep piers on a lot with highly expansive clay costs more than a straightforward reinforced slab. Lot access matters too. A backyard ADU that requires a crane lift over the house or removing a section of fence for equipment will add cost. Whatever your number comes to, it’s the number on your written estimate before we start. The price doesn’t change at the door.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Richardson
We build across the full city, from the older, tree-lined streets near the University of Texas at Dallas to the newer subdivisions east of Jupiter Road. Response and scheduling are the same across the area, with typically a few days to a week between your call and our site visit depending on the season.
- Heights Park
- Duck Creek
- Canyon Creek
- Reservation
- Breckinridge
Service Area – Cities Near Richardson
Our crews build throughout the Richardson area and into the neighboring cities. If you’re just north or south of Richardson, we serve homeowners in Plano, TX, Addison, TX, Garland, TX, and Rowlett, TX. Each city has its own permitting office and inspection requirements, and we manage those through the same written-scope process we use in Richardson.
Serving Richardson, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Richardson area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About ADU Company in Richardson
After your written estimate is approved, we schedule the site survey and soil test, then move into permitting with the City of Richardson. Most projects in Richardson are under construction within 6 to 10 weeks of the signed scope, depending on what the city’s review queue looks like that month. Call (361) 204-4652 for a current schedule.
Many Richardson neighborhoods have active HOAs with their own design-review rules, and we treat HOA approval as a normal step. We prepare the submittal package for the HOA and the city at the same time so neither stalls the other. Your written scope includes this work, not a separate charge for it afterward.
Yes. Permits, inspections, and any re-inspections are part of the project scope, and we list that in writing before work begins. You won’t be asked to pull a permit yourself or meet an inspector on your own. Call (361) 204-4652 to walk through what your specific lot will need.
What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees - talk to a local adu pro.
- 2You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched. No surprises.
- 3We come out and measureLicensed & insured, at a time that suits you - the visit and the quote are both free.
- 4You get the price in writingLine-itemed, yours to keep, and nothing starts until you say go.
What Richardson Customers Say
"Garage conversion into an office and guest room. Fair written price, finished close to on schedule, and they fixed a small drywall crack under warranty months later without any hassle."
- Diana Cho"Solid build on a home addition. The permit stage dragged, which held things up a few weeks. They were upfront it was out of their hands and the construction itself moved fast and clean."
- Douglas Fenwick"The ADU came out beautiful and the permitting, which terrified me, was handled start to finish. They kept me updated every week so I was never wondering what was happening."
- Shauna Mills
