Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable Home Additions & ADU Across Cleburne
Adding a room or building a detached ADU in Cleburne runs $45,000 to $220,000 depending on scope, site conditions, and whether you’re on city utilities or septic and well. Most homeowners here start with a garage conversion or room addition in the $30,000 to $80,000 range, while new detached ADUs with full kitchens and baths land between $90,000 and $220,000. If you’re planning a home addition on Cleburne’s expansive clay, call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate. We’ll walk your lot, check your setbacks, and put every line item in writing before you sign anything.
Tom Barrett and his sons have built additions and ADUs across Johnson County for years. We know the difference between a lot off Nolan River Road that drains fast and one near East Henderson Street that holds water for a week. That local knowledge changes how we grade, where we set piers, and what we put in your scope of work. It also means nobody from a call center quotes you a number and hopes it works out later.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Cleburne’s Preferred Home Additions & ADU Company
We’re an owner-operated shop. When you call (877) 610-1318, a live person answers. Tom Barrett puts his name, address, and license number on every contract. Ask anyone on your street, or look up the license number yourself. That’s how we’ve run Home Additions & ADU work since 1998.
Cleburne homeowners tell us the same story: a national outfit quoted one price on the phone, showed up with a different bill, and left the permit half-pulled. We do it differently. Every scope, every allowance, every price change arrives as a written change order before work happens. The allowance that isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. We’ve built our reputation in Cleburne on that one sentence.
Our crews are Tom’s sons and their teams, background-checked and uniformed on every visit. They’re not dispatched strangers. And every job finishes with our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if something isn’t right, one call brings Tom back.
Our Home Additions & ADU Services in Cleburne
ADU Design & Permitting
We handle Johnson County permit triggers, septic and well setbacks, and structural drawings before we break ground. In Cleburne, a detached ADU on acreage often falls under county jurisdiction, not city. That changes the inspection schedule and the paperwork. We pull the permit, schedule the inspections, and stand with you when the inspector walks the job. The permit inspector works for you, not for me. That’s why I like him.
Garage Conversion ADU
A garage conversion in Cleburne runs $30,000 to $80,000. The older the home, the more reframing and shear-wall work it takes to meet current Texas Residential Construction Code standards. Many garage conversions in the 76031 ZIP start as mid-century brick ranch houses with a slab poured decades before post-tensioning became standard. We check the foundation before we quote. No surprises baked in later.
New Detached ADU
A new detached ADU in Cleburne runs $90,000 to $220,000 depending on square footage, finishes, and utility extensions. On a lot off FM 4 or Highway 171, you’re looking at longer trench runs for power and water, plus septic and well setbacks that can move your building pad. We scope all of it in writing before you sign. Premium materials come standard where they matter: Schluter waterproofing in wet areas, our Roofing in Cleburne using GAF products on the structure, and fixtures you can look up by name.
Junior ADU & Interior Conversion
Junior ADUs and interior conversions make sense when you have underused space inside the footprint of your home. A finished bonus room, a converted den, a large walk-in closet turned into a studio. These jobs run $45,000 to $130,000 depending on plumbing rough-ins, egress requirements, and whether we’re opening walls in a home that’s been settling on Cleburne clay since the 1960s. We look for diagonal drywall cracks before we open anything.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Cleburne
We install materials you can look up and verify, not mystery brands off a van. On Cleburne additions and ADUs, that means Schluter systems in showers and wet areas, GAF shingles and underlayment on new roof sections, and Bathroom Remodeling in Cleburne gets Sterling fixtures where we want a balance of durability and price. Tom picks brands he’d put in his own house. If a manufacturer supports it, we honor it. Fast turnaround on parts comes from keeping common stock in our own inventory, so we’re not waiting on a supply house in Fort Worth to deliver.
Common Home Additions & ADU Problems We See in Cleburne Homes
- Clay heave and seismic stress on conventional slabs. Cleburne sits on Blackland Prairie clay that shrinks hard in summer drought and heaves after heavy rain. Add the documented 2008-2009 earthquake swarms, and a standard slab without post-tensioning will crack. We design deep piers and moisture barriers into every new build here.
- Diagonal drywall cracks treated as settling when they’re not. After the Cleburne earthquake swarms, local inspectors learned to flag fresh diagonal cracks as possible seismic stress, not ordinary house movement. A crew that moved here from Dallas might miss it. Our crews know what to look for before we quote, so the fix is in the scope, not in a change order.
- Detached ADUs sited too close to septic drain fields or wells. Johnson County code has specific setback distances for new structures near existing septic systems and water wells. We measure before we design. When a permit application gets rejected, it’s usually because nobody checked the setbacks first. We check.
- Garage conversions without shear walls. Tornado Alley wind loads are real in Cleburne. A garage conversion framed with standard 2x4s and no shear walls fails final inspection. We frame to code the first time, with the hold-downs and bracing the engineer specifies.
Pricing for Home Additions & ADU in Cleburne, TX
Here’s what we tell homeowners in Cleburne before they sign. These are honest ranges based on job types we’ve built in the 76031 and 76033 ZIPs:
| Job Type | Typical Cleburne Range |
|---|---|
| Home Addition (room addition, second story, sunroom) | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| New Detached ADU | $90,000 – $220,000 |
| Garage Conversion ADU | $30,000 – $80,000 |
| ADU Site Prep & Utilities | Scoped per lot and written into the quote |
What moves the number on a Cleburne job: how far you are from city sewer versus septic, whether the lot is flat or needs select fill brought in, what the existing foundation looks like, and whether we’re updating old wiring and plumbing to current code while the walls are open. We’d rather tell you the honest range face to face. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll put a written line-item estimate together. Free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Cleburne
Our crews work across Johnson County and the surrounding area. If you’re in Keene, Joshua, Burleson, or Crowley, we do Home Additions & ADU work there too. Same owner-operated team, same written change orders, same 90-Day Done Right Promise. Call (877) 610-1318 and ask for Tom.
Serving Cleburne, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Cleburne 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 - Home Additions & ADU in Cleburne
It depends on whether your lot is inside Cleburne city limits or in unincorporated Johnson County. A lot in the 76033 ZIP off County Road 809 typically falls under county jurisdiction, which uses a different permit process and inspection schedule than a lot in the 76031 ZIP inside the city. We check your address against the jurisdiction map before we quote, and we pull whatever permits apply. Permits pulled and inspections signed on every eligible job. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll tell you exactly which jurisdiction applies to your lot.
Johnson County Code requires specific setback distances between any new structure and an existing septic drain field or water well. The exact distance varies by system type and lot size, but we measure it before we draw anything. Many homeowners don’t find out their preferred ADU placement is too close to the drain field until the county rejects the permit. We’d rather tell you upfront and move the building pad in the plan, not after concrete. Call (877) 610-1318 for a site walk, free.
Yes, if you build it on a conventional slab without accounting for Cleburne’s expansive clay and seismic history. The Blackland Prairie clay under this area shrinks in drought and heaves after rain, and the 2008-2009 earthquake swarms added unusual minor-seismic stress. That’s why our standard Cleburne addition plans include post-tension slab design or deep pier foundations even when a building code minimum wouldn’t strictly require them. The extra cost is far less than chasing cracks for a decade. Call (877) 610-1318 to talk through what your lot needs.
Because those swarms, centered right around Cleburne, were Texas’s first major documented induced-earthquake sequence. The 2.5 to 3.3 magnitude events cracked drywall and foundations in patterns that look different from ordinary settling. Local inspectors and experienced Cleburne builders learned to treat fresh diagonal cracks as possible seismic stress, not just seasonal movement. We flag it during the estimate so the fix is written into the scope before you sign. Call (877) 610-1318 if you’re seeing fresh cracks and want an honest read.
Johnson County enforces Texas wind-load standards for new second-story additions, which means specified hold-downs, shear wall layouts, and roof-structure tie-downs. On a second story in Cleburne, we frame to the wind-load map and the structural engineer’s details, not to whatever was standard when your first story was built in 1962. The inspector will check the strapping and the anchor bolts. We make sure they pass the first time. Call (877) 610-1318 for an estimate that includes the wind-resistance details in writing.
Ready to plan your Cleburne home addition or ADU? Call (877) 610-1318 to schedule your free estimate. Live person answers, 24/7. Tom will walk your lot, check your setbacks, and put every price, allowance, and change order in writing before a single nail moves.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Cleburne’s Home Additions & ADU needs since 1998.