Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable Home Additions & ADU Across Richmond Heights
Adding square footage to a Richmond Heights home usually costs between $45,000 and $130,000 when permits, impact-rated materials, and Miami-Dade High-Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements are priced in from the start. We’re Barrett & Sons Construction, and Tom Barrett and his sons have been running crews through Richmond Heights long enough to know that a simple room addition here isn’t so simple, mostly because the oolite limestone sits 12 to 18 inches below grade and the wind-load math changes every plan set. If you’re trying to figure out where an ADU fits on your lot or what it’ll take to bring a 1962 CBS house up to code, call us at (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk the property together.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Richmond Heights’s Preferred Home Additions & ADU Company
Most of the calls we take from Richmond Heights start the same way: a homeowner got a quote from a company that sent a salesman, the salesman promised a number, and then the crew showed up with a different number on a clipboard. That’s not how we work. Tom Barrett puts his name, his address, and his license number right on the contract, and every scope item, every allowance, and every price change arrives as a written change order before a single nail moves. People in this neighborhood tend to appreciate that, because Richmond Heights is the kind of place where you know your neighbors and you want a contractor who’ll still answer the phone after the final inspection.
Our crews are Tom’s sons and their teams, background-checked and uniformed on every visit. They’ve done enough work along SW 112th Avenue and the side streets off Eureka Drive to know which homes still carry original aluminum jalousie windows and which lots flood first when the summer water table rises. You won’t get a rotating cast of strangers. You’ll get the same faces from permit pull to final walkthrough, and a 90-Day Done Right Promise written into the contract that says if something’s not right, one call brings Tom back to fix it.
Our Home Additions & ADU Services in Richmond Heights
We handle the full range of Home Additions & ADU work, from first sketch to signed-off inspection. Here are the four services Richmond Heights homeowners ask about most.
ADU Design & Permitting
Richmond Heights sits inside Miami-Dade’s HVHZ, which is the strictest wind-construction designation in the continental United States. That means nearly every ADU design has to include impact-resistant openings, roof-to-wall connectors, and Miami-Dade NOA-approved materials, and that’s before the county even looks at the drawings. We prepare the plans, pull the permits, and walk the inspections with your project from the first survey to the certificate of occupancy. The permit inspector works for you, not for me, which is exactly why I like him on the job.

Garage Conversion ADU
Many Richmond Heights homes were built with attached single-car garages that now sit half empty. Converting one into a rentable or family ADU typically lands between $30,000 and $80,000 in this neighborhood. The sheet of paper that surprises most people is the window schedule, because a 1950s jalousie opening has to be rebuilt with impact-rated glazing before the conversion passes. We budget for that on day one, not after the drywall is up.

New Detached ADU
Building a detached ADU in Richmond Heights generally runs between $90,000 and $220,000. That range accounts for the oolite limestone excavation, the deeper footings the HVHZ wind-load calculations require, and the underground rough-in work that has to happen between rain events from June through October. The seasonal water table sits within two feet of grade on much of this side of the county, so scheduling excavation around the weather isn’t a preference, it’s how you keep the slab from failing later.

Junior ADU & Interior Conversion
A junior ADU often works well on the modest lots common in Richmond Heights, since it reuses existing interior space instead of pushing into the setback. We’ve converted enclosed porches, utility rooms, and oversized laundry spaces into legal junior units. The older CBS construction means walls are load-bearing in places you wouldn’t expect, so every interior conversion starts with an engineer’s look at what’s holding the roof up before we open anything.

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.
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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 Richmond Heights
We don’t install mystery materials off the back of a van. On Richmond Heights additions and ADUs, you’ll see names like Quikrete in the concrete mix, Techo-Bloc pavers on the walkways and entry pads, and Cambridge Pavers on patio spaces that tie the new structure into the existing lot. Using brands you can look up matters most on an ADU, because the county inspector will check every NOA number on the window and door tags before signing off, and cheap no-name products fail that review on the first pass. We keep these materials moving quickly for Richmond Heights projects so a snag on a paver color or a concrete spec doesn’t stall your inspection.
Common Home Additions & ADU Problems We See in Richmond Heights Homes
- Oolite limestone under every footer. Crews digging in Richmond Heights almost always hit Miami oolite 12 to 18 inches below grade, a dense fossilized stone that needs jackhammers or rotary cutters even for shallow excavation. That labor cost belongs in your bid from day one, not as a surprise line item after the first shovel goes in.
- Pre-1994 envelopes that fail current wind code. The neighborhood was developed mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, with concrete block and stucco homes built before the Florida Building Code overhaul after Hurricane Andrew. A room addition routinely triggers full-envelope upgrades to impact windows, doors, and roof-to-wall connectors, which is why what looked like a $60,000 addition on paper needs a $20,000 compliance budget to pass inspection.
- High water table during rainy season. Richmond Heights sits on the low limestone plain of southern Miami-Dade, and from June through October the water table can rise to within two feet of grade. Footers and underground plumbing rough-ins have to be scheduled and sometimes dewatered, and whoever handles your job needs to know which weeks the county will even allow a trench inspection.
- Oversized existing structures that block ADU setbacks. A lot of houses here picked up enclosed patios and carports over the years, often without permits. When we design an ADU or addition, those old structures sometimes sit exactly where the new unit needs to go, so part of the job is untangling what’s legal, what’s grandfathered, and what has to come down before the county will approve the footprint.
Pricing for Home Additions & ADU in Richmond Heights, FL
A full home addition in Richmond Heights runs $45,000 to $130,000, while a new detached ADU typically lands between $90,000 and $220,000, and a garage conversion ADU between $30,000 and $80,000. The biggest cost drivers here are the HVHZ impact-material requirements, the limestone excavation, and the pre-existing condition of the original structure, especially its roof and window openings. What won’t change is the number on your contract. Every allowance and every scope item sits in writing, and if a price does change, it comes to you as a written change order before the work happens. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate, and we’ll give you a line-item number you can check against any other bid in Richmond Heights.
We Also Serve Cities Near Richmond Heights
Our Richmond Heights crews also run jobs in Sunset, The Crossings, Three Lakes, and Cutler, so if your project is just over the line, we can still get to it quickly. If you’re nearby and looking at a full-home project, we also handle Kitchen Remodeling in Richmond Heights and Bathroom Remodeling in Richmond Heights, which often piggyback onto an addition when the budget allows.
Serving Richmond Heights, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Richmond Heights 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 Richmond Heights
Most Richmond Heights additions and ADUs can start within a few weeks once the plans and permits are in hand, and the permit cycle is usually the longest part of any HVHZ project. The honest answer is that the county’s review time on wind-load calculations and NOA product approvals typically takes longer than the prep work on site. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll give you a realistic timeline based on your specific scope.
Yes, we cover the entire 33176 ZIP and the surrounding streets throughout Richmond Heights, from the commercial corridor along Eureka Drive back into the residential blocks off SW 112th Avenue. Because Tom lives twenty minutes away, a callback from us doesn’t mean waiting on a crew dispatched from another county.
Yes, and this is the single biggest surprise item for Richmond Heights homeowners. Because the neighborhood lies within Miami-Dade’s High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, any substantial remodel or addition triggers mandatory upgrades to impact-resistant openings and Miami-Dade NOA-approved materials, even if the rest of the house is still original. We include those line items in the initial estimate so you’re not blindsided by an inspector at final review.
Richmond Heights tends to run slightly higher on concrete and excavation work than some nearby cities because of the oolite limestone under most lots, and the HVHZ material requirements are the same across all of Miami-Dade. The price range you can expect is $45,000 to $130,000 for a standard addition, and $90,000 to $220,000 for a detached ADU. The best way to compare bids fairly is to line-item the permits, the impact products, and the excavation, which is exactly how we write our estimates.
Every addition and ADU we build carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something isn’t done right after we leave, you make one call and Tom comes back to make it right. That promise sits right on the contract, not in the fine print, and it’s the same whether the job is a small garage conversion or a full second-story addition.
If you’re planning an ADU, a room addition, or a second-story expansion in Richmond Heights, the first step is a real number from someone who works this side of town. Call (877) 610-1318 to schedule your free estimate, and we’ll walk your property, check the setbacks, and give you a written scope with every allowance spelled out.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Richmond Heights and the surrounding communities of southern Miami-Dade.







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