Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Before
After
Before
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Before
AfterConstruction Services in Mercedes, TX
If you own a home in Mercedes, you already know the ground under your feet doesn’t sit still. The black gumbo clay beneath the 78570 swells when it rains and shrinks when it doesn’t, and that movement shows up in cracked slabs, sticking doors, and drywall that won’t stop splitting. Barrett & Sons Construction handles every trade that touches a home here: kitchen and bath remodels, roofing, windows and doors, fencing, driveways, and home additions. Call Tom Barrett’s crew at (877) 610-1318 and you’ll get a live person, a straight answer, and a written scope before any work begins.
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.
Why Mercedes Homeowners Choose Barrett & Sons Construction
Tom Barrett put his name on the truck in 1998, and 29 years later his sons are the ones running the crews. When a Mercedes homeowner calls, they’re not getting a call center in another state. They’re getting a family that pulls permits on every eligible job, puts every change order in writing before a single nail moves, and backs the finished work with a 90-Day Done Right Promise. If something isn’t right, one call brings Tom back. That promise is on the contract, not buried in fine print.
We work regularly in the established neighborhoods off North Texas Avenue, near the Mercedes Livestock Show grounds, and in the older colonia-style pockets around the city’s east side. Homeowners around the 78570 tell us the same thing: the last contractor said permits were optional, and the bill at the end didn’t match the number on the phone. Our crews show up background-checked and uniformed, and Tom publishes his name, his address, and his license number so you can verify everything before you sign.
Construction Services We Offer in Mercedes
Kitchen Remodeling
Mercedes kitchens run the range from original mid-century cabinets to recent flips that cut corners. We plan around the slab movement beneath your floors and install the same KraftMaid and Cambria lines you can look up yourself.
Learn more about our Kitchen Remodeling in Mercedes.
Bathroom Remodeling
Older Mercedes homes often have bathrooms with no exhaust ventilation, which means mold in the walls and rust on every fixture. We gut to the studs when needed, fix what the humidity did, and leave you with a room that stays dry.
Learn more about our Bathroom Remodeling in Mercedes.
Roofing
South Texas sun chews through roofing faster than a homeowner expects. We install GAF and CertainTeed systems rated for this heat, and we tie every roof to the wall framing so it doesn’t peel off in a hurricane.
Learn more about our Roofing in Mercedes.
Windows & Doors
Mercedes gets about 40 inches of rain a year, and a poorly flashed window lets that water straight into the gumbo-swollen slab. We carry Simonton and CGI lines, and we flash them so the water never finds a way in.
Learn more about our window and door work when you call (877) 610-1318.
Fence Installation
Clay heave and standing water rot fence posts from below while the sun bakes the pickets from above. We set posts below the movement line and use fasteners that don’t back out when the ground shifts.
Learn more about fence installation in Mercedes when you call (877) 610-1318.
Driveway & Pavers
Flat terrain near the floodplain means a driveway that doesn’t pitch correctly becomes a pond after every summer storm. We grade deliberately, compact properly, and lay Belgard paver systems that don’t sink in the gumbo.
Learn more about driveway and paver work in Mercedes when you call (877) 610-1318.
Home Additions & ADU
Adding onto a Mercedes home starts with a slab that may have heaved three quarters of an inch since it was poured. Before we frame anything, we probe the perimeter for voids and settlement. Most cities would call that overcautious. Here it’s standard practice.
Learn more about our home additions and ADU work in Mercedes when you call (877) 610-1318.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Mercedes
We cover all of the 78570 and the surrounding Mercedes area without a trip charge inside the county. You’ll find our trucks around these parts most weeks:
- North Mercedes, near the high school and Mercedes Livestock Show grounds
- The older grid streets off North Texas Avenue
- Colonia-style neighborhoods on the east side of town
- Areas near the Rio Grande floodplain south of Expressway 83
Why Mercedes’s Climate & Housing Affect Construction
Mercedes sits on the Rio Grande Valley’s notorious black expansive clay. That’s not a small detail; it’s the defining construction challenge in the 78570. The soil shrinks when the South Texas heat bakes it dry and swells when the summer storms arrive, and the resulting differential heaving cracks slabs, shifts door frames, and opens gaps around windows that let in water and bugs. A contractor who ignores that clay is a contractor whose work won’t last. Any foundation we touch, we probe. Any addition we frame, we level. Any driveway we pour, we compact and grade for drainage away from the slab.
The housing stock here adds another layer. Much of Mercedes is modest concrete block and stucco from the middle of the last century, a good share of manufactured and HUD-code homes, and colonia-style houses built piecemeal by owners over decades – often on fill, without engineered footings or standard framing. We regularly find undersized footings, ungrounded electrical, and additions that never went through Hidalgo County permitting. Pulling a permit on a new job often means reconciling that older, non-standard work with current codes before the new scope can move forward. We don’t hide from that process. We walk it with the inspector, because the inspector works for you, not for us – and that’s exactly why we like having him on site.
Pricing for Construction in Mercedes
Honest numbers: a straightforward bathroom remodel in Mercedes starts around $14,000 to $18,000. A kitchen with mid-range cabinets and stone counters runs $22,000 to $40,000 depending on footprint and what the demo reveals. Windows replacements typically land between $600 and $1,100 per opening installed. Roofs on smaller Mercedes homes often fall between $8,000 and $14,000 including tear-off. Those aren’t quotes – they’re ranges to help you think. Your house, your slab, and your scope determine the real number. The one thing that never changes: every allowance, every change, every surprise goes in writing before it touches the job. If the scope doesn’t change, the price doesn’t move. If it does change, you get a written change order first. No exceptions. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate and a line-item quote you can actually read.
Service Area - Cities Near Mercedes
Barrett & Sons serves the whole mid-Valley, not just the Mercedes city limits. If you live up the road in Progreso, over in La Feria, out toward Harlingen, or down toward San Benito, the same crew and the same written-change-order promise apply. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll come see your place.
Serving Mercedes, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Mercedes 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 Construction in Mercedes
A mid-range kitchen remodel in the 78570 typically runs $22,000 to $40,000, depending on cabinet grade, countertop choice, and how much the demo uncovers. Homes in Mercedes with older concrete block construction often conceal wiring and plumbing surprises that legitimately change the scope. Call (877) 610-1318 for a written, line-item estimate. Estimates are free.
Only if you change the scope. Any change to scope, allowances, or materials arrives as a written change order before work proceeds. Tom Barrett has run the company this way since 1998 because an allowance that isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. You’ll never see a new number at the end of the job that you didn’t sign off on first. If you have a written estimate from another contractor, we’ll give you a free second opinion.
Yes, on every eligible job. Permits are not optional, and the inspector works for you – not for the contractor. In Mercedes we often deal with unpermitted additions built by previous owners, which means the new permit process includes bringing that older work into compliance. We stand beside the inspector, not across from him. Call (877) 610-1318 and ask Tom directly.
Most single-room additions in the 78570 take 8 to 14 weeks from permit approval to final inspection. The gumbo clay adds a step most cities don’t need: we probe the existing slab for differential heaving before we ever dig a footing. Catching that settlement early prevents a crooked addition and a failed inspection later. We’ll give you a written schedule with clear milestones, not a vague promise.
Yes. Barrett & Sons gives a permanent 10% discount to seniors and veterans, plus $40 off any repair over $200 and no trip charge inside Hidalgo County. Those offers are standing, not seasonal. Call (877) 610-1318 and mention this page when you schedule your free estimate.
Call Barrett & Sons Construction in Mercedes
The next step is a free estimate. You’ll get a line-item scope in writing, a permit plan you can see, and a phone number that a live person answers 24/7. Call (877) 610-1318 to schedule your free estimate in Mercedes. Tom’s name is on the truck, his address and license number are published, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is on every contract. If it’s not done right, he comes back. That’s it.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction. Serving homeowners with permits pulled, written change orders, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise since 1998.
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What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees - talk to a local construction 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 Mercedes Customers Say
"Came back a year later to sort a door that had dropped as the frame settled. No charge and no argument about whether it was covered."
- Thaddeus Oyelowo"Addition over the garage matched the original roofline and brickwork so closely that visitors do not realise it was added. He tracked down the closest brick he could find rather than settling."
- Gideon Stroud"The bathroom was finished on the day he said at the start, which nobody had led me to believe was possible."
- Loretta Vanterpool