Frequently Asked Questions

The process is: site visit and measurements, design, written price, permits, construction, final inspection. We start by walking your lot in person to understand setbacks, utility locations, drainage, and existing structures. Then we design the unit around your goals, whether that's rental income, a home office, or family housing. Permits with the City of Dallas typically take 8 to 16 weeks depending on plan complexity and review queue. Construction then runs 4 to 8 months on most detached units. Call (903) 342-8977 to start with a free site visit.

Most detached ADUs in Dallas take 4 to 8 months from ground-breaking to final inspection, not including the permitting phase. Garage conversions run faster, often 2 to 4 months, because the shell already exists. Permitting with the City of Dallas adds 8 to 16 weeks before construction begins depending on the plan review workload. Weather, material lead times, and utility company schedules can shift things. Fielding ADU Dallas gives you a written construction schedule before work starts, and we show up inside the window we gave.

We handle everything. Fielding ADU Dallas manages design, engineered drawings, permit submittal, and construction under one roof. You don't need to hire a separate architect or expediter. Our Dallas team knows the City of Dallas development code, setback requirements, and inspection process. Doing it by the book the first time means fewer corrections and a faster path to your certificate of occupancy. The Garrison Standard applies to every phase: written scope, written price, permitted work, and a clean site.

Yes, that's the most common scenario in Dallas. We build detached ADUs in backyards, convert garages, and add attached units off existing homes. Each lot has constraints: Dallas setback requirements, utility easements, tree protection rules, and existing driveway or structure locations all affect placement. During your first site visit, we'll measure and walk the property to tell you exactly what will fit and what won't. That conversation costs nothing and you'll leave it knowing whether your lot can support the unit you want.

An ADU is a separate dwelling unit with its own entrance, kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area, even when it's attached to the main home. A home addition expands the existing living space but shares the main kitchen and entry. In Dallas, ADUs are treated as their own units for permitting and code purposes. This distinction affects how you can use the space: an ADU can legally be rented out, while an addition is just more room in your house. We build both, and our Dallas team can help you decide which fits your goals.

Fielding ADU Dallas serves the entire Dallas metro, including Irving, Mesquite, Grapevine, Carrollton, Far North Dallas, DeSoto, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Sachse, Seagoville, and Glenn Heights. We've worked in established neighborhoods with tight setbacks, newer subdivisions with HOA requirements, and everything between. Each city has its own permitting office and slightly different rules, which our team knows well. Call (903) 342-8977 and tell us where you are. If your lot is in our service area, we'll get you scheduled for a free site visit.

We can. Prefab and modular ADUs from companies like Boxabl, Mighty Buildings, and Plant Prefab are legitimate options for some Dallas lots, particularly where access for traditional framing is tight. The module itself is only part of the job: you still need foundation work, utility connections, permitting, site preparation, and finish work on site. Fielding ADU Dallas can manage the entire project whether you choose prefab or traditional stick framing. We'll give you written pricing for both approaches so you can make the call on real numbers.

A Tuff Shed is not an ADU. It's a storage structure without a legal bathroom, kitchen, or the insulation and systems required for dwelling use. If someone tells you a shed conversion will save you money on an ADU, be cautious: in Dallas, converting a non-permitted structure into legal living space often costs more than building correctly from the start because you're retrofitting electrical, plumbing, insulation, and egress into a shell never designed for it. Our Dallas team will tell you straight whether your existing shed or garage is worth converting or whether starting fresh costs less.

We build with standard residential materials suited to North Texas weather: engineered framing lumber or steel where the design calls for it, Hardie board or brick veneer exteriors, asphalt architectural shingles or standing-seam metal roofing, and energy-rated windows and insulation. Dallas summers demand serious attention to insulation and HVAC sizing. Our team sizes every system to the unit, not to a rule of thumb. We don't cut corners on materials or methods, and every job is permitted and inspected. The Garrison Code means doing it by the book, the first time.

Yes. Every pro working under the Fielding ADU Dallas name is required to hold the license and insurance the State of Texas and local municipalities require for residential construction work. The City of Dallas requires registered contractors for permitted projects, and our work is fully permitted and inspected. The Garrison Standard is clear: every location is an independently owned and operated business that agrees to work to the same standard. That standard includes proper licensing, proper insurance, and doing the job by the book. Reed Calloway leads the Dallas team and can walk you through our credentials when we visit your property.

Yes, always. Every ADU we build in Dallas is fully permitted through the City of Dallas or the appropriate municipality, and every phase passes inspection before we move to the next. Unpermitted work puts your property value, your insurance coverage, and your ability to rent the unit at risk. We don't do unpermitted work, period. The Garrison Code says it plainly: do it by the book, the first time. When your project is finished, you'll have the inspection records and certificate of occupancy to prove the work was done right.

Texas law limits HOA authority over ADUs in some situations, but HOAs in Dallas area communities still have rules about exterior appearance, placement, and parking. Your specific documents control. We recommend pulling your HOA covenants before design begins and bringing them to our first meeting. Our Dallas team has worked through HOA approval processes in Carrollton, Coppell, Grapevine, and other area cities. We'll tell you what we can accommodate in the design and what, if anything, the HOA may push back on.

If something serious happens to your ADU, a leaking roof, a water heater failure, an electrical issue, call our Dallas team at (903) 342-8977 during business hours. We're open Monday through Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and Sunday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. For a true emergency, like flooding or a fire risk, shut off the water, gas, or power at the source and contact the appropriate utility or emergency service first. Then call us and we'll get you on the schedule. Every job we do is guaranteed in writing for a full year, and if something fails in that time, we come back and make it right at no charge.

Call us. The Garrison Standard guarantees the work in writing for a full year. If anything we built fails in that time, we come back and make it right at no charge. That includes framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, drywall, paint, and finish work. Beyond the year, we're still here. We're a Dallas team that stands behind what we build. If you have an issue, call (903) 342-8977 and tell us what's happening. We'll assess it and tell you honestly what's covered and what isn't, without games.

Our work is guaranteed in writing for a full year under The Garrison Standard. If anything we built fails in that time, we come back and make it right at no charge. That covers structural work, roofing, plumbing, electrical, drywall, paint, and finish. Manufacturer warranties on materials and appliances run longer and are passed through to you. We also honor the standard every Garrison company works to: we arrive inside the window we gave you, price in writing before any work starts, do the job by the book, and leave the site clean. If we fall short, you'll know who to call.

The Garrison Code exists for exactly this reason. It says: show up inside the window we gave. We know homeowners in Dallas are worn out by no-shows and vague arrival windows. That's why our team gives you a specific window before every appointment and we keep it. It's not a sales promise, it's the operating standard our company was built on. Fielding is an old building-trade surname, and the name sets the expectation: a firm that has framed a few homes and knows what showing up means. Call (903) 342-8977 to schedule your free estimate.

The Garrison Standard is the operating promise stamped into every Fielding ADU project. Every Garrison company works to the same standard: we arrive inside the window we gave you, put the price in writing before any work starts, do the job by the book, leave the site clean and squared away, and guarantee the work in writing for a full year. If the work fails in that time, we come back and make it right at no charge. Each location is independently owned and operated, and each one agreed to work to that standard.

Because ADUs are all we do. A general contractor splits attention across kitchens, bathrooms, additions, and everything else. Our Dallas team under Reed Calloway focuses solely on ADUs and additions, which means we know the Dallas permitting process, the code requirements, the common lot issues, and the build details specific to this work. You get a written price before any work starts, a set schedule, and a one-year written guarantee. If you value reliability over the cheapest bid, call (903) 342-8977 for a free estimate.

Written by Reed Calloway, Owner at Fielding ADU Dallas, serving Dallas and the surrounding metro since the brand arrived in this market.