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Cover Home Additions & ADU: The West Palm Beach Owner’s Guide
A full home addition in West Palm Beach typically runs $45,000 – $130,000 installed, while an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) lands between $90,000 – $220,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and finish level. We stock materials and manage the complete build for Cover-compatible additions and ADUs, from site prep to final inspection.
Most Cover owners call us because they’ve outgrown their current footprint. A second child, an aging parent moving in, a home office that swallowed the guest room. Sometimes it’s a failed layout or water intrusion from an older addition that was never flashed correctly against Florida’s rain patterns. West Palm Beach gets 60-plus inches of rain a year. A poorly tied addition doesn’t just leak, it rots the shared wall and the framing behind it. When we walk the site, we’re looking at the connection points first: roof tie-in, slab junction, and the existing wall’s structural load path.
Which Cover Models This Applies To
Cover home additions and ADUs aren’t a single SKU. The term covers any structural expansion tied to an existing Cover-built home: bump-outs, second-story additions, garage conversions, and detached ADUs. The right approach depends on your existing foundation type and roofline, not a model number printed on a label.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most owners don’t know: a Cover home built before Florida’s 2015 building code update was likely framed and strapped to the older wind-load standard. When we tie a new addition to that structure, we have to bring the entire connection point up to current code, not just the new square footage. That means hurricane straps, the right anchor bolts into the existing slab, and a roof tie-in that won’t separate at the seam during a Cat 3. If you’re working from original Cover plans, bring them. If you don’t have them, the county building department in West Palm Beach keeps records on file, and we pull them before we quote.
OEM versus aftermarket doesn’t really apply to structural work the way it does to a cabinet hinge or a door seal. What matters is whether the materials are spec’d correctly: pressure-treated lumber rated for ground contact, trusses engineered for Palm Beach County wind zones, and flashing details that match your existing Cover roofline. We spec name-brand materials with manufacturer warranties, GAF for roofing, James Hardie for exterior cladding, Therma-Tru for exterior doors, and they back up our own guarantee.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Cover Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Separation at the tie-in seam. A visible crack or gap where the addition meets the original structure. This means differential settling, usually from soil movement in West Palm Beach’s sandy substrate. The addition’s slab is moving at a different rate than the original foundation. Ignore it and water gets in on every storm.
- Doors and windows binding or sticking. Frames out of square because the addition has shifted. In Florida, this often traces back to insufficient compaction before the slab pour, a shortcut we still find on older work.
- Musty smell or visible mold at the shared wall. Failed flashing or a bad roof tie-in. Rain drives sideways in West Palm Beach summers. If water’s been running down the inside of that wall, the studs and drywall are compromised.
- Floors sloping toward the exterior. The addition’s slab edge is sinking or the original footers weren’t deep enough. Coastal soil is loose, layered sand over limestone. Footers need to reach stable bearing or the whole structure creeps.
- Skyrocketing cooling bills. Poor insulation or an unsealed connection lets conditioned air escape and humidity pour in. An addition that doesn’t hold temperature is leaking air somewhere, usually at the tie-in or the soffit.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
A ground-up home addition in West Palm Beach runs $45,000 – $130,000. A detached ADU runs $90,000 – $220,000. That’s the installed range, not just materials. It covers permitting, site prep, foundation or slab work, framing, roofing tie-in, electrical rough-in and finish, plumbing rough-in and finish, drywall, insulation, flooring, paint, and final inspection.
What drives the spread? Square footage is the biggest lever. A 400-square-foot bump-out costs less than a 1,200-square-foot ADU with a full kitchen and bath. Foundation type matters too: a monolithic slab is faster than pilings or elevated piers, which some West Palm Beach lots require depending on flood zone. Finish level moves the needle: builder-grade tile versus Cambria countertops, a basic bath versus a walk-in shower with custom glass.
Here’s the straight number approach we run: we write the full scope, the line-item materials, the labor, and the permit costs down before any work starts. You sign that number. If we find something in the field, you get a call before we touch it, not a surprise after the invoice. Every addition and ADU carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If something fails inside that first year, we come back and correct it at no charge.
See the difference
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After
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
What can you safely do yourself? Walk the perimeter, take photos of the tie-in seams, note where water pools after rain, and look for cracks in the slab. That’s useful information for us and costs you nothing.
What you should not do is start pulling drywall off a shared wall or attempting any structural repair. Home additions in West Palm Beach carry real load, and the connection point between old and new structure is under constant tension from wind, soil movement, and humidity cycles. If you open that wall and cut a strap or compromise a load-bearing member, you’ve created a structural hazard for everyone in the house. Framing, roofing tie-ins, and foundation work belong to people who do this weekly and carry the insurance for it.
If you’re not sure whether the crack you’re seeing is cosmetic or structural, call us at (728) 203-9809. We’ll take a look and tell you honestly, even if the answer is “keep an eye on it.”
Key Takeaways
- Home additions in West Palm Beach: $45,000 – $130,000 installed. ADUs: $90,000 – $220,000.
- Every project gets a written price before work starts. No numbers that move at the door.
- The tie-in point between old and new structure is the most common failure location in Florida weather.
- 365-Day Done Right Promise on every addition and ADU we build: if it fails, we make it right.
- Live person answers our phone 24/7 at (728) 203-9809, not a voicemail queue.
FAQs
A properly built addition tied to an existing Cover structure should stand 50-plus years, same as the original home. What shortens that lifespan in Florida is water intrusion at the tie-in and foundation movement from loose soil. Both are addressed at the framing and site-prep stages, not with caulk later. Call (728) 203-9809 and we’ll assess your structure and site condition before quoting.
Yes, often. Separation at the tie-in, failed flashing, and sinking slab edges can be corrected with underpinning, re-flashing, and structural reinforcement. The only time full replacement makes sense is when water damage has compromised the framing or the footer failure is extensive enough that the economics tip. We’ll give you a straight read either way, and estimates are free.
Plan on 4 – 8 months for a typical addition, 6 – 12 months for a detached ADU with full kitchen and bath. Permitting in Palm Beach County adds 4 – 8 weeks on the front end, and inspection timelines move with seasonal volume. We run the permit process for you and keep the schedule honest once it’s set.
We don’t stock structural lumber and trusses on site, they’re ordered per project and spec’d to your plan set. What we do maintain is long-standing relationships with local suppliers who keep the name-brand materials we use, GAF, James Hardie, Therma-Tru, Kohler, Cambria, and Silestone, available on short notice. That keeps surprises out of the schedule.
Contact Bradford Remodeling Co West Palm Beach
If you’re planning an addition or ADU in West Palm Beach, or if you have a Cover home with a failing tie-in, call us at (728) 203-9809. We’ll walk the site, give you a straight number, and put the full scope in writing before any work starts. Straight number, full scope, no surprises after the invoice. That’s how Curtis Lane runs every job, and it’s how The Garrison Standard has operated since 2004.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling Co – West Palm Beach at Bradford Remodeling Co West Palm Beach, serving West Palm Beach and nearby areas.
