Remodeling questions, answered

For the work itself, usually not - Texas issues no state licence for general contractors, remodelers or roofers, so anyone can legally call themselves one. For the plumbing and electrical inside that remodel, absolutely yes: those two trades are licensed by the state and the licence is checkable.

Plumbing is licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Electrical is licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Both maintain public licence lookups, and both cover the individual doing the work as well as the company employing them. If a remodeler tells you their own guy will move the gas line or add the circuits, ask which licence he holds and check it.

Because the umbrella trade is unlicensed here, the things that actually protect you in Texas are different from the things that protect you in a licensed state: a certificate of insurance issued directly by the insurer rather than a photocopy, a written scope that says what is included and what is not, a permit where the city requires one, and references you can call. A business card and a magnetic truck sign prove nothing at all.

Permits are the other half of it. Arlington and the surrounding cities require permits and inspections for additions, structural changes, and electrical, plumbing and mechanical work. An inspection is an independent check on the parts of your house you will never see again once the drywall goes up.

Because in North Texas the wall is usually not the problem - the ground is. The Metroplex sits on expansive clay soils that swell when they take up water and shrink back in drought, and the slab moves with them. Interior finishes crack at their weakest points, get filled, and crack again the next time the soil cycles.

The signature pattern is worth learning. Diagonal cracks running up from the corners of doors and windows are frame movement, not settling drywall. Doors that stick in one season and swing freely in another are the same thing. So are stair-step cracks in exterior brick mortar, and gaps opening between the ceiling and the wall or the baseboard and the floor.

A drywall repair is cosmetic. If the movement is active, filling and texturing the crack buys a season or two before it reopens - which is worth knowing before you pay for it, and is why a contractor who tells you that up front is the one to use. Where the movement has stopped, or where the foundation has already been repaired, the same repair holds indefinitely.

The cheapest thing you can do about any of it is manage water around the house: consistent watering through a Texas summer so the clay does not shrink unevenly, gutters that actually discharge away from the slab, and grade that falls away from the foundation rather than toward it.

Often you cannot from the ground, and that is the point. Hail damage to an asphalt roof is usually bruising rather than a hole: the impact fractures the shingle mat and knocks off the granules that protect the asphalt from UV, and the roof then degrades over the following two or three seasons.

What you can check safely from the ground or a ladder at the gutter: granules collecting in the gutters and at the downspout outlets after a storm; dents or dimples in soft metal, which is the most reliable tell there is - look at vents, flashing, gutters and the top of the outside AC unit, because metal records the hail size honestly; and split or creased shingles on the elevations that faced the storm.

Inside, look for staining on ceilings or around light fittings, and for daylight or damp sheathing in the attic. By the time it shows inside, water has been getting in for a while.

Tarrant, Dallas and Collin counties sit in one of the most hail-prone corridors in the country, so this is a routine part of owning a house here rather than bad luck. After a significant storm, a proper inspection is worth having even when nothing looks wrong - and be careful with the crews who appear in the neighbourhood the following week.

Top down and rough to finish. The sequence exists so that no trade damages the work of the one before it, and jumping it is the single most common reason a renovation costs more than it should.

• Anything structural or below grade first - foundation work, framing changes, a new roof. There is no sense in finishing a room that a structural repair will have to come back through.
• Rough-in next - plumbing, electrical, HVAC, all while the walls are open, inspected where the city requires it.
• Envelope and insulation, then drywall, texture and primer.
• Flooring before or after cabinets depending on the material, which is a judgement call worth making deliberately rather than by accident.
• Cabinets, then counters templated off them, then backsplash and trim-out.
• Paint and final trim last, then a punch list once everything else has stopped moving.

The two decisions that cause the most rework are moving plumbing late and choosing finishes late. Both look like they can wait and neither can: a relocated drain changes the framing, and a tile choice changes the substrate height.

Living in the house through it is normal here. It works when it is planned - dust walls sealed at the openings, a defined route in and out, utilities kept live except for scheduled tie-ins, and the work zone cleaned at the end of each day rather than at the end of the job.

Spring and fall, and the constraint is surface temperature rather than the number on the thermometer.

In high summer a dark, west-facing wall in full afternoon sun runs far hotter than the air around it. Paint applied to a surface that hot skins over before it can flow out and level, which leaves lap marks and poor adhesion - so exterior walls get worked early and late, following the shade around the house rather than going left to right.

In winter the constraint flips to the overnight low. Most exterior coatings need the surface to stay above roughly 50 degrees for the whole cure, which takes far longer than the few hours it takes to dry to the touch. A mild December afternoon followed by a freezing night can ruin a coat that looked perfect at five o'clock.

Spring storms set the daily cut-off, and a coat that gets rained on inside its window has to be redone. Wind is the other spring problem: it drifts spray and puts grit into a wet film.

Interior painting runs year-round, which is why most painters here fill the winter with it. If you want an exterior repaint in the good weather, book it before the season rather than during it.

By making them describe the same job. Two quotes for “a bathroom remodel” are not comparable until you know what each one includes, and the gap between a low bid and a high one is almost always scope rather than greed.

• Ask each bidder what is NOT included. This single question resolves most of the difference. Permits, haul-off, subfloor repair, texture matching, fixtures, and the licensed trades are the usual omissions.
• Ask who does the licensed work, and for the licence number of the plumber or electrician. In Texas you can check it in a minute online.
• Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly by the insurer, not a photocopy handed over on the day.
• Ask what happens when they open the wall and find something. Every remodel has at least one of these. The answer you want describes how a change is priced and approved, not a promise that it will not happen.
• Ask for the payment schedule. A deposit is normal. A large payment up front before any material is on site is not.

Then ask both for references on a job like yours and actually call them. In a state with no contractor licensing, references and insurance are doing the work that a licence does elsewhere.

Almost certainly yes for both, everywhere in the Metroplex. Arlington and the surrounding cities require permits for additions, for structural work, and generally for patio covers whether they are attached to the house or freestanding. Any electrical in them - fans, lights, outlets - is separately licensed work in Texas.

For an addition there is usually a plan review as well, and the practical limits are worth checking before anything is drawn: lot coverage, front and side setbacks, and easements. An easement across the back of a lot can rule out the addition you had in mind regardless of what the city would otherwise allow.

Then there is the HOA. In parts of Colleyville, Coppell, Plano, Frisco and McKinney the architectural review takes longer than the city permit does, and it can have opinions about roof material, colour and how far a structure sits from the fence line. Submitting to both at once rather than in sequence is usually worth a few weeks.

A contractor who offers to skip the permit is saving their own schedule. The costs land on you: an inspection you cannot get, a problem at resale when the appraisal finds unpermitted square footage, and an insurer with a reason to ask questions after a loss.

It is one of the few exterior decisions that is effectively permanent, so it is worth being sure. Paint on brick is very difficult to remove - stripping it is slow, expensive and can damage the face of the brick - so plan on maintaining a painted finish from then on rather than changing your mind.

The technical question is breathability. Brick and mortar absorb and release moisture, and a coating that seals the face traps water inside the masonry. In North Texas that shows up as blistering and spalling, where the face of the brick pops off, and it is worse on walls that take driving rain. The coating class matters far more than the colour: masonry-specific, breathable products exist and ordinary exterior wall paint is not one of them.

Limewash and mortar-wash finishes are the middle ground a lot of people actually want. They are mineral finishes that soak into the masonry and wear back over time rather than peeling, and they give a softer, more varied result than solid paint. Whitewashing is on this company's service list.

Prepare for the fact that the mortar takes the coating differently from the brick, that old painted brick underneath has to be dealt with rather than covered, and that any spalling or failed mortar joints should be repointed before anything goes on. If the brick is already damaged, coating it hides the problem for a season.

Full-service renovation: kitchen and bathroom remodels, room additions, patio covers, roofing, interior and exterior painting, drywall and texture repair, flooring, carpentry and concrete work, for homes and for commercial property. Eduardo describes it as A to Z renovation services, and that is the point - one contractor for the whole project rather than five who each blame the last one.

No. Estimates are free, on site, and carry no obligation. Every job is priced after someone has looked at it, because photographs and square footage do not tell you what condition anything is in.

You will get a written quote after a free on-site estimate, and no number before that. Eduardo prices competitively and he prices the job in front of him - which he cannot do over the phone. If you have a budget in mind, say so at the estimate; it is more useful than it sounds, because it changes which options are worth pricing.

Anaya's Touch carries insurance, and works only with licensed subcontractors for the trades Texas licenses - plumbing and electrical. Texas does not issue a state licence for general contracting, remodeling or roofing, so no honest contractor here can show you one. Ask Eduardo for a certificate of insurance and for the licence number of whichever trade is on your job, and check it.

Yes - for first responders, military and educators. Eduardo sets it against the job rather than working from a list, so mention it when he comes out and it goes into the estimate.

Arlington and roughly 35 miles around it, which covers most of the Metroplex - Grand Prairie, Irving, Coppell, Colleyville and Richardson - plus Plano, Frisco and McKinney to the north. If you are just outside that, call (469) 826-0102 and ask rather than assuming.

No, and nobody in Texas should tell you otherwise unless they hold the licence. Plumbing is licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners and electrical by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Anaya's Touch works only with licensed subcontractors for that work and manages them as part of your project, so you still have one number to call.

No. Pool construction, resurfacing and repair are not services Anaya's Touch offers, and we would rather say so than take the enquiry.

Yes. Ask for Spanish on the phone or in the chat on this site and the conversation carries on in Spanish. Sí, hablamos español.

Eduardo Anaya. It is a family business - he does the estimating, runs the jobs and follows up himself, which is why "communication" and "responsive" come up in review after review.

Yes - storm, water and fire damage repair is work Anaya's Touch does, including whole-house restorations. We do not advise on how to handle your claim, and nobody should: that is between you and your adjuster. What we can do is look at the scope and tell you honestly what the repair involves.

Yes. Offices, retail, gyms, restaurants and light commercial, phased around your trading hours where the space has to stay open. Reviews on the Google profile include a gym renovation and an office renovation.