Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Belgard Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Worth Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a Belgard home addition or ADU in Fort Worth, the installed cost for a full addition typically runs $45,000 – $130,000, while a detached ADU built to Belgard paver and wall standards generally lands between $90,000 and $220,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and utility runs. We match Belgard hardscape products (pavers, retaining walls, outdoor living components) to the addition’s overall footprint so the new structure and the surrounding site look like one decision, not two. Most homeowners reach out right after a concrete contractor tells them the patio or driveway will need to come out to run plumbing or footings – and they want to know whether the Belgard pavers can be salvaged and reset rather than replaced.
What we see most often in Fort Worth: a family adds a primary suite or an ADU behind a 1950s bungalow, the excavation for footings disturbs the existing Belgard paver patio or walkway, and suddenly a $60,000 addition has a $4,000 hardscape repair attached to it that nobody priced. We write that line into the scope before the first shovel goes in. That’s the difference between a clean handoff and a surprise invoice.
Which Belgard Models This Applies To
Belgard’s product line for residential additions and ADUs breaks into three buckets: pavers (Catalina, Mega Arbel, Urbana, Dublin), retaining and freestanding walls (Lafitt, Weston, BelAir), and outdoor living components like fire pit kits, steps, and coping. The pavers most Fort Worth additions abut are the modular concrete types – Catalina and Mega Arbel come in 60mm and 80mm thicknesses depending on whether they’ll take foot traffic or vehicle loads. If a new ADU’s driveway or parking pad ties into an existing paver walk, the 80mm paver is the right call, and that’s a spec worth confirming before the subgrade gets compacted.
A compatibility gotcha that costs Fort Worth owners real money: Belgard paver colors are batch-produced, and the “Sierra” or “Cotswold Mist” color from a 2018 install will not be a perfect match for a 2026 run of the same name. We tell every homeowner this up front. If the addition only needs a small paver field repaired, we pull pavers from a less visible area of the same original install (behind a shed, under a deck) and place the new batch there instead. That trick saves the visible patio from looking patched. For walls, the Lafitt and Weston systems are modular and rebuildable, but the pins and caps have changed slightly across production years – which is why we measure and photograph the existing wall before ordering anything.
On the question of OEM versus aftermarket: Belgard components really don’t have a meaningful aftermarket equivalent the way a faucet or a brake pad does. These are architectural concrete products with specific joint sizing, chamfer profiles, and paver thickness. We stock the genuine Belgard product when a Fort Worth project calls for it, and we order through local Belgard distributors in DFW so lead times stay short. We also work with KraftMaid cabinets, Cambria or Silestone countertops if the addition includes a kitchenette or bath, and those selections are written into the same scope of work so nothing arrives out of sequence.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Belgard Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Settling or sinking pavers near the new foundation: Most often from backfill that wasn’t compacted in lifts after the footings went in. Fort Worth’s clay soil expands and contracts hard through wet and dry seasons, and a paver base that wasn’t keyed into undisturbed soil will show a depression within the first year.
- Gap widening between the addition’s slab and an existing Belgard paver walk or patio: This indicates differential movement between the new structure and the older paver base. It’s a drainage problem waiting to happen if water starts channeling toward the slab edge.
- Efflorescence blooming on a retaining or freestanding Belgard wall: White mineral staining tells you water is moving through the wall, which in Fort Worth usually means the drainage aggregate behind the wall wasn’t installed correctly or a gutter downspout was rerouted during the addition. Fix the water path first, then clean the wall.
- Cracks in paver units along the wheel path of a new driveway or parking pad: This is a classic case of 60mm pavers installed where 80mm pavers should have been specified. The paver itself isn’t defective; the spec was wrong for the load.
- Belgard wall caps sliding or rocking after a heavy rain: Caps loosen when the wall behind them is holding water. It’s a sign the addition changed the sheet flow of the yard, and water now ponds against a wall that used to stay dry. Re-capping without fixing the grading just postpones the same failure.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full home addition or ADU in Fort Worth that involves resetting or extending Belgard hardscape, here’s how the numbers break down so nothing is a mystery:
| Scope of Work | Typical Fort Worth Cost |
|---|---|
| Full home addition (foundation through finish) | $45,000 – $130,000 |
| Detached ADU construction | $90,000 – $220,000 |
| Belgard paver patio replacement (moderate size) | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Belgard retaining wall rebuild (per linear foot of face) | Included in project scope; quoted line-item |
| Belgard paver driveway reset or replacement | $7,000 – $18,000 |
The range on any addition or ADU in Fort Worth is driven by the same few things every time: whether the lot is pier-and-beam or slab, how far the utility runs have to go (a back-house ADU 40 feet from the alley tap costs less than one 90 feet away), whether the existing Belgard hardscape is salvageable to spec, and the finish level inside. We give every project a written price before any work starts and we don’t hand you change orders once the crew is on site. The written price and the final invoice should read the same – if they don’t, that’s on us to explain before we hand you a pen.
DIY or Call Us?
There’s an honest split here. You can safely measure your existing Belgard paver field, photograph the pattern and joint lines, and mark where a wall is separating from a slab. That documentation helps us scope the job accurately before a walkthrough. You can also clean light efflorescence with a brush and water. What you should not do yourself is lift and reset a paver field that sits against a new foundation, rebuild a retaining wall taller than about two feet, or cut Belgard pavers for a curved border without a wet saw and proper silica dust controls – the dust from dry-cutting concrete pavers is a respiratory hazard, and a wall that gives way during a rebuild can hurt someone fast. For addition and ADU projects, pulling the building permit for the structure is our job, and the trade sequence (foundation, framing, rough-in, hardscape, finish) has to happen in order or the pavers get trenched twice. Call us at (682) 708-9180 and we’ll come out, walk the property with you, and give you the written scope before a single tool comes off the truck.
FAQs
Belgard modular concrete pavers typically hold up 25 to 40 years in Fort Worth when the base is properly compacted and the drainage isn’t working against them. What shortens that lifespan here is the clay soil: a bad subgrade can shift pavers in three to five years, which is why base prep matters more than the paver brand. Call (682) 708-9180 and we’ll tell you honestly whether the pavers or the base are the actual failure point.
Yes, and we do it often. As long as the paver units themselves aren’t cracked or chipped beyond use, we lift, re-grade, re-compact the base, and reset the same pavers. That usually saves 40 to 60 percent versus full replacement. Getting this right starts with a free estimate – call (682) 708-9180 to schedule a look.
For typical Fort Worth projects, a paver patio or walkway reset runs two to five days. A paver driveway replacement runs four to eight days. When the hardscape is folded into a larger addition or ADU, we sequence it so the pavers are never sitting in the way of framing crews, and we’ll put the schedule in writing. Call (682) 708-9180 for a concrete timeline.
We order genuine Belgard pavers, wall units, and components through local DFW distributors on a per-project basis. We do not warehouse pavers, and that’s intentional: colors are batch-run, and ordering for your specific job means you’re not getting a mix of two production years. That said, we keep the bedding sand, base rock, edge restraints, and adhesives on hand so once material lands, we’re ready. Call (682) 708-9180 and we’ll confirm lead times for your product line.
Elmstead Remodeling Fort Worth is an independent remodeling contractor; we’re not a Belgard dealer or affiliate, and we’re not tied to any one manufacturer. We recommend Belgard because it performs in North Texas soil when it’s installed right, alongside the named-brand materials our clients ask for, including KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling Fort Worth at Elmstead Remodeling Fort Worth, serving Fort Worth and nearby areas.
