⸻TWO-PHASE PROJECT · NORTH DALLAS
A Master Suite & Outdoor Pavilion
A cramped master suite and an underused backyard — transformed into two award-winning spaces, built two years apart for the same family.
Few things tell you more about a contractor than repeat clients. When the same family returns years later with their next project, it means the first one went exactly as they hoped. This North Dallas home is the story of two separate renovations and the trust built in between them.
| Master Suite Addition | |
|---|---|
| Investment (2026 Estimate) | $290K-$330K |
| Duration | 14 Weeks |
| Completion | September of 2016 |
| Awards | 2018 NARI CotY |
| Outdoor Living Area | |
|---|---|
| Investment (2026 Estimate) | $165k - $205k |
| Duration | 10 Weeks |
| Completion | September of 2021 |
| Awards | 2022 NARI CotY |
Phase 1 - Master Suite Addition
2023 NARI CotY Winner — Residential Addition $100,000 to $250,000
⸻ THE CHALLENGE
A primary bath that couldn't fit two people.
The number one complaint was simple the bathroom felt cramped whenever both homeowners were using it at the same time. There was no private toilet compartment, a single vanity sink, a closet that had grown chaotic over the years, and fixtures that had fallen well behind current standards.
A straight remodel could have addressed the finishes. But to actually solve the space problem, the footprint had to grow. The exterior wall needed to move three feet into the existing covered veranda adding real square footage that unlocked everything else: a private toilet room, a second sink, a larger custom closet, and a steam shower that finally felt proportional to the space.
The constraint the new exterior brick had to match the existing facade so completely that no one could tell where the original house ended and the addition began.
01
STRUCTURAL ADDITION EXTERIOR WALL RELOCATION
Moved the exterior wall three feet into the existing covered veranda, requiring full shoring, new framing, a header beam, new ceiling joists, and two new casement windows. The expansion gave the bathroom meaningful additional square footage and made everything else in the design possible.
02
BRICK MATCHING THE EXISTING FACADE
The existing brick had flush struck joints and a surface that looked sandblasted. Our mason salvaged and cleaned approximately 160 SF of the original brick veneer, reinstalled it with flush struck joints, then sponged the mortar at roughly 80% cure to replicate the existing texture exactly. New brick was sourced to blend where salvaged material fell short. From the street, the addition is invisible.
03
TILEWORK SHOWER, FLOOR & TUB SURROUND
12x24 STR Oro honed porcelain tile at shower walls, ceiling, niche, bench, and tub wainscot. Calacatta 6" hexagon honed mosaic tile at the bathroom floor. 3x24 surface cap trim throughout. Built in shampoo niche and bench seat per plan. Red Guard moisture barrier at shower walls. Crack control membrane at bathroom floor. All tile sealed.
04
CUSTOM MILLWORK & CLOSET
Paint grade vanity per plan, toilet cabinet, and two medicine cabinets with brushed bronze frames. Full custom built-in closet cabinetry full overlay flat panel doors, soft close drawers, and a mirrored dressing unit centered on the closet door. 2¼" select red oak hardwood floor in closet, scraped and stained to match the existing. Uniform margins maintained throughout at all full overlay cabinets.
05
PLUMBING & FIXTURES
Jetta 67" freestanding air jet tub with Delta Stryke floor mount tub filler and handheld spray. Delta H2OKinetic dual head shower system with 3 position diverter and rain head. Two Delta Stryke widespread vanity faucets. TOTO Drake II comfort height toilet. Steam generator relocated to attic. All hardware in champagne bronze towel bars, hooks, robe hooks, toilet paper holder, and 37 cabinet pulls.
06
LIGHTING & FINISH
Task specific lighting throughout: lighted vanity mirrors for directed light on the face, focused recessed lighting over the tub, LED flat panel lighting in the closet for full coverage. 3/8" frameless shower enclosure with brushed bronze hardware. Cambria quartz vanity countertop with 4" backsplash and tub shelf. Full paint package in Sherwin Williams throughout bathroom, toilet room, and closet.
⸻ SUPERIOR CRAFTSMANSHIP
The details that made it a CotY winner.
Brick JOINTS MATCHED TO A SANDBLASTED FINISH
The existing mortar had a grainy, weathered texture that looks sandblasted. Replicating it required more than buying similar brick it required salvaging, cleaning, and reinstalling the originals, then timing the mortar wipe precisely at 80% cure to pull back just enough cement. The result is indistinguishable from the original 30 year old facade.
UNIFORM CABINET MARGINS THROUGHOUT
Full overlay flat panel cabinetry demands consistent door and drawer reveals on all four sides. Every cabinet in the vanity, toilet room, and closet maintains uniform margins a direct measure of the quality of the millwork and the care taken during installation and adjustment.
TILEWORK FIT & FINISH PER DRAWING
The tile installation across shower walls, floor, bench, and tub wainscot was executed to the dimensions and layout on sheet A 10 of the construction drawings. Maintaining that dimensional precision across 12x24 large-format tile on walls, ceilings, and floor all meeting at inside and outside corners is where tile work shows its quality most clearly.
BUDGET-SMART MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION
The homeowners originally specified slab stone for the shower walls a beautiful choice that pushed over budget. Rather than abandon the look, we identified a large format porcelain tile that delivered the same visual result at a fraction of the cost. The judges didn't know the difference. The homeowners got the space they wanted within the number they set.
PHASE 2 · Outdoor Living Addition
2023 NARI CotY Winner — Residential Detached Structure
⸻ THE CHALLENGE
A backyard that had never been fully used.
Two years after the master suite, the same homeowners came back with their next project: the backyard. The existing space had a basic patio, a detached storage shed, and no covered outdoor living area to speak of. The family wanted something they could actually use year round a covered sitting and dining area anchored by a large wood-burning fireplace, with a serving station for entertaining, infrared heat for winter, and a ceiling fan for summer.
The design had to earn its place in the yard. The roof pitch, shingle profile, fascia, soffit, siding, and flagstone all had to reference the existing house closely enough that the structure felt like it grew with the home not like it was added to it. The fireplace centerline was aligned precisely on the sightline from the kitchen and breakfast room, creating a visual axis from inside the house straight out through the backyard.
⸻ SCOPE OF WORK
Replacing an unused space with an essential one
01
HEAVY TIMBER FRAME STRUCTURE
8x8 cedar posts, 8x14 beams with mitered corners, arched wood brackets, and a 6x12 ridge beam. 4x8 purlins at 5' on center. Composition shingle roof matched to existing house, with ridge vent, drip edge, and chimney flashing. 1x6 V groove yellow pine ceiling installed with every joint concealed behind a beam no visible seams from below. Siding, soffit, and fascia selected to match the existing structure.
02
FULL MASONRY FIREPLACE & CHIMNEY
Isokern 42" Magnum wood burning fireplace unit on an engineered concrete footing with grade beams and piers. Milsap natural chopped stone surround with Lueders accent stone and globe header. 8x16 wood mantel. Metal chimney hood. The fireplace was positioned so its centerline aligns directly with the existing porch on the house, creating a sight line from the breakfast room through the backyard.
03
SERVING ISLAND & OUTDOOR CABINETRY
NatureKast resin based outdoor cabinets in Weathered Dockside finish full weatherproof construction with no swelling, rot, or repainting required. Two piece Lueders stone countertop at the serving counter. Marvel 24" stainless undercounter refrigerator. Concealed post anchors at grade eliminated the need for base trim, leaving a cleaner, more intentional detail at every post.
04
ALL-WEATHER SYSTEMS — HEAT, FAN & LIGHTING
Four Infratech C 4024 infrared heaters on dedicated 20 amp circuits for cold weather use. 84" Minka outdoor rated ceiling fan for summer. Eight slope mount recessed lights and Wi-Fi switching controlled from inside the house. Gas line trenched from the existing meter to the fireplace location with shut off valve. All lighting at both structures can be controlled via Wi-Fi from the breakfast room.
05
OKLAHOMA FLAGSTONE FLOOR & STEPS
Oklahoma oversize flagstone installed at the pavilion floor, entry steps, and step risers selected to match the existing patio flagstone material already on the property. Same source, same color family, same installation pattern. The result is a continuous ground plane that extends the existing outdoor space rather than creating a new one next to it.
06
STORAGE STRUCTURE, FOUNDATION & SITE WORK
Detached storage building with composition shingle roof, LP SmartSide siding to match, 8x7 manual overhead door, 100 amp panel, interior LED lighting, exterior Wi-Fi controlled light, and 6 circuit subpanel. Engineered concrete foundations per structural plan. Partial driveway removal and replacement with 4" reinforced concrete. Existing shed demolished and removed.
⸻ SUPERIOR CRAFTSMANSHIP
Stone that looks like it was always there.
TIMBER JOINERY — TIGHT FIT
The mitered corners on the 8x14 beams, the arched bracket connections at the posts, and the ridge beam assembly all required precise field cutting and fitting. Heavy timber framing exposes every joint there is nowhere to hide a gap or an out of square cut. The NARI judges specifically cited the tight fit of the timber construction as evidence of superior craftsmanship.
CEILING JOINTS CONCEALED BEHIND BEAMS
Every joint in the 1x6 V-groove yellow pine ceiling runs behind a beam which means the layout of the ceiling boards was planned from the start around the beam spacing. The result is a ceiling that reads as a continuous surface with no visible seams. It requires care in the planning stage that most contractors skip.
CONCEALED POST ANCHORS AT GRADE
Post anchors were set flush at the slab surface with no visible hardware above grade, eliminating the need for base trim at the bottom of each post. It's a detail most builders skip because it requires more careful anchor setting and verification during the foundation phase. The result is a post to slab connection that looks as clean as a poured in place column.
⸻ PROJECT GALLERY
Both phases — finished.
"When our clients came back with their next project, the only question was where to start."
TWO SEPARATE RENOVATIONS · TWO NARI COTY WINS · ONE LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP
⸻ PROJECT INVESTMENT
Two phases of renovation — current pricing ranges.
The 2021 addition was a structural project an exterior wall moved, brick matched to the existing facade, a full plumbing relocation for the tub and shower, custom closet cabinetry, and all new finishes throughout. The fixtures and hardware alone freestanding tub, dual Delta Stryke shower system, champagne bronze throughout represented a meaningful portion of the total.
The 2022 outdoor project was more focused in scope but highly custom: a full masonry fireplace is a labor intensive trade, heavy timber framing requires skill, and NatureKast cabinetry and flagstone matching were specified to last as long as the house does. Pricing below reflects current material and labor costs both projects were completed at lower cost, but these ranges reflect what an equivalent scope would run today in the DFW market.
| Master Suite Addition | Current Pricing |
|---|---|
| Demo, Concrete & Framing | $18k-$21k |
| Tilework & Stone Surfaces | $35k-$40k |
| Millwork, Cabinetry & Hardware | $16k-$20k |
| Plumbing, Fixtures & Hardware | $30k-$35k |
| Electrical, HVAC & Glass | $13k-$15k |
| Painting & Finish Carpentry | $20k-$25k |
| Masonry (Brick Match) | $5k-$7k |
| Estimated Total Today | $180k-$200k |
| Outdoor Living Gazebo Space | Current Pricing |
|---|---|
| Demo, Foundation & Paving | $32k–$36k |
| Framing, Roofing & Door | $63k–$69k |
| Masonry & Flagstone | $29k–$32k |
| Cabinetry, Appliances | $21k–$24k |
| Paint & Stain | $14k–$16k |
| Plumbing (Gas) & Electrical | $28k–$32k |
| Fireplace Unit | $10k-$12k |
| Estimated Total Today | $240k-$260k |
| Both Phases Investment | $320k-$460k |
|---|
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How much does a master bath addition of this scale cost in Dallas?
A primary bath addition that includes expanding the footprint, matching existing exterior brick, custom tilework, a freestanding tub, steam shower, and full custom closet cabinetry typically runs $185,000–$200,000 at current DFW pricing. Simpler scopes without structural addition work start lower projects with higher end fixture selections will run higher.
How long did the master suite addition take?
A project of this scope structural addition, full demolition to studs, plumbing relocation, custom tilework, and millwork typically runs 12 to 16 weeks depending on lead times for plumbing fixtures and custom cabinetry.
What made this project win NARI CotY awards?
NARI CotY judges score on four criteria: degree to which the client's needs were met, functional and aesthetic enhancement to the existing structure, evidence of superior craftsmanship, and innovative use of materials or methods. On the master suite, the brick matching work and the tilework execution per drawing were called out specifically. On the pavilion, the timber framing joint quality and the uniformity of the fireplace stonework were cited. In both cases, the design solved a real problem not just updated finishes.
Why did this family hire Traver Construction twice?
The first project went exactly as they expected: delivered on time, on budget, with the quality they were promised. When they were ready for the backyard two years later, there was no reason to look anywhere else. That's the most straightforward measure of whether a contractor did their job.
