Remodeling contractor in Highlands, TX

Quick answer: Franco BuildWorks LLC is a Houston-based remodeling and construction contractor serving Highlands, Texas and the 77562 zip in eastern Harris County near the San Jacinto River and Houston Ship Channel. We handle kitchens, bathrooms, full-home renovations, additions, drywall, tile, flooring, painting, and siding for the area’s established, often mid-century homes, accounting for expansive clay soil, Gulf humidity, and floodplain realities. Honest scoping, no pressure.

Key takeaways

  • Highlands sits in unincorporated eastern Harris County, so residential remodel permits typically go through the Harris County Engineering Department, not the City of Houston.
  • Much of 77562 lies in or near the San Jacinto River floodplain; a gauge near Highlands set the U.S. tropical-cyclone rainfall record during Hurricane Harvey, which shapes smart material and elevation choices.
  • The housing stock skews older, clapboard cottages, one-level ranch homes, and older two-stories on larger lots, so remodels often address dated layouts alongside moisture and foundations.
  • Expansive Gulf Coast clay drives seasonal foundation movement that shows up as drywall cracks, sticking doors, and cracked tile grout.
  • On ground floors near the floodplain, luxury vinyl plank usually handles moisture better than laminate, whose fiberboard core can swell if it gets wet.
  • Franco BuildWorks is a service-area contractor based in Houston with no storefront; we scope work honestly and will say so when something falls outside remodeling.

Remodeling & construction services in Highlands

Franco BuildWorks LLC offers the full range of residential and commercial work to Highlands homeowners and businesses. Each service has its own detailed guide:

Why Highlands Homes Are Built the Way They Are

Highlands is an established, unincorporated community in eastern Harris County, tucked between the San Jacinto River to the west and the industrial corridor that feeds the Houston Ship Channel to the south. Unlike a master-planned suburb, it grew as a working river-and-refinery town, and that history is written into its housing. Homes here tend to be older, with the 77562 stock leaning toward mid-century construction: clapboard cottages, one-level ranch houses, and older two-stories, many on the kind of sizeable, oak-shaded lots that newer subdivisions rarely offer.

You see the pattern across neighborhoods like the original Highlands Townsite grid, Rolling Hills, Elena Townsite, Coleman Heights, and Highland Woods. These homes were often built for space and durability rather than open-concept layouts or modern finishes, which is exactly why remodeling demand here is real. Kitchens are frequently closed off from living areas, bathrooms are small, and finishes are dated even when the bones are sound.

That combination, good lots and solid structures wrapped in outdated interiors, makes Highlands a natural place for renovation rather than teardown. Franco BuildWorks approaches these homes as remodels that respect what is already there: opening up layouts where framing allows, updating systems that have aged, and refreshing surfaces without pretending an older house is a blank slab.

Clay Soil Movement Under Highlands Foundations

Highlands sits on the same expansive coastal-plain clay that runs under most of the Houston metro. This gumbo-type clay swells when it takes on water and shrinks when it dries out, and along the Gulf Coast that wet-dry cycle is dramatic: soaking storm seasons followed by hot, cracking summer droughts. A slab-on-grade home riding on that clay moves with it, and the movement is uneven from one corner of the house to another.

Homeowners in 77562 usually notice the symptoms before they think about the cause: hairline drywall cracks fanning out from the corners of doors and windows, interior doors that stick in one season and swing free in another, cracked grout lines or popped tiles, and small gaps opening where trim meets the wall or ceiling. None of that is unusual here, and most of it is cosmetic, but it matters for how a remodel is sequenced.

Our honest approach is to look at what the movement is doing before committing finishes to it. In most cases that means repairing and retexturing drywall, resetting or re-grouting affected tile, and building in the small allowances that keep a fresh finish from telegraphing the next seasonal shift. Where cracking points to something more than normal seasonal movement, that is a foundation evaluation conversation, not something a coat of texture should hide.

Gulf Humidity, the Ship Channel, and Moisture Realities

Highlands is humid year-round, and its position near the San Jacinto River and the ship-channel industrial belt adds salt-tinged, moisture-heavy air to the mix. That environment is hard on the outside of a house and demands respect on the inside. Exterior paint and caulk fail faster here than in a dry climate, wood trim moves with the moisture, and any place that traps damp air, an under-ventilated bathroom, a closed-up laundry room, tends to show it.

For exterior work, the durable result comes from preparation rather than the label on the can. That means scraping and priming bare wood, replacing failed caulk at joints and penetrations, and addressing any siding or trim that has taken on rot before new coating goes over it. Our exterior painting and siding and stucco repair work is scoped with that Gulf-humidity reality in mind so a fresh finish is protecting sound material, not sealing over a problem.

Inside, moisture management is part of any kitchen or bathroom remodel: properly vented exhaust fans, moisture-tolerant materials in wet areas, and finishes chosen for a climate that rarely fully dries out. Getting this right is the difference between a remodel that still looks good in a few humid summers and one that does not.

Flood Exposure Along the San Jacinto River

Flooding is not an abstraction in Highlands. A rainfall gauge near the community recorded 51.88 inches during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, a continental U.S. record for a tropical cyclone, and San Jacinto River flooding forced evacuations across river-adjacent parts of 77562. Property near the river and its tributaries sits in or close to the floodplain, and that shapes real decisions about how a home should be rebuilt or remodeled.

The clearest place this shows up is flooring. On a ground floor near the floodplain, luxury vinyl plank generally holds up better than laminate, because laminate is built on a fiberboard core that can swell and delaminate if it gets wet, while quality vinyl plank tolerates moisture far better. Laminate can still be a sound, budget-friendly choice for drier upper floors or bedrooms; the point is matching the material to the risk of the room, which we walk through honestly rather than defaulting to one product everywhere.

The same thinking applies after water intrusion. Wet drywall and trapped insulation generally need to come out rather than dry in place, and rebuilding with moisture-tolerant materials where it makes sense is a reasonable hedge in a floodplain community. We do not make guarantees about future storms, but we can help you rebuild in a way that is easier to recover next time.

The Services Highlands Homeowners Ask About Most

Because the 77562 housing stock is older and space-rich, most projects here are about modernizing sound homes rather than starting over. Below are the services Highlands homeowners most often ask about, each with its own detail page, and the honest technical reasoning behind how we approach them.

  • [Kitchen remodeling](/kitchen-remodeling) and [bathroom remodeling](/bathroom-remodeling): older Highlands kitchens are often closed off, so much of the work is opening layouts where framing allows. In bathrooms, tile over cement board is not waterproof on its own, a shower needs a dedicated waterproofing membrane, sheet or liquid-applied, behind the tile so humidity and shower water never reach the framing.
  • [Full home renovation](/full-home-renovation) and [room additions](/room-additions): the larger lots common here leave room to add on. An addition ties new framing and slab into a house that has already moved on clay, so it is scoped carefully. Garage conversions are common too, and a garage ceiling beneath living space typically requires 5/8-inch Type X fire-rated drywall to meet the required separation.
  • [Drywall installation and repair](/drywall-installation-repair), [texture](/texture), and [tile](/tile): most walls get a Level 4 finish, which is right for flat and matte paint; a Level 5 skim coat is worth it where raking window light or gloss paint would otherwise reveal every seam. Repairs are blended into your existing knockdown or orange-peel texture so patches disappear, and tile is set with proper substrate and movement joints given the clay underneath.
  • [Vinyl plank and laminate flooring](/vinyl-plank-laminate-flooring): as noted above, we generally steer ground floors near the floodplain toward vinyl plank and reserve laminate for drier rooms, matching the product to each room’s moisture risk.
  • [Interior and exterior painting](/interior-exterior-painting): prep drives durability in this climate, priming bare wood, sound caulk, and patient surface work matter more than the brand of paint.
  • [Siding and stucco repair](/siding-stucco-repair): wind-driven rain and humidity find gaps at joints and penetrations; we repair failed material before recoating so the finish protects rather than conceals.
  • [Commercial build-outs](/commercial-build-outs): for small businesses along the Highway 90 and FM 2100 corridors, tenant and interior build-outs on a similar honest-scope basis.
Highlands home remodeling

Permits in Highlands: Unincorporated Harris County, Not the City

A point that trips up many Highlands homeowners: you are not in the City of Houston. Highlands is unincorporated, which means residential building permits are handled by the Harris County Engineering Department’s permits office, typically through the county’s e-permits system, rather than a city permitting center. Harris County has required residential building permits for single-family and duplex homes since 2009, so remodels that touch structure, electrical, plumbing, or that add square footage generally need one.

Floodplain status adds a second layer. Because so much of 77562 sits in or near the San Jacinto River floodplain, work on affected properties can trigger Harris County floodplain-management review and a floodplain development permit on top of the standard building permit. That is not a reason to avoid a project, but it is a reason to confirm your property’s flood-zone status early so the scope and timeline reflect reality.

It is also worth knowing that Harris County does not license general contractors in its unincorporated areas. That makes vetting entirely your responsibility as the homeowner, which is the subject of the next section. We work within the county’s process rather than around it, and we are candid when a project’s scope means the permit path is longer than you hoped.

What to Look for in a Highlands Remodeling Contractor

Since the county does not license general contractors in unincorporated Highlands, the burden of vetting falls on you. A few honest checks separate a contractor who will do right by an older 77562 home from one who will not:

  • Ask any contractor to show current proof of insurance and any applicable trade licenses, and verify them yourself rather than taking a claim at face value.
  • Look for someone who talks openly about your clay soil and floodplain status instead of promising a flawless, movement-free result, which no one on this soil can honestly guarantee.
  • Expect a written scope that spells out what is and is not included, especially around waterproofing, permits, and who pulls them.
  • Be cautious of anyone who pressures you to skip permits on structural, electrical, or plumbing work, that risk lands on you at resale and inspection.
  • Favor a contractor who will tell you when a project is outside their scope or when a specialist, like a foundation or plumbing engineer, should weigh in first.
  • Ask how they handle change orders and moisture surprises, common in older Highlands homes, before demolition rather than after.

Scheduling and Site Access Across 77562

Franco BuildWorks is a service-area contractor based in Houston, with no storefront to visit. We come to you, and Highlands is a straightforward reach off I-10, the Crosby Freeway (Highway 90), and FM 2100 (Crosby-Lynchburg Road), with local access along Wallisville Road and Thompson Road serving most of 77562’s neighborhoods.

A project generally starts with an on-site walkthrough. Seeing the home in person is not optional for us in Highlands, because the details that drive an accurate scope, how the house is moving on its clay, its position relative to the floodplain, the condition of siding and wet areas, are things you cannot judge from photos. We look, measure, and talk through what the work actually involves before anything is committed.

From there, scheduling depends on the size of the project and, where required, the Harris County permit timeline. We are upfront about sequencing, especially for additions and floodplain-affected work where county review can add time. Whether you are in Rolling Hills, the old Highlands Townsite, Elena Townsite, Coleman Heights, Highland Woods, or a river-adjacent lot, the goal is the same: a clear, honest plan for your home before the first day of work.

Neighborhoods and zip codes we serve in Highlands

We work throughout Highlands and nearby areas, including these neighborhoods:

  • Highlands Townsite (Old Highlands original grid)
  • Rolling Hills
  • Elena Townsite
  • Coleman Heights
  • Highland Woods

Zip codes served in Highlands: 77562.

Highlands remodeling FAQ

Do you serve the 77562 zip code in Highlands?

Yes. Highlands and the 77562 zip are within our eastern Harris County service area. Franco BuildWorks is based in Houston and travels to Highlands for remodeling and construction projects, reaching most neighborhoods off I-10, Highway 90, and FM 2100.

Are remodeling permits in Highlands handled by the City of Houston?

No. Highlands is unincorporated, so residential permits typically go through the Harris County Engineering Department’s permits office, usually via the county e-permits system, rather than a city permitting center. Work near the San Jacinto River may also require a Harris County floodplain development permit.

My Highlands home has drywall cracks and doors that stick. Is that the foundation?

Often it is seasonal movement of the expansive clay soil under the home, which swells in wet months and shrinks in dry ones. Much of it is cosmetic and can be repaired and retextured. When cracking looks like more than normal movement, that is a foundation-evaluation conversation before finishes go back on.

Which flooring holds up best on a Highlands ground floor near the floodplain?

For ground floors near the San Jacinto River floodplain, luxury vinyl plank generally handles humidity and minor moisture better, because laminate is built on a fiberboard core that can swell if it gets wet. Laminate can still suit drier upper floors and bedrooms.

Can you remodel an older mid-century Highlands house, or only newer homes?

Older homes are most of what Highlands is. The 77562 stock skews toward mid-century cottages, ranch homes, and older two-stories, and modernizing those sound homes, opening layouts, updating kitchens and baths, refreshing finishes, is the core of what we do here.

Do I need a permit to remodel my kitchen or bathroom in Highlands?

It depends on scope. Cosmetic updates often do not, but work that touches structure, electrical, or plumbing, or that adds square footage, generally does, and Harris County has required residential permits since 2009. We confirm the permit path for your specific project before work begins.

Do you do both interior and exterior painting in Highlands?

Yes. Given the Gulf humidity and salt-tinged air near the ship channel, exterior durability comes from prep, priming bare wood, sound caulk, and repairing any failed siding or trim before recoating, so a fresh finish is protecting sound material.

Do you handle commercial build-outs in Highlands?

Yes. We take on interior and tenant build-outs for small businesses, including those along the Highway 90 and FM 2100 corridors, scoped on the same honest, walk-it-first basis as our residential remodeling work.

Nearby areas we serve

Serving Highlands, TX and the surrounding Houston metro

Tell us about the space, the scope you have in mind, and your timeline. Franco BuildWorks reviews the details, checks availability, and contacts you to confirm an appointment.

Request Your Estimate Appointment or call 346-229-9538.