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Boral Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
We handle Boral-compatible home additions and ADU projects in Fort Lauderdale with typical project costs running $45,000 – $130,000 for additions and $90,000 – $220,000 for accessory dwelling units. Homeowners usually call us because an existing addition or ADU built with Boral materials has developed a structural or envelope problem: door frames pulling away, drywall cracking at the seams, or moisture staining where the addition ties into the original house. In South Florida’s humidity, these failures don’t stay cosmetic for long. We inspect the framing, sheathing, and tie-in points, then quote a written price for the fix or the full rebuild, before any crew shows up.
Key Takeaways:
- Boral additions and ADUs in Fort Lauderdale run $45,000 – $130,000 for full projects, with ADU construction at $90,000 – $220,000.
- Most failures trace back to improper tie-ins or moisture management at the seam where the new structure meets the old one.
- We provide a written price and a 365-Day Done Right Promise on every addition or ADU scope we take on.
- Trevor Nash has been running crews across South Florida for nearly two decades, from full gut-renovations near Las Olas Boulevard to modest additions in residential neighborhoods west of US-1.
Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale is an independent general contractor. We are not affiliated with Boral, but we work with Boral materials and Boral-built existing structures regularly, and we understand how their siding, trim, and sheathing products behave in a Fort Lauderdale climate.
Which Boral Models This Applies To
Boral doesn’t sell a single “home addition” product, so when a Fort Lauderdale homeowner tells us their Boral addition is failing, they’re usually talking about one of three things: exterior cladding and trim failures around the addition, water intrusion at the roof-to-wall junction, or structural movement where the addition’s slab or framing ties into the original house. If the original build used Boral TruExterior trim, the failure often shows up as cracked or warped boards at the corners. If it used Boral siding, look for buckling along the lower courses where sprinkler overspray and splashback keep the material wet.
The compatible fix depends on what’s failing. Most Boral TruExterior trim is a poly-ash product that resists rot, but it still needs proper fastening and expansion gaps. Contractors who butt the boards tight in the summer get cracked seams in January. We stock common Boral trim profiles and can match discontinued lines through our local South Florida suppliers. For additions where the framing itself is the problem, the real fix is structural: sistering joists, replacing undersized headers, or re-anchoring the addition to the main structure with proper hurricane ties and shear hardware. Aftermarket structural components from Simpson Strong-Tie and USP are standard on our jobs, and we specify them by load rating, not brand loyalty.
One compatibility gotcha we see in Fort Lauderdale specifically: Boral TruExterior trim installed with standard nails instead of stainless or hot-dipped galvanized fasteners corrodes the fasteners within five to eight years due to coastal salt air. The rust bleeds through paint and loosens the boards. If your addition’s trim looks like it’s pulling away even though the boards themselves seem fine, the fasteners are the culprit.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Boral Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Cracks at interior drywall corners and ceiling seams. This usually means the addition’s framing is moving independently of the main house. South Florida’s expansive clay pockets shift with rainfall, and an addition slab that wasn’t tied properly will flex. The crack widens, narrows, and eventually the drywall tape lets go entirely.
- Door and window frames that stick or won’t latch. If the doors in your addition worked fine for years and now they scrape, the header or jamb framing has settled. In Boral-trimmed additions, the trim often hides the telltale gaps until the door itself binds.
- Dark staining or soft spots where the addition roof meets the original house. This is the number one failure point in Fort Lauderdale additions. The valley where the new roof planes into the old one collects debris and water. A misaligned flashing job puts water behind the fascia within three summers.
- Paint peeling in vertical streaks on Boral trim boards. This is almost always failing fasteners. The rust travels down from the nail head, and the paint releases in the exact pattern of the nail pattern. You’ll see it on the sunny west and south exposures first.
- Sloping floors or a visible step-down at the addition’s entry. If the tile or wood floor in the addition has developed a slope toward the exterior wall, the perimeter foundation or the beam supporting it has moved. This is structural and should be evaluated, not caulked.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Fort Lauderdale, a full home addition using Boral-compatible materials runs $45,000 – $130,000 depending on square footage, foundation type, roof complexity, and whether you’re matching existing finishes. ADU construction runs $90,000 – $220,000, with the range driven by wet-plumbing requirements, separate utility metering, and whether the unit needs its own impact windows and doors to meet Broward County code. If the job is a repair rather than a rebuild, we scope it line by line: structural repairs on a failing tie-in might run $8,000 – $22,000 once we see what’s actually moving.
What’s included: a written scope of work, a fixed price before any work starts, the permit drawings and permit fees, all structural hardware matched to the load requirements, the Boral trim or siding product needed to match your existing finish, and a written guarantee on the work. The price on day one is the price on the final invoice. If something fails inside the first year, we come back and fix it at no charge under our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
What moves the number: the condition of the existing structure, whether we’re tying into block or wood frame, the roof line (a simple shed roof costs far less than a hip roof that returns into the existing ridge), the finish level inside, and whether the addition needs its own mini-split or can extend your existing HVAC. We don’t bury surprises in change orders. We open the walls during the bid process when we need to see what’s behind them, and we tell you what we found before you sign anything.
DIY or Call Us?
An addition or ADU failure is not a DIY project. If the structural connection between your addition and the original house is moving, the loads involved are measured in thousands of pounds, and a brace installed in the wrong place can hide the problem while the movement continues. This isn’t a job for YouTube. What you can safely do: document the symptoms with photos and dates, check for water staining after heavy rain, and keep an eye on whether cracks are widening seasonally or all at once. That information helps us pinpoint the cause faster.
If you’re seeing any of the signs above, call (754) 551-2922. Trevor will walk the job with you, explain what’s actually moving and what it’s going to take to fix it, and hand you a written number before any work starts. Tell me what you need, I’ll tell you what it costs – then we’ll get it done.
FAQs
Boral TruExterior trim installed with stainless or galvanized fasteners and proper expansion gaps should last 25 to 30 years in South Florida’s humidity. The failure we see most often is the fasteners, not the boards; when that happens, the trim can fail in as little as five to eight years. Call (754) 551-2922 and we’ll inspect your addition’s trim and framing to tell you what’s actually left in it.
Most failing additions can be repaired if the framing is sound and the problem is localized to flashings, fasteners, or specific connection points. Once structural movement has compromised the slab-to-framing connection or the roof diaphragm, a partial rebuild is often cheaper than repeated repairs. We’ll give you an honest assessment and a written price either way.
Focused repairs like fastener replacement and flashing correction take two to five working days, while structural re-anchoring and roof work typically run two to four weeks depending on permit review time in Fort Lauderdale. We give you an arrival window and a completion date in writing before we start, and we stick to it.
We keep common Boral trim profiles and touch-up materials in stock and can match most discontinued lines through our South Florida suppliers within a week. We also work with KraftMaid cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone countertops, and other recognized trade brands when your addition needs interior finishes matched as well. Call us and we’ll confirm availability for your specific profile.
If your Boral addition or ADU is showing cracks, water staining, or failing trim, don’t wait until the dry season ends and the rains come back. Call (754) 551-2922 to schedule a free estimate. We’ll put the number in writing before a single board comes off the wall.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale at Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
