Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Jerith Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
Jerith home additions and ADU construction in Fort Lauderdale typically run $45,000 to $130,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and whether you’re adding a ground-floor suite or a detached accessory dwelling unit. We install Jerith-compatible additions and ADUs throughout Broward County, and we’re usually out to your property for a written estimate within days, not weeks. Most homeowners in Fort Lauderdale discover they need us when the original addition shows signs of South Florida’s humidity, shifting soil, or an earlier contractor’s shortcuts: hairline cracks along the seam where the addition meets the original slab, a door that suddenly won’t latch, or moisture wicking up through the baseboards after a heavy summer rain. If that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
Which Jerith Models This Applies To
Jerith manufactures aluminum and steel fencing, gates, and related outdoor structures, not interior room additions or ADU framing systems. Here’s the compatibility reality in Fort Lauderdale: when owners talk about a “Jerith addition,” they’re almost always asking about matching or extending an existing Jerith fence line, gate, or railing as part of a larger home addition or ADU project. The getcha is in the attachment points. Jerith fence posts have specific powder-coat finishes and post-cap profiles that don’t play nicely with generic hardware from a big-box store. If your addition or ADU needs the fence line extended, the gate rehung, or a new section integrated with the original Jerith run, you need to match the exact post diameter, picket spacing, and color code, which is stamped on a label inside the gate rail or on the original installation paperwork. We stock Jerith-compatible black and bronze aluminum sections on the truck for the most common Fort Lauderdale installations, and we can order the exact match for anything less standard. An OEM Jerith section stays true to color and gauge; a quality aftermarket equivalent can work well, but it will never carry the same fade resistance in our UV-heavy climate, and we’ll tell you that plainly before any work starts.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Jerith Home Addition or ADU Needs Attention
- The gate drags or won’t latch cleanly. This usually means the post has shifted in the sandy, wet Fort Lauderdale soil, or the hinges have wallowed out from daily use. Left alone, a dragging gate pulls the hinge posts further out of plumb and eventually warps the gate frame itself.
- Hairline cracks where the addition meets the original house. New concrete shrinks as it cures, and our high water table means slab movement is common in Fort Lauderdale. A crack wider than a credit card at the seam is a sign the connection detail was skimped on, not a normal settling artifact.
- Powder coat bubbling or flaking at the bottom rail. Salt air and standing water from afternoon thunderstorms eat aluminum finishes from the ground up. Once the coating fails, the aluminum underneath oxidizes and the section loses structural integrity faster than you’d expect.
- Moisture staining on the interior baseboards of the addition. On a slab-on-grade addition in Broward County, this almost always traces to a missing or poorly lapped moisture barrier at the sill plate. It’s repairable, but it’s not a paint-over job.
- Doors inside the addition that stick in summer and open fine in winter. Humidity swings cause framing lumber and even door slabs to swell. When it’s seasonal and predictable, it’s annoying. When it’s getting worse year over year, something in the framing or the connection to the original structure is moving more than it should.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Home additions in Fort Lauderdale run $45,000 to $130,000, and ADU construction runs $90,000 to $220,000. Where your project lands inside that range depends on three things: square footage, site access, and what’s underneath the grass. A tight lot in Victoria Park or Sailboat Bend costs more to stage than a wide-open backyard in Melrose Park. The written price you get from us includes site prep, foundation, framing, rough and finish electrical and plumbing, drywall, flooring, trim, paint, and the permit drawings. It also includes the connection work for any Jerith fence or gate integration at the property line. We don’t hand you a verbal ballpark and then discover change orders once the walls are open. The number Trevor Nash writes down on day one is the number on the invoice, and it’s backed by our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if something in our work fails inside the first year, we come back and fix it at no charge. No service fee, no re-inspection fee.
DIY or Call Us?
A homeowner can safely do a few things: check the gate hinges for obvious wear, note where water pools after rain, and measure the gap between fence sections. What you should not do is attempt to reset a leaning Jerith fence post in Fort Lauderdale’s sandy soil with a bag of quick-set and a prayer. The soil here doesn’t hold posts the way it does up north, and a post set wrong will lean again inside six months. Same goes for structural work on an addition: cutting into a load-bearing wall or tying into the original roofline is not a YouTube project with this humidity and these wind loads. When a homeowner tries it, we usually get the call anyway, and now there’s demo work on top of the original fix. If you’re not sure whether it’s a job for us or a job for you, call (754) 551-2922 and describe what you’re seeing. We’ll tell you straight what it needs, and the estimate is free either way.
FAQs
Twenty to twenty-five years is realistic for Jerith aluminum in our climate, provided the posts were set deep enough and the coating is intact. Salt air near the Intracoastal and constant summer humidity shorten that window, and we see older Jerith runs along the canals needing section replacement around the fifteen-year mark. If yours is failing earlier, it’s usually a post-depth or drainage issue, not a bad product. Call (754) 551-2922 and we’ll tell you what’s actually going on.
Yes, in most cases the gate can be rehung with new hinges and a reinforced post, and the section can be saved. The exception is when the aluminum has corroded through at the bottom rail or the frame has twisted. Once the metal itself is compromised, a replacement section is cheaper than chasing repairs. The estimate call is free, and we’ll show you the numbers for both paths.
A room addition usually runs three to five months from permit approval to final walkthrough. An ADU runs longer, often five to eight months, because of the separate electrical and plumbing service requirements. Fort Lauderdale’s permitting office has its own timeline, and we handle every drawing, submittal, and inspection so you don’t have to. The written scope includes the schedule, and we stand by the arrival window just like we stand by the price.
We stock common Jerith black and bronze aluminum sections, gate hinges, post caps, and matching fasteners on the truck for Fort Lauderdale service calls. Less common colors and taller sections are ordered to match exactly. We also carry and install materials from KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone for interior portions of additions and ADUs, so the same crew handles the whole job.
Tell me what you need, I’ll tell you what it costs, then we’ll get it done. Call (754) 551-2922 to schedule your free estimate in Fort Lauderdale. A real person answers, and the price you get is the price you’ll pay.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale at Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
