Residential construction in San Antonio
Custom homes, additions, and ground-up residential builds, from the first survey through the final walkthrough.
What building here actually involves
Most of Bexar County sits on expansive clay. It swells when it takes on water and shrinks when it dries, and over a San Antonio summer that cycle is severe enough to move a slab that was poured without the right preparation. Everything else in a house — the framing, the drywall, the door jambs that stop closing — sits on top of that decision. So a residential build here starts underground, with soil conditions and drainage, not with finishes.
The second thing that shapes a build in this city is water: where it goes when it rains, and whether your lot sits over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Parts of north San Antonio do, and that brings impervious cover limits and additional review that can change what you are allowed to put on the lot. Finding that out during design costs you a conversation. Finding out during framing costs you a redesign.
We handle the permitting through City of San Antonio Development Services, or through Bexar County when the lot is unincorporated. That includes the inspection sequence, which is not optional and not something you want to discover mid-build.
How we run a residential job
One crew, one point of contact, and a schedule you can actually hold us to. The trades that require a Texas licence — electrical, plumbing, mechanical — are performed under licence or by a licensed subcontractor, and we will show you who is doing what before work starts.
Concealed conditions are the honest risk on any build touching existing structure. Rot, undersized service, buried utilities, soil that does not match the report. We handle those by written change order rather than absorbing them quietly into a schedule that then slips for reasons nobody explains.
Recent work
Common questions
- Do I need a permit to build an addition in San Antonio?
- Yes. Any addition that changes the footprint or the structure requires a building permit from City of San Antonio Development Services, and separate trade permits for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work. Unincorporated parts of Bexar County permit through the county instead. We pull the permits and schedule the inspections as part of the job.
- How long does a room addition take?
- The build itself is usually the shorter half. Design, engineering, and permit review happen before anyone breaks ground, and that stage varies with the scope and the review queue. We give you a schedule with both halves broken out so you can see where the time actually goes rather than being told one number that slips.
- Why does foundation preparation matter so much in San Antonio?
- Expansive clay soil moves with moisture. A foundation that is not designed for that movement transfers it into the structure, which is why so many older San Antonio homes have doors that stick and cracks that reopen every summer. Getting the soil work, drainage, and foundation design right is the cheapest problem you will ever solve on a build.
- Is XTM Construction licensed and insured?
- Texas does not issue a state general contractor licence. The individual trades that do require licences — electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and abatement — are performed under licence or by licensed subcontractors, and we can provide those licence numbers on request. We carry commercial general liability insurance and can provide a certificate of insurance before work begins.