The Ranking
Our top 5 general contractors in Houston
Hiring a general contractor in Houston starts with the house and the ground it sits on. Bungalows in the Heights and Montrose, ranch houses in Meyerland and Spring Branch, and newer homes in the Energy Corridor all age differently, and an addition or a whole-house renovation often turns up old wiring, galvanized pipe or settled framing. Flooding is part of the picture. In a mapped floodplain a large project can trigger the city's rules for substantial improvements, so ask about that before you sign. Many owners add a room, finish an attic or rebuild after water damage because moving costs more than renovating.
Two checks protect you. Texas has no state general contractor license, so the usual lookup does not exist for the company that runs your job. Instead, ask who pulls the permit and confirm the permit with the Houston Permitting Center. Electricians and air conditioning contractors are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and plumbers by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, so ask for the license numbers of the trades on your job and look them up. Ask every company for proof of insurance as well.
The five companies below work across the Heights, Memorial, Meyerland, Sharpstown, Bellaire, Cypress and southwest Houston. Some are owner-led shops, others are design-build firms with 3D renderings and written fixed-price proposals. None of the five prints a license number on its website, so do not skip the question. This is a short list on purpose: many Houston firms that rank well on Google are restoration companies, roofers, commercial builders or template sites, and we left them out.
