Johnson County Remodeling | Burleson and Cleburne Houses

Johnson County Housing

Johnson County south of Fort Worth counted 179,927 people in 2020. The seat is Cleburne. It took that role after the county was split in 1866 and the western half became Hood County. The first settler, Henry Briden, built a log cabin on the Nolan River in 1849. That cabin still stands along SH 174 in Rio Vista. I-35W, US 67, US 287, SH 174 and the Chisholm Trail Parkway connect the county to Fort Worth.

The housing is older than Denton or Collin County. About 13 percent of the homes were built before 1970, 42 percent between 1970 and 1999, and 45 percent in 2000 or later. Burleson and Cleburne are the largest cities. Joshua, Alvarado, Keene, Godley, Grandview and Rio Vista follow, and parts of Crowley, Mansfield, Venus and Fort Worth reach into the county.

Old Houses and New Subdivisions

Cleburne holds the old stock: frame houses from the early 1900s through the 1950s around the downtown historic district, plus 1970s slab ranches in Westhill. A remodel on the frame houses covers the whole house, including leveling, rewiring and new drains. Burleson is the opposite. More than half of its houses were built after 2000, and the work there is a kitchen update, a garage bay converted or a covered patio added. Between the two cities, and out toward Joshua and Godley, houses sit on acreage with septic systems and room for an addition on any side.

Whole-house renovations on Cleburne's older streets
Kitchen upgrades in Burleson's newer houses
Garage conversions in the three-car subdivisions
Additions on acreage lots

Permits in Johnson County

Inside the cities, the City of Cleburne Building Permits and Services department and the City of Burleson Building Permits and Inspections department each permit remodels, and both treat paint, carpet, cabinets and trim as cosmetic work that needs no permit. Outside the city limits, Johnson County Development Services issues development permits for new construction in the unincorporated areas as part of its floodplain management role, and it issues permits for on-site sewage facilities, which is where a bathroom added to a house on septic comes in. The Central Appraisal District of Johnson County holds the property records for the whole county.

Common Johnson County Remodels

In Cleburne the usual plan covers kitchen, baths, floors and wiring together. Original oak or pine floors are sanded and finished where they are sound. The storefronts on the square get drop ceilings removed and the space built out for restaurants and upstairs apartments. In Burleson it is cabinets refaced or replaced, quartz, a tile primary shower, a third garage bay turned into a bedroom, and a screened patio with a fireplace. On the acreage it is a bedroom and bath wing, a detached shop with a bathroom, or a custom home on a lot the family already owns. Siding, porches and windows on the frame houses and flooring on everything else fill out the list.

Cities We Serve in Johnson County

Recent Work

Photos from jobs across Dallas-Fort Worth.

Marble look tile shower with a recessed niche, rain head and black grab bar

Green and white kitchen with wall oven tower and range hood

Old insulation and framing exposed before new walls go in

White subway tile shower with black hex floor and new vanity

Common Questions

Which part of Johnson County has the oldest houses?

Cleburne, around the downtown historic district that was listed on the National Register in 2018. About 18 percent of Cleburne's houses date from before 1960. The county as a whole has 13 percent of its homes from before 1970. That is three times the share in Denton or Collin County.

Who permits a remodel on acreage outside Burleson or Cleburne?

Johnson County Development Services, for anything in the unincorporated county. It issues development permits before construction begins, with floodplain checks where the FEMA maps call for them, and it permits septic systems. Inside Burleson or Cleburne, that city's building department takes over.

Does adding a bathroom on a septic lot involve the county?

Yes. Johnson County Development Services issues the permits for on-site sewage facilities and inspects them. A new bathroom on a septic system means the system gets checked for capacity, and the county permit comes with the addition. Houses on city sewer in Burleson or Cleburne skip that step.

What are the newer Johnson County subdivisions like to remodel?

Burleson's Mountain Valley and Hidden Creek are one-story and two-story brick houses on slabs with open plans and three-car garages. The work is finish-level: cabinets, quartz, a tile shower, plank over the slab, paint, plus a garage bay converted or a covered patio added. No walls move and the slab stays whole.

Johnson County Remodeling Contractor