Find out what your city's rules allow on your property.
Get a free, facts-based property check using published city and county records. If you decide to move forward, DFW Backyard Homes can help you find and connect with suitable local professionals.
No sales call required. Your information is not shared unless you ask for help.
What is an ADU?
A small, independent home on your lot — kitchen, bath, living, sleep — built to the same code as a site-built house. (Not a mobile home or trailer: modular homes are built to the IRC, the same code as site-built houses, while HUD-code manufactured units are a different category. Cities generally treat modular the same as site-built.)
What the free property check includes
- Whether the city generally permits an ADU
- The published maximum size, or the formula used to calculate it
- The city's lot-coverage ceiling — the separate limit that can cut that maximum
- The published setback rule for accessory buildings
- County appraisal-district property facts (lot, home, year, use)
- Lot-size minimum: pass or fail
- Zoning or planned-development (PD) indicators
- FEMA flood-map context
What it cannot confirm: where your property lines actually run on the ground, utility easements, HOA or deed restrictions, trees, pools, drainage, slope, or buildable placement. Any of these can shrink — or eliminate — the usable area. A builder or surveyor confirms them on site.
What might city rules allow?
Compact studio
~400–450 sq ft
One open room plus a bath and kitchenette. Often used for an aging parent, a guest suite, or a home office with a bathroom.
One-bedroom ADU
~600–650 sq ft
A separate bedroom, full kitchen, and a full bath — the size most often discussed for long-term occupancy.
Two-bedroom ADU
~750–800 sq ft
At or near the ceiling many cities allow. Usually only possible on larger lots, and only where the city's size rule permits it.
These are common planning examples, not DFW Backyard Homes models or guaranteed options. The rule-based upper bound depends on your city, zoning, lot, and existing home. Actual placement must be verified on site.
How it works
STEP 1 · FREE
Check your property
60 seconds. See what your city's published rules say about a backyard home at your address — with citations, not guesswork. No catch, no sharing.
STEP 2 · FREE
Request help when you're ready
Submit your details — first name, last name, phone, email, and your property address — and someone from Srikrishnas Ventures LLC, d/b/a DFW Backyard Homes, will contact you within 1 business day.
STEP 3 · WHEN READY
Meet suitable local professionals
We coordinate the search and ask your permission before sharing your information or making an introduction. Once builders are signed partners, they'll be listed by name and you confirm each introduction.
Builders may pay DFW Backyard Homes a referral fee when a project moves forward. Checking your property remains free. See how it works →
Cities currently covered by our property checker
Coverage means we maintain city-specific public-rule guidance. It does not mean every property qualifies, or that a builder is currently available in every city.