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ActiveYards Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Fort Lauderdale and want ActiveYards-compatible framing, decking, or structural components worked into the build, we handle that. Typical installed pricing for a home addition runs $45,000 – $130,000, while full ADU construction lands between $90,000 and $220,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and finish level. Most owners reach out after a contractor quotes them on a standard stick-built addition and they realize they want ActiveYards components specified into the plans, or after a previous builder couldn’t source the exact ActiveYards profiles their existing structure uses.
What we see most often in Fort Lauderdale: an owner has an existing ActiveYards pergola, deck, or screen enclosure, and the new addition needs to tie into it cleanly. That’s a matching problem, not just a framing problem. Wrong profile, wrong post size, wrong powder-coat color, and the whole addition looks like an afterthought. We’ll walk you through what’s compatible, what isn’t, and what it costs before anyone swings a hammer.
Which ActiveYards Models This Applies To
ActiveYards doesn’t make “addition kits” the way people assume. What they make are aluminum structural systems – posts, beams, rails, deck framing, and screen components – that get spec’d into additions, ADUs, lanais, and outdoor living structures. The compatibility question is almost always about the post profile and beam style: 2″×3″ square posts versus 4″×4″ heavy posts, flat-rails versus the sculpted rail series, and screen-frame extrusions sized for specific opening widths. If you have an existing ActiveYards structure, the wall-mount brackets and post-base plates tell us the series. Look for a small etched number on the inside face of any post cap or rail end. No number? Bring us a photo and a measurement across the post face. We can identify most series from those two details.
OEM versus aftermarket for ActiveYards: for structural posts and beams, we spec OEM or a manufacturer-approved equivalent every time. The aluminum wall thickness on ActiveYards structural posts runs between .062″ and .090″ depending on the series, and a cheap aftermarket post with thinner walls will flex in a hurricane. In Fort Lauderdale, that’s not a cosmetic concern. For non-structural trim pieces and screen spline, quality aftermarket works fine and saves money. We stock ActiveYards-compatible post caps, rail brackets, and screen extrusions on the truck for common series. Oddball series get ordered, usually 5 – 7 business days out.
Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale is an independent contractor and not affiliated with ActiveYards. We also work with components from KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone on the interior side of home additions.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Existing Structure Needs Attention Before You Add On
If there’s already an ActiveYards structure on the property, and you’re tying a room addition or ADU into it, we check these five things before quoting the addition itself:
- Post deflection under load. If the post shifts more than 1/8″ when you push on it at chest height, the base plate is corroded or the post wasn’t anchored for Fort Lauderdale wind loads. You cannot tie a new roofline into a post like that.
- White powder or pitting at post bases. Salt air near the Intracoastal eats aluminum bases faster than most owners expect. We see it on homes within a mile of the water. The structure may still hold, but its lifespan just dropped significantly.
- Screen spline that’s brittle and pulling out. UV exposure in South Florida breaks down spline in about 4 – 6 years. If the screens pull out of the extrusions with light pressure, the whole frame needs re-screening before the addition gets enclosed.
- Rail brackets with vertical cracks at mounting holes. That’s fatigue failure, usually accelerated by the structure settling. Brackets are cheap; the damage they do when they let go is not.
- Gaps between the existing slab and the post line. In Fort Lauderdale, oversized gaps mean water is pooling at the base every rain event, which means the concrete anchor is working loose. You don’t pour a new addition slab adjacent to a foundation that’s currently shifting.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full home addition in Fort Lauderdale with ActiveYards-compatible structural components, expect $45,000 – $130,000. ADU construction runs $90,000 – $220,000. That’s the all-in range for the addition itself: plans, permits, foundation, framing, ActiveYards structural components, electrical rough-in, drywall, flooring, and finishes at the level you choose. Small additions that don’t require new foundation work or full bath rough-ins land at the lower end. Second-story additions, ADUs with kitchens and baths, or anything tying into an existing ActiveYards structure that needs repair first pushes toward the top.
Every quote is line-itemed, and the price is written before work starts. If the scope doesn’t change, the invoice doesn’t change. We pull permits, we pass inspections, and the work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if it’s not done right, we make it right.
DIY or Call Us?
You can check the serial etchings, snap photos of post caps and brackets, and measure post faces to help us identify your ActiveYards series. That saves time on the quote. You should not attempt to remove load-bearing posts, re-anchor base plates, or cut and re-hang aluminum beams. ActiveYards structural aluminum is under constant tension when installed, and releasing a post without temporary bracing drops whatever that post was holding. In Fort Lauderdale, everything above you was engineered for 170+ mph wind loading. Don’t experiment with it. We’ve fixed additions where a homeowner pulled one post because “it looked loose” and the beam cracked the next day.
If you’re planning a home addition and want ActiveYards components spec’d correctly the first time, call (754) 354-7423. Luca Romano will walk the site with you and give you a written number, not a ballpark that drifts.
FAQs
ActiveYards aluminum structural posts and beams typically last 20 – 30 years in Fort Lauderdale’s salt air, with visible corrosion on fasteners and base plates appearing within 5 – 8 years on water-adjacent properties. Fasteners fail before the aluminum does, which is why we replace hardware as part of every addition tie-in. Call (754) 354-7423 for a condition assessment.
Yes, when the posts and beams are structurally sound, we repair brackets, re-secure base plates, and re-screen without swapping the whole system. If posts are corroded through or the frame is out of square beyond 1/4″ over 8 feet, replacement is the honest call. An inspection gives you the answer in writing.
Specification and ordering for ActiveYards structural components takes about 5 – 7 business days once we have measurements. The addition itself runs on its own timeline, typically 8 – 16 weeks for a standard room addition and 4 – 8 months for a full ADU depending on permit review in Fort Lauderdale.
We stock common post caps, rail brackets, screen extrusions, and spline for the ActiveYards series we see most in Fort Lauderdale. Uncommon series get ordered and arrive within a week. Call (754) 354-7423 with your series number and we’ll confirm before your estimate.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner & Lead Contractor, Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale at Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
