Find the right ADU company for your project

We read your project type, zip code and notes, then follow up about next steps. Contractor matching is still being built, so this is not a quote marketplace and we cannot say whether your lot qualifies. Your details are not sold, and no builder receives them unless you agree.

No. Submitting the form is free and does not commit you to a builder, a design or a start date. You decide whether to talk to anyone and whether to hire.

An accessory dwelling unit is a self-contained home on the same lot as a primary house, usually with its own kitchen, bathroom, sleeping area and entrance. It is smaller than the main house and is a legal dwelling, not a room. Local definitions of what counts as a dwelling decide which rules apply.

There is no universal figure, and we do not publish one: the same building can cost very different amounts in two jurisdictions. The total is driven by size and wet rooms, construction method, site work and foundation, utilities, design, permits and fees, finishes and location. Get those lines itemized for your project.

Nobody can answer that from a web page, including us. It depends on your parcel's zoning, lot size, setbacks, coverage, height, parking and utility capacity. A preliminary conversation with your local planning department is the fastest real answer, and it is free. Be wary of any site that says you qualify without your address.

Yes, in essentially every jurisdiction. An ADU is a new dwelling, so it needs a building permit and usually planning or zoning review, utility approvals and inspections. Many places add design review and fees for permits, impact, utility connection, and sometimes schools or parks. Confirm the current requirements locally before committing.

The common forms are detached units, attached units, garage conversions, basement conversions, units above a garage, and prefab or modular units. Which are allowed, and at what size, is a local question: some jurisdictions allow all of them, some allow conversions but not new detached structures, and the conditions differ.

We do not publish a timeline, because it depends on your jurisdiction's planning and permit review, any design review, utility scheduling and the construction method. Prefab shortens building time but not review. Permitting is often the longest phase, the one you control least, and it starts after design is done.

Often, but the conditions are local. Some places allow long-term rental while restricting short-term rental, some require the owner to live on the property, and some have changed their rules recently. If rent matters to your plan, confirm the rules before you design, and treat projected rent as an assumption to test.

Where it is permitted, a garage conversion is often the cheapest route, because the structure already exists. The work is what a garage was never built for: insulation, floor level and moisture, ceiling height, egress, fire separation, water and drainage. You also give up the parking, and any parking requirement tied to it.

Modular usually means three-dimensional sections built in a factory to the same code as site-built homes, then craned onto a foundation. Prefab is broader: panelized walls, kits or flat-packed designs. Either way, the site work, foundation, utilities, delivery access, permits and connections remain a conventional construction job on your lot.

Look for completed ADUs and permitting experience in your jurisdiction. Ask for an itemized estimate with allowances, a scope that lists exclusions, insurance certificates you can verify, payments tied to milestones and a written change-order process. Then call references with finished, occupied units and ask what went wrong.