
More and more people nowadays are interested in constructing an ADU on their property. The term ADU means “accessory dwelling unit.” Usually, it’s a small structure situated apart from your house with a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. You can live there in an ordinary house. Such a unit can be built completely from scratch or made from an already existing building.
It’s important to notice that ADUs can be very different. Some of them are created from old garages, and others are built from scratch in backyards. But any ADU, no matter what type it is, should contain one or more bedrooms. Also, they can have a bathroom, a kitchen, and so on. Many ADUs are divided into several zones.
An ADU can serve as a granny flat, giving you the possibility to care for your elderly parents or grandparents whenever they need it.
To make your ADU warmer in the winter season, consider installing a heating system inside of it. Even better if it’s connected to the central heating. Another good variant is to place a compact heater there or even a real fireplace.
In case you plan to make a granny flat for your elderly relatives, and at least one of them is wheelchair-bound, you’ll need special access provided to make it easier for this person to enter.
Lots of people fear constructing an ADU on their property since they suppose that it will be too large, expensive, or simply not needed. Of course, such a project will bring several inconveniences, but in the long run, it will be completely worth it.
To make things clear, we’d like to talk about the main pros and cons of building an accessory dwelling unit on your property — either an attached ADU or a detached ADU.
Accessory dwelling units have lots of advantages. Here you can see the most important of them:
But despite all of this, ADUs also have some drawbacks that the property owner needs to keep in mind before hiring a general contractor and ordering the construction.
The A+ general contractor company provides great solutions for constructing comfortable and convenient ADUs. Our skillful professionals know everything about their construction, its rules, and regulations. Moreover, we’ll help you to choose every material and get all the needed permissions required for the project.
Constructing any accessory dwelling unit, either an attached or a detached one, can be rather difficult — a simple cosmetic redesign of anything already existing is not enough. You’ll need such things as a new foundation, construction of walls, installed electric and plumbing systems, an attractive design, and plenty of others.
It means that such work projects require a lot of time, a wide range of skills, and special equipment. There’s a high possibility that you’ll make many mistakes that will significantly increase the cost of the construction and worsen its quality. So, it’s way better to hire a professional general contractor or an architect who will make everything as it should be.
Another thing that makes ADU construction so tricky is legal regulations. The owner will have to read tons of complicated laws that define every aspect – the biggest allowed size and height, parking places, and hundreds of other required things.
If you hire A+ general contractor to construct an accessory dwelling unit, you’ll get a team of skillful specialists with professional equipment that will fulfill all of your wishes. You’ll be provided with a high-quality, stylishly-designed construction that will meet all the requirements of Yuba City, from legal to fire safety.
Finding a really great, qualified general contractor is not easy. To do it, you’ll need to pay attention to several important things.
The main ones of them are:
In case you are searching for a great general contractor, we recommend you check out A+ Construction & Remodeling. This company constructs all types of granny flats, or ADUs, allowed in Yuba City. Its managers will take into account all of your wishes and ideas, even the most unusual ones, and create a wonderful ADU on your property.
A+ Construction & Remodeling has all the needed documents that confirm the excellent quality of its work. Also, this general contractor can boast an impressive, regularly updated portfolio and a whole community of loyal, satisfied customers. It can estimate all the potential costs of your project completely for free, which is an extremely helpful feature.
Below, you can read about the main services that are provided by this company.
Aside from ADU construction in Yuba City, we also do kitchen and home remodeling projects (also with a free estimate, of course). We do the installation of countertops, fixtures, and other required steps.
The value of an accessory dwelling unit in this state may vary from $270,000 to about $400,000. It depends on several factors, such as the general contractor, the place where it's going to be located, how good the materials are, the equipment level, the ADU type (attached or detached), and so on.
According to the California Building Code, an accessory dwelling unit in this state has to be a maximum of 16 ft in height, 800 square ft in overall size, and have rear yard setbacks of 4 ft. In addition to that, ADUs are allowed to include such areas as a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom, because they're considered to be houses too. Parking requirements vary in different towns and cities, and design options are limited mainly to historical places.
Yes. In this state, a permit application is compulsory for anybody who wants to build something new on their property. In some cases, things are even more difficult because several permits are required — such as building and zoning ones. The building permit costs approximately $15,000, and the price of the zoning approval is about $4,000.
Building an ADU has lots of important advantages, which we've covered in detail in the main article — especially when you hire a good general contractor. However, it also has some drawbacks, which you need to be aware of before hiring a contractor and getting the building process started. We've written about them in this article too. But in our opinion, the pros outweigh the cons greatly, so we think that it's really worth trying.