7 Things To Consider Before Building An ADU

• Who I Need to Hire?

So one of the questions that people ask is should I hire an architect, do I need to hire a soils engineer, do I need to hire a civil engineer, do I need a structural engineer, and what's this Title 24 process that the cities talk about? Do I need to hire a Title 24 processor? So let's provide you with answers to these how these process works are when a customer comes to us and wants to build an ADU on their garage, we basically provide a consultation service we go to the lot, we take certain measurements, we make sure that the project would comply with the city's rules and then we can engage a designer or an architect with the customer. Usually, the way we design the structures we don't need a structural engineer, we can do what's called “conventional building” and we don't need a structural engineer and we can start the city process after that. A civil engineer or a soil engineer is rarely needed if the city has certain requirements, then we can engage those. We do need Title 24 certifications so we engage with a Title 24 processor who gets that certification for that particular ADU for each of these projects. 

• What Is The Maximum Size of an ADU?

People also usually ask us what could be the maximum square footage of the Adu that they can build. It depends on your city's requirements, certain cities have a minimum, certain cities have a maximum, certain cities will say that the size of the ADU depends on the size of the lot, certain cities say you have to look at the floor area ratio of the existing dwelling and whatever the floor area ratio remains where your load size can be used for the ADU. Certain cities say the ADU cannot be more than 50% of the square footage of the backyard, certain cities say the ADU square footage cannot be more than 50% of the primary dwelling so the answer is it depends on which city you are in.

• How Do I Get A Permit?

Another question people ask us is how do I deal with my city and get a permit. A construction permit for the ADU when you first go to the Planning Department have a preliminary discussion with them and they'll look at whether you comply with the ADU requirements or not and then your project can move forward. The city will ask you for certain drawings and you submit those drawings and then your project moves from planning to building and eventually you get a permit. For hassle-free projects, contact us and we will streamline that process for you, get you all the right documents for your city and make sure that your ADU project complies with your city requirements. We can really speed up this process for you, we do that all the time.

• How Do I Get Utilities Set Up?

How do I bring utilities to the ADU? How does that happen? Well, you need four types of utility connections for your ADU, water connection, sewer connection, electricity connection, and gas connection if you want to use gas in your ADU. It's done through trenching, there are certain specifications for what size the water pipe you should use, what should be the size of sewer pipes, gas pipes, and so on. 

• Do I Need Separate Gas and Electric Meters?

Should you have separate electric meters and gas meters for the ADU? The answer again is, it depends if you want to use your ADU as a renter and want to have separate billing for your renters and separate gas meters. You can certainly do that, just keep in mind that it adds another layer of complexity to your project and it may potentially delay the project because of the utility company that may be involved.

• Do I Need To Upgrade My Electric Panel?

Will I have a hundred amp electric panel in the house? Do I need to upgrade the electric panel to build an ADU? The answer is more than likely yes, the hundred amp panel there is sufficient for your primary dwelling. For an ADU, you'd usually need another 86 to 92 amps so you need to at least upgrade your 100 amp electric panel to 200 amps. If you have a workshop in your garage, you're certain building equipment or certain other equipment you may need to upgrade to electric panels to more than 200 amps, so it depends. 

• What’s the Most Efficient ADU Design?

How do I choose amongst various options? What type of flooring should I get? What type of cabinets should I get? What type of stone should I get for my countertops? What will I do for electricity? Plumbing? What should be the color of the walls, should I put tiles in the bathroom? What should be the shower pan in the bathroom? For this particular question, we’re confident that Eano Home Renovation could help you. Since we are backed with a string of successful ADU projects in the past, we can suggest a wide array of ADU designs that would match your taste.