All Forum Posts by: John M.

Gladys,

I have done this before in the city. Turned a SFH into a duplex. You are looking at a very high price tag all things considered. By the book with permits, engineering, plans, utilies, etc...starting point probably 200k. Plan on exceeding that. Many factors to consider which require several different entities. All the best to you. Plan accordingly and align yourself with reputable people.

Chris,

10-15k is not outrageous in CA. Shop around. Plenty of single resource engineers who maybe work from home and take on one project at a time. Save a few thousand possibly that way. Upwork or freelancer are good websites to reach many PE's. Unfortunately CA is a toucgh market for construction related services. Have to pay to play. 

Christina, contractor here. From scratch new home in CA with all utilities and moderate finishes, plan on $500-800 SQFT. Many factors to consider.. ease of lot, site plan, title-24, solar, utility hookups, building design/features, etc. The 500-800 is a guide, could be more....unfortunately just depends. 

Sean. I am in CA. Just did a detached ADU at my primary residence. Yes, 60 days in the administrative time a local agency has to approve your plans and put building permit in your hand. CA has additional ADU laws which start tomorrow, Jan 2023. These laws allow for a total building height of 18' in certain circumstances. Advantageous for a two story ADU. A multi-family property can now also have an ADU added to the lot. To turn a SFR into a "triplex" you would most likely put a JADU in the garage and add a detached ADU in the yard. Check out the SB9 law, which allows for splitting your SFR lot. Main house can have an ADU and the new lot can have essentially 2 ADU's. CA has opened the flood gates for creative SFR ADU options.

Assuming you are PG&E. Plan on 5-10k. All depends on ease of install. Ie: trenching, access, easements, etc. I believe PG&E has a cost estimator on their website. I just built a detached ADU in northern CA. I opted to use the existing meter at the main house and not install stand alone meter for the ADU. Much more economical. Roughly 1k to splice off existing/trench/install/inspect/backfill.