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On Lessons Learned from Planning an ADU
Aug. 16th, 2024 09:32 amPrologue:
1. An ADU is an Accessory Dwelling Unit. Think carriage house, mother-in-law apartment, etc. It's a an additional complete living space that has a separate entrance and duplicates features. The Twin Cities have, over the last decade or so, made it easier to add such spaces to one's city property.
2. We have been living for over fifteen years with our good friend, Cavorter. But as we all age, he has stated that the spaces he is currently in will not support him in his senior years. Either we need to make a better space, or he needs to move.
3. Our garage/shed floods every year. Like, over an inch of water every spring. It is also lacking in outlets for power tools and such. And the concrete floor is a crazy-quilt of broken uneven chunks. And squirrels live in it and leave poop on everything. And, more urgently, it was built in 1914 and the walls aare starting to require assistance.
4. Hence, we decided to investigate replacing our garage with a purpose-built structure for storage and projects, that includes an ADU for Cavorter.
The Planning and What We Have Learned:
1. ADUs are bloody expensive. Like, wildly expensive. If you build one and subsequently sell the property, the odds are vanishingly small that you personally will ever recoup your costs.
2. Architects and contractors who are willing/able to build these, working in very tight spaces on crowded urban plots, are specialists. Find. A. Specialist. Regular housing contractors may not be experienced in fitting large structures onto small lots. Regular housing contractors may not be current on the regulations and permitting for this type of build. Get a specialist.
3. You might be under the impression that the world is FULL of different sinks, stoves, countertops, shower heads, etc. This is nearly true. There are scads of things that are all almost identical. Household furnishings ride trends, and you may find that it is utterly impossible to put in the same fridge that you have in your home in the ADU because it doesn't exist anymore. And once you start looking at options that are *small* enough your choices are incredibly constrained.
*3. This is in the U.S. Midwest, and will highly probably be different in other areas.
4. It is challenging - not impossible, but challenging - to make a new-build structure that does not look like a hybrid medical office/gas station. Everything inexpensive looks like that. Everything that doesn't look like that is fucking expensive.
5. One must think about the tradeoffs between cost, maintenance needs, and aesthetics. We are going with a metal siding, despite its resemblance to a quonset hut even when powder-coated in a different color, because we are disabled and getting older and nobody is going to be able to repaint anything in fifteen years. And, yes, vinyl siding is a much cheaper option but it would kill my soul to look at it every single day in my garden.
6. Water, sewer, and power hookups can range from trivial to a goddamn nightmare. If you do this, consider adding an ADU inside or attached to your existing structures. We are ending up needing to dig up half our yard and I am highly peeved about it. I love my yard, goddammit.
At any rate, I have paid the 20% deposit and signed the contract. On August 26th demolition of existing structures begins.
1. An ADU is an Accessory Dwelling Unit. Think carriage house, mother-in-law apartment, etc. It's a an additional complete living space that has a separate entrance and duplicates features. The Twin Cities have, over the last decade or so, made it easier to add such spaces to one's city property.
2. We have been living for over fifteen years with our good friend, Cavorter. But as we all age, he has stated that the spaces he is currently in will not support him in his senior years. Either we need to make a better space, or he needs to move.
3. Our garage/shed floods every year. Like, over an inch of water every spring. It is also lacking in outlets for power tools and such. And the concrete floor is a crazy-quilt of broken uneven chunks. And squirrels live in it and leave poop on everything. And, more urgently, it was built in 1914 and the walls aare starting to require assistance.
4. Hence, we decided to investigate replacing our garage with a purpose-built structure for storage and projects, that includes an ADU for Cavorter.
The Planning and What We Have Learned:
1. ADUs are bloody expensive. Like, wildly expensive. If you build one and subsequently sell the property, the odds are vanishingly small that you personally will ever recoup your costs.
2. Architects and contractors who are willing/able to build these, working in very tight spaces on crowded urban plots, are specialists. Find. A. Specialist. Regular housing contractors may not be experienced in fitting large structures onto small lots. Regular housing contractors may not be current on the regulations and permitting for this type of build. Get a specialist.
3. You might be under the impression that the world is FULL of different sinks, stoves, countertops, shower heads, etc. This is nearly true. There are scads of things that are all almost identical. Household furnishings ride trends, and you may find that it is utterly impossible to put in the same fridge that you have in your home in the ADU because it doesn't exist anymore. And once you start looking at options that are *small* enough your choices are incredibly constrained.
*3. This is in the U.S. Midwest, and will highly probably be different in other areas.
4. It is challenging - not impossible, but challenging - to make a new-build structure that does not look like a hybrid medical office/gas station. Everything inexpensive looks like that. Everything that doesn't look like that is fucking expensive.
5. One must think about the tradeoffs between cost, maintenance needs, and aesthetics. We are going with a metal siding, despite its resemblance to a quonset hut even when powder-coated in a different color, because we are disabled and getting older and nobody is going to be able to repaint anything in fifteen years. And, yes, vinyl siding is a much cheaper option but it would kill my soul to look at it every single day in my garden.
6. Water, sewer, and power hookups can range from trivial to a goddamn nightmare. If you do this, consider adding an ADU inside or attached to your existing structures. We are ending up needing to dig up half our yard and I am highly peeved about it. I love my yard, goddammit.
At any rate, I have paid the 20% deposit and signed the contract. On August 26th demolition of existing structures begins.