All Forum Posts by: Paul Dashevsky

Bruce- No way your friend should pay 50% or anything close to that upfront.  See below one of my contractor's breakdown for a basic $55k project: 

1. Initial $7,536 will be collected for materials.  2. First progress payment of $15,100 plus any permit reimbursements will be collected after the addition’s footings are inspected and approved by the City of Los Angeles Inspector.   3. Second progress payment of $15,100 will be collected after all framing and mechanical is completed and inspected by the City of Los Angeles inspector.   4​. Third progress payment of $10,100 will be collected after drywall nailing is inspected and approved by the City of Los Angeles Inspector.  5. Fourth progress payment of $5,000 will be collected after cabinets are installed and countertops have been measured.  6. Final progress payment of $2,500 and lien release will be collected when all work is completed.

With regard to materials, you are correct, the more detail the better. They don't have to select everything upfront, but they can at least agree to an 'allowance' for each finish item...ie. $200 for bathroom faucet, $4/sf for bathroom floor tile, etc. Or, the contract can indicate which finish materials the owner will pay for themselves directly (and aren't included in the contract price). I have a checklist of construction scope and materials that go into an ADU...happy to share it with you.

I think permitting the garage into an ADU will be relatively simple in the city of Los Angeles, the location is grandfathered-in even if it doesn't meet setback requirements. Converting an un-permitted guest house is more complicated, you have to go through the series of steps outlined in this article by Maxable https://maxablespace.com/how-to-legalize-your-granny-flat/

However, my understanding is that you're only allowed one ADU per single family lot in Los Angeles, so you wont be able to do both. 'Third unit' is allowed as a JADU, but that has to be within the envelope of the main house.

From the Maxable ADU conference yesterday, here are the latest Los Angeles ADU interpretations & standards in a city memo dated Feb 27, 2020...FYI:

https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/ec892d01-7873-455a-8e15-78a771b2c7ac/ADU_Memo_2020_Final_2.26.20_(1).pdf

Check out page 3 of the attached link...its the latest interpretation of the state laws by the city of Los Angeles:
https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/ec892d01-7873-455a-8e15-78a771b2c7ac/ADU_Memo_2020_Final_2.26.20_(1).pdf

I would go 2 bedroom. the costs of adding one wall are insignificant and the rent will be higher. 10x12 is plenty big for a small bedroom...just make sure they both have closets.

My architect says she has processed several detached ADUs in Los Angeles...and city did not require solar. 

You have a good argument for it being 'grandfathered-in'.  Go see your planning department and go up the chain of command if you have to.  

Mark- Not sure what city you are in, but Maxable wrote a good article about the procedure to legalize an un-permitted ADU in the city of Los Angeles. maxablespace.com/how-to-legalize-your-granny-flat. This will give you some guidance, but I agree with Nathan...only way to know is go to the Planning department and Zoning (maybe Building & Safety also) and ask them. Make sure you're speaking to someone with knowledge/authority. I've found that sometimes you'll ask three people and get three different opinions, so dont be afraid to ask other staff the same question.

I love the ADU idea...its a 'cheap' way to create a duplex on your property. You need to start by figuring out what kind of property is ideal for an ADU in your area. Ie. do you need a big lot? Can you convert an existing garage to an ADU? Then make sure you know the costs of building an ADU and compare that to buying a second property. Also, think about the privacy issues...how will you divide the property so that both the main house and ADU maintain their own space and a good level of privacy.

Hi Chris-

When I did an garage conversion to an ADU in city of LA, the inspector didn't require us to do anything other than pour that footing under the wall thats going where the 'garage door' was. Because you're in Van Nuys...I assume you are on flat lot, so I would guess you also wouldnt have any further requirements. Your cracks are in the slab (not footings) and thats not a structural component, so inspector probably wont worry about that. However, you'll want to repair/fill your cracks before you put down flooring so that 1) your flooring is laid on a nice flat surface and 2) moisture doesn't penetrate from the ground to your finish flooring. Check out some other advice for ADU construction in my blog: https://www.greatbuildz.com/blog/garage-conversions-los-angeles/