Portland ADU brings family together

Homeowner: Josh

Spaces: Home

With the passive rental coming in from their new ADU, these hardworking parents were able to cut back their hours at work and focus more time towards their children.

The income on our ADU has allowed for mom to cut back significantly at work and be more available to raise our two children.

It allows us to live like a normal middle-class family. My wife gets more time with our children and it feels like we have 1.5 salaries with the extra income.

Josh

The Backstory

Renting out an ADU is an excellent source of income, especially for highly populated areas where people are always looking for a place to stay. Whether you decide to rent short term or long term, you’ll find the extra earnings to be a great relief.

A note from the Maxable team: regulations on short term vs. long term rentals vary based on ordinance.

With the extra money, Josh and Keely were able to cut back their hours at work and focus more of their time towards their children

Preparing for the ADU

Taking on an ADU project requires quite a bit of research, but luckily there’s a multitude of resources and opportunities to help you learn as much as you can to prepare for the task at hand (take Maxable for example!)

Sitting down with someone who has successfully gone through the process is a great start. Get in contact with someone to get some advice and maybe even take a tour of their ADU to get an idea of the direction you want to go.

It’s a great opportunity to learn from their mistakes and connect with contractors and other professionals that can make your ADU experience as smooth as possible.

“Years before we made the final decision to build, we had taken an abbreviated course by Kol Peterson, which proved to be very eye-opening and useful.

We also attended an ADU tour which gave us ideas on which components we wanted to include in the design for our own ADU. Aside from that, we spent countless hours on the internet doing research.”

Maxable also offers free ADU planning phone call and a platitude of helpful online tools on our website.

Special Features

You’re essentially starting from scratch with your ADU, so take the time to really make it your own and add any special features and amenities that are important to you. Josh and Keely decided to focus their attention on making the space bright and environmentally friendly.

“Our architect chose to include advanced framing and blown-in insulation – which alone makes a huge difference in keeping the temperature inside pleasant without the use of too much energy to heat and cool. Otherwise, we chose energy star appliances.”

Adding energy-efficient features in your homes such as blown-in insulation can save you 15 to 25 percent on your energy bills. Consider adding these components to your ADU to further increase the value and cut costs in the long run.

Also, keep in mind that your ADU can be seen as an extension of your home, so make sure the design and layout fit well. Communicate with your contractor and designers so that they are able to recreate your vision as closely as possible.

“The way our landscape designer created a nice sense of flow with the pathways and plantings, along with privacy fencing has been a crucial component in making the ADU work within the confines of our backyard.

All of this accents the façade of the building with the tall roof with cedar tongue and groove under-siding contrasted by the darker color of the painted exterior siding. It turned out better than we imagined.”

Granny Flat Design Ideas

  • Optimize Natural Lighting – Using skylights and clerestory windows allows more natural light into the unit than traditional windows. This helps with makes the unit feel more spacious and you don’t have to turn on the lights as often.
  • Smaller Appliances – Having smaller appliances allows you to maximize space in rooms, such as the kitchen, where there tends to be a lot of activity. And allows the room to not feel as cluttered.
  • Stacked Washer-Dryer in the Bathroom – This eliminates the need for a separate space for laundry facilities.
  • Creating an Indoor-Outdoor Living Space – A cool design feature of this granny flat is its stacked fencing that separates the yard for the main house and the granny flat. It mainly looks like an architectural accent piece when it actually has a functional purpose.

Choosing Your ADU Team

Finding the right people for your project may seem like a daunting task, but Josh and Keely cannot emphasize enough how helpful their crew was throughout the project. Unsure of what to look for in a contractor? Check out our blog on ensuring you make the right choice!

“We were extremely lucky to have designers and builders who we really enjoyed working with. When you are working together on a project that is in your backyard, you definitely want to find people with good integrity and professional in what they do. We were lucky to find that in our team and highly recommend them to all.”

Qualities that your contractor should definitely have are:

  • Good listener
  • Communicative
  • Transparent and honest
  • Professional
  • Responsible

Having trouble finding someone with all of these qualities? Maxable can help match you to a contractor that fits all of your needs!

ADU Results

Josh and Keely’s ADU has drastically changed their lives for the better from the very beginning. The overall cost of their project reached $200k but with their ADU bringing in a significant extra salary and the cutback on childcare costs, the couple already feels like their ADU is worth every penny.

“The income on our ADU has allowed for mom to cut back significantly at work and be more available to raise our two children. It allows us to live like a normal middle-class family. My wife gets more time with our children and it feels like we have 1.5 salaries with the extra income.”

An ADU can bring multiple benefits to your lives depending on its use, like in the case of Josh and Keely, whose project brought them financial relief to spend more time with their family.

Other people use their ADUs for other purposes such as housing an aging member of their family or for downsizing when the extra space of their primary home is no longer needed. Whatever your intentions may be, your ADU will be a rewarding addition to your home.

Credits

Designer: Propel Studios

General Contractor: Shelter Solutions, LLC