Process

If anything you read on this site piques your interest, we encourage you to give us a call. We offer a free phone consultation after which we will evaluate your property on line and can usually let you know whether or not any sort of ADU or DADU would work on your property. 

Assuming that you are allowed to build an ADU or DADU on your property, the next step is for us to do a site visit. The site visit generally lasts a couple of hours during which time we look for any constraints or potential problems. We then do any additional research we need to do and write up our findings in a 1-2 page document (see sample here) that you can use when interviewing architects and builders if you decide to go that route. The cost of the site visit varies based on location but is generally between $600 and $700. 

RSDB’s background in real estate investing makes us uniquely qualified to provide financial advice if you are planning to use your D/ADU as a rental. We have a very solid grasp of the rental market in the Seattle area, and based on the findings from our site visit, we can make recommendations regarding the best way to maximize your return on investment. We provide you with a spreadsheet that explores a variety of assumptions and options and presents you with the likely financial returns based on each possibility. Our cost for this additional service is $300. 

If you like what you see based on our site visit report and financial advice, we are happy to assist you with the design of your D/ADU. Our designs tend to be relatively simple, which typically makes them more energy efficient and cost effective to build. Design costs vary depending on the scope of the project but we can almost guarantee that it will be less expensive to work with us than with a licensed architect. 

If we work with you to design your D/ADU, the next step is to hire a structural engineer to develop the structural drawings (except in the case of very simple, small designs).  In the case of a DADU, you may also need to hire a geotechnical engineer to complete a soil survey for both structural and drainage purposes, as well as a licensed surveyor to establish your property lines.  We work with several structural engineers, geotechs and surveyors and can facilitate this process for you, or we can provide the completed architectural drawings and you can take it from here.

Whether you hire us to build your D/ADU or not, as a licensed general contractor, we can assist you with the permit process if we design your D/ADU. This process can be quite complex and often involves several rounds of review that can take up to 6 months depending on wait times at your local plan review office. 

RSDB is available to build your D/ADU when we feel we are a good match.  We focus on high performance builds that are cost efficient to construct. If you are interested in the cheapest type of construction that meets building code minimums, we probably aren’t a good fit.  In an effort to avoid costly, polluting commutes, we focus our build projects in North Seattle. Costs to build are negotiated on a case by case basis. With a brand new DADU, we can generally provide a fixed bid. With a basement ADU, we are more likely to work on a time and materials basis due to the potential for unforeseen complications.