Schematic design kicks off our process, following the American Institute of Architects' outline and serving as the foundation of Phase 1. Here, we begin shaping your vision, estimating costs, assessing feasibility, and exploring financing options, yet keeping everything flexible for easy tweaks. This early stage prevents committing to full project costs only to discover later adjustments due to budget or finance issues are needed. It's a strategic start, offering a clear yet adaptable plan, ensuring we're all moving in the right direction without overcommitting.

We believe in FIXED upfront fees and inclusive services. There is nothing worse than budgeting for one amount only to find out the price has crept up or the “meter is running.”

Start with our AI-ADU-Helper and get a preliminary estimate for our services, broken into two phases, where you’ll commit to them incrementally as needed. Final pricing will be determined after our discovery call when we better understand your specific needs, goals and property.

See the AI ADU Helper and speak with an expert for FREE, right here.

See our pricing page here.

We only take on a certain number of projects at any given time to ensure we can deliver!

Week 1: Schematic designs are delivered in as little as 7 business days from receiving your site conditions with typically another 1-2 weeks in design iterations based on your feedback/revisions requested.

Week 2-3: Title 24 and Structural is generally 1-2 weeks

Week 4-5: Finalizing design blueprints with permit application.

Plan for a total of approximately 4-5 weeks depending on your project size, availability and complexity. Project bidding is typically a 2 week process that occurs simultaneously with permit applications.

Anticipate your city/village requiring plan corrections and clarifications after their initial review. We do our best to turn around corrections within 1-2 weeks depending on complexity.

NOTE: we do not control the city/village permit review timeline and varies drastically by municipality. All durations are general estimates

Start with a wants and needs list and don’t be shy! Let’s talk about it all. In our Phase 1 we’ll set you up on our client board where you can see a checklist of items needed, share inspiration images and links, and prompts to start making informed decisions on your scope and design direction.

In general to get started you’ll want a boundary survey or old site plan to know the site limitations, a general scope of your needs/wants, and any inspiration.

Don’t stress, we guide you through this every step.

Yes, it is highly recommended to ensure your ADU is built within your legal property limits and not over any public or utility easement. It can be disastrous to find this out later (like when foundation is poured). HOWEVER, to keep costs low until you are 100% moving forward, this can be held until Phase 2, once you decide the ADU is right for you.

Note some cities/villages mandate a boundary survey. It will be determined in our Phase 1 Feasibility Study. If you have a complex lot it may be needed from project onset.

Check your closing documents, old house blueprints or contact your municipality, they may have one on file.

In Phase 1 we typically capture the necessary prelim site information from any documents you provide such as old plans, survey, etc., contacting the city and checking their files, and having you snap a few pictures and answer questions. In Phase 2 we’ll arrange a site visit if there’s any uncertainty. Site visits are only available in Orange and LA counties currently. Some restrictions apply based on location. Book a call for details.

No problem we can expedite the process and launch 🚀 your designs and blueprints. Start by booking a call here.