ADU Builder in Sacramento, CA
Detached backyard homes, garage conversions and JADUs. We check your lot, tell you what state law lets you build regardless of what the counter says, and show you the rent maths before you spend anything.
What We Build
ADUs only. It is all we build, which is why we know the code better than most counters do.
What It Costs and When It Pays Back
2026 Sacramento numbers, all-in — design, engineering, permit, fees, utilities and build. The payback line is the one most builders leave out of the conversation entirely.
$95,000 - $140,000 · Garage conversion, 400 sq ft
Slab, walls and roof already exist, so you are buying insulation, a proper floor, egress, a bathroom, a kitchen and utilities. Cheapest legal unit by a distance.
$180,000 - $260,000 · Detached, 600-800 sq ft
New foundation, framing, roof, full utility runs and a separate address. The commonest build we do and the one the rent maths below is based on.
$260,000 - $380,000 · Detached, 1,000-1,200 sq ft
Two bedrooms, sometimes two storeys. Above roughly 1,000 sq ft the cost per foot stops improving and the fees step up.
The rent maths, honestly
A 700 sq ft detached ADU in most of our neighbourhoods rents for $1,700-$2,200. Against a $220,000 build, that is a gross yield near 10% and a simple payback around 11-13 years before financing, tax and vacancy. It is a good long asset. It is not a fast one, and anyone showing you a 6-year payback has left something out.
What we cannot promise
That it adds its full cost to your appraisal — appraisers treat ADUs inconsistently and often credit well under build cost. Build it for the rent or the family member, not for resale.
State Law Now Overrides Most Local Objections
For years the answer to "can I build a small home in my back garden?" depended on which city you were in and who answered the phone. A run of California legislation has largely removed that discretion.
It does not make everything possible, and anyone telling you it does is selling. But it means a great many refusals people were given five years ago are no longer lawful — and it is worth knowing which of your objections are actually enforceable before you accept one.
- ✓Ministerial approval — a compliant ADU is approved without a discretionary hearing
- ✓Owner-occupancy requirements are largely gone for standard ADUs
- ✓Most parking replacement demands near transit are no longer enforceable
- ✓60-day review clocks: the agency approves, or explains itself in writing
- ✓HOA blanket bans on ADUs are, in the general case, void
Utilities Are Where ADU Budgets Break
The building is predictable. What is under the garden usually is not, and it is the difference between two of the price bands above.
The electrical panel
A 100-amp panel rarely carries a second dwelling. An upgrade to 200 amps runs $3,500-$8,000 depending on where the utility drop lands, and it is the single most common surprise.
Ask us to check yoursThe sewer tie
Distance to the main, depth, and whether it can fall the whole way. A long run under a mature garden can add $6,000-$15,000, and a pump adds maintenance forever.
Ask us to check yoursWater and the meter question
A separate meter makes billing a tenant clean but costs connection fees. A shared meter is cheaper up front and a conversation with your tenant every month.
Ask us to check yoursImpact and connection fees
Under 750 sq ft, state law exempts an ADU from most impact fees. Over it, they scale — which is why 749 sq ft is a surprisingly popular size.
Ask us to check yours
Prefab Is Not Automatically Cheaper
A factory-built ADU quote will often look dramatically better than ours, and sometimes it genuinely is. But the number on a prefab website is usually the box, not the project.
What has to be added is the same for everyone: a foundation, site preparation, a crane and the road closure to fly it in, utility trenching and connections, permit and impact fees, and the finish work once it lands. When those go on, the honest gap is usually five to fifteen percent — not the forty the headline implies. We will build you either, and we will show you both numbers side by side.
- ✓Prefab genuinely wins on schedule — often two to three months faster
- ✓It wins on a flat, accessible lot with good crane access
- ✓It loses on tight urban lots where the crane cannot reach
- ✓Customisation is where the saving disappears fastest
Backyard Homes Around Sacramento
How a Backyard Home Happens
Nine to fourteen months door to door. Half of it is paperwork.
Feasibility
We pull your parcel, setbacks, easements and utility locations and tell you what will fit, what it will cost and what it should rent for. Usually free, always in writing.
Design & plans
Six weeks to a permit-ready set including structural and Title 24 energy compliance. You own the drawings.
Permit
Submitted to the city or county. State law puts a 60-day clock on the review, and we hold agencies to it politely and in writing.
Build
Five to seven months. Foundation, frame, dry-in, utilities, finishes. Your garden is a building site and we will be honest with you about that.
Final & address
Final inspection, certificate of occupancy and a separate address assigned. Then it is a home, and you decide who lives in it.
What People Say Afterwards
The city planner told us on the phone it wouldn't be allowed. Tessarow sent back the section of the code that says otherwise, with the page number. Permit issued eleven weeks later.
They gave us a spreadsheet, not a brochure. Build cost, the panel upgrade, the sewer tie, realistic rent for our street and the year we break even. We nearly didn't do it, and I respect that they showed us why.
We had a prefab quote that looked forty thousand cheaper. Tessarow walked through what wasn't in it — foundation, crane, trenching, connection fees. It was about eight thousand cheaper in the end, not forty.
Questions Worth Asking Before You Commit
Can I sell the ADU separately?
In the general case, no — it stays part of your parcel. There is a narrow route involving certain qualified nonprofits and a lot split, and it does not apply to most people. Assume you are building an asset you keep, not one you flip.
Will my HOA stop me?
A blanket ban is, in the general case, void under state law. HOAs may still impose reasonable aesthetic standards. If yours has refused you outright, that refusal is worth challenging and we will point you at the relevant section.
Does it raise my property taxes?
Yes, but only on the added value — California reassesses the new construction, not the whole property. Your original assessment on the main house is not disturbed. Budget for it in the rent maths.
Can I Airbnb it?
Depends entirely on your city's short-term rental ordinance, and several local rules require long-term tenancy for ADUs specifically. We will tell you what applies to your address — but do not build one on the assumption that nightly rental is guaranteed.
What if my lot is small?
State law guarantees a path to at least an 800 sq ft ADU at 16 feet high with four-foot side and rear setbacks in most cases, even where local rules would say otherwise. Small lots are usually a design problem, not a legal one.
Do you finance it?
We do not lend, and we are wary of builders who do. Most of our clients use a HELOC, a cash-out refinance or a renovation loan. We will happily talk your lender through the drawings and the schedule.
Find Out What Your Backyard Allows
Give us the address. We'll come back with what fits, what it costs and what it should rent for — and we'll tell you if it doesn't pencil.
Check My Backyard
Address is enough to begin. We'll pull the parcel before we call, so the first conversation is about your lot rather than ADUs in general.
- Visit us1815 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95811
- Call us(916) 555-0142
- Email ushello@tessarow.com