McMinnville ADU Builder

An ADU is a home, not just a floor plan — start with the lot

An accessory dwelling unit can be a rental, a place for family, or a home office, but the first question is always what the site and the rules permit. JDI Construction is a family-owned design-build remodeler, and we treat an ADU as exactly what it is — a second, independent home — which is why we believe the smartest first move is confirming what your specific McMinnville property allows, then designing to that. In a town like McMinnville, where you'll find larger lots and newer subdivisions out toward the edges alongside the older homes near historic Third Street, no two parcels tell the same story.

Our designers and trades work as one team, so the unit you approve is grounded in what the site and the code actually permit — we don't hand a hopeful floor plan to a separate crew and find out later it won't pass. That single-team approach is the whole point: the feasibility, the design, and the build all answer to the same people.

The parts that matter most

An ADU has a handful of moving parts that decide the outcome, and most of them get settled before anyone picks finishes. Here's where we focus first:

1. 1
   

   Feasibility firstConfirming what your specific lot allows before any design begins.
2. 2
   

   Site & utilitiesGrading, access, and connecting sewer, water, and power to a new dwelling.
3. 3
   

   Designing for smallMaking a compact footprint live large with light, storage, and ceiling height.
4. 4
   

   PermittingNavigating the local ADU rules and inspections, handled for you.

A few decisions worth making early

The choices that shape an ADU come well before the drawings. Feasibility leads: ADU standards — the categories of size, height, setback, parking, and fees — vary from one Oregon jurisdiction to the next, and Oregon is broadly ADU-friendly without being identical city to city, so we confirm what your specific McMinnville lot permits before committing to anything on paper. Next is type and use — a garage conversion, a basement unit, an attached addition, and a detached backyard cottage each carry their own costs and site demands, and whether you're building for rental, family, or a workspace pushes the layout in a particular direction. Third is budgeting for what you won't see once it's finished: the sewer, water, and power connections and the system development charges that come with adding a dwelling. We walk through all of it up front, so the plan is built on real constraints rather than assumptions.

What McMinnville homeowners build ADUs for

The requests we hear in McMinnville tend to cluster around a few uses: a rental unit for income, a private space for aging parents or adult children returning home, or a quiet studio or office set apart from the main house. On McMinnville's larger lots and in the newer subdivisions there's often room to consider a detached cottage, while an older home closer to town may point toward a garage or interior conversion. Each use nudges the design differently — a rental leans toward durability and a separate entrance, a multigenerational unit toward single-level, step-free living.

Whatever the use, the discipline is the same: we design a compact footprint to live larger than its square footage, using daylight, smart storage, and ceiling height so a small home never feels cramped.

What does an ADU cost in McMinnville?

ADU cost is driven first by type: a garage or basement conversion that reuses an existing structure generally costs less than a detached cottage built from the ground up. After that it comes down to size, finish level, and the part homeowners routinely underestimate — the site and utility work. Running sewer, water, and power to a new dwelling, handling grading and access, and covering connection fees can claim a real share of the budget, which is exactly why we scope them at the start. With design and trades both in-house, we hand you an itemized estimate once we know what your lot allows and which type fits, so the number reflects your actual project rather than a generic per-square-foot figure.

How long does an ADU take to build?

An ADU runs on three clocks: feasibility and design, permitting, and construction. Permitting for a second dwelling tends to run longer than a straightforward remodel because it pulls in zoning and utility review, so we build that time into the schedule instead of promising a fast turnaround. Once permits are in hand, construction depends on the type — a conversion moves faster than a ground-up cottage. We give you a realistic timeline after the feasibility check, manage the permitting ourselves, and keep you updated through our client portal as the unit takes shape.

Why homeowners in McMinnville choose JDI

An ADU rewards a builder who reads the rules as fluently as the framing, because a project this involved can stall at the permit counter long before the first wall goes up. JDI is a Portland–Vancouver-area design-build team, and we serve McMinnville by traveling to reach you — we're not an in-town shop around the corner, and we won't pretend to be, but we bring the same single-team accountability to a Yamhill County lot that we bring to a project near home. We handle the feasibility, the design, the utility connections, and the build under one roof, so nothing gets lost between a zoning question and the crew on site. We manage the permitting, keep you informed through our client portal, and stand behind the work with a five-year workmanship warranty.

JDI Construction — "Built by family. Trusted by neighbors." Design-build remodeling and ADU construction serving McMinnville and the greater Portland–Vancouver metro since 2007.