Salmon Creek ADU Builder

An ADU is a building project that begins at the property line

Whether it's a backyard cottage, a garage conversion, or a basement unit, an ADU lives or dies on zoning, setbacks, and how the utilities connect. JDI Construction is a family-owned, Vancouver-based design-build remodeler, and we treat an accessory dwelling unit as exactly what it is: a second, independent home on your lot. That means the zoning and the utilities decide what's possible before the design does — so we confirm what your specific Salmon Creek property actually allows first, then design to it. Salmon Creek is unincorporated north Vancouver, near WSU Vancouver, a mix of established neighborhoods and newer suburban lots, and no two parcels answer the ADU question the same way.

Our designers and trades work as a single team, which means the unit you sign off on is built on what the site and the code will actually permit — we don't pass a hopeful floor plan to a separate crew and discover down the road that it won't pass. Below is the range of ADUs we build, what determines what's possible on your lot, and what to expect on cost and timeline.

The parts that matter most

An ADU is won or lost in a handful of areas, and most of them sit outside the four walls of the unit. Here's where we focus first:

A few decisions worth making early

The choices that shape an ADU come well ahead of any drawing. The first is feasibility. ADU rules — the categories of size, height, placement, parking, and fees — are set by the jurisdiction, and because Salmon Creek is unincorporated, those rules come from Washington and Clark County, not from Portland or Oregon across the river. What's allowed on one side of the Columbia has no bearing on what your parcel here permits, so we confirm your specific lot before anything gets drawn. The second decision is type and use — a garage conversion, a basement unit, an attached addition, and a detached cottage carry very different site demands, and whether you're building for rental income, family, or a workspace steers the layout. The third is budgeting for what you can't see: 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 nothing surprises you after design.

What Salmon Creek homeowners build ADUs for

The ADUs we're asked about in Salmon Creek tend toward a few clear uses: a rental unit for steady income, a private and accessible space for aging parents or adult children staying close to home, or a quiet office or studio set apart from the main house. Each use pulls the design a different direction — a rental leans toward durability and its own entrance, a multigenerational unit toward single-level, step-free living.

Because Salmon Creek is unincorporated Clark County, the rules that apply are Washington's and the county's, and they differ from what governs Portland-area lots — one more reason we start by confirming what your parcel allows rather than assuming. Whatever the use, we design a compact footprint to live larger than its square footage, with the daylight, storage, and ceiling height that keep a small home from feeling like one.

What does an ADU cost in Salmon Creek?

ADU cost is driven first by type: a garage or basement conversion that reuses an existing structure generally runs less than a detached cottage built from the ground up. After that it's size, finish level, and — the part homeowners most often underestimate — the site and utility work. Extending sewer, water, and power to a new dwelling, handling grading and access, and covering connection fees can make up a meaningful share of the budget, which is precisely why we scope it early rather than late. 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 figure reflects your project instead of a generic per-square-foot guess.

How long does an ADU take to build?

An ADU runs on three clocks: feasibility and design, permitting, and construction. Permitting a second dwelling tends to take longer than a remodel because it draws in both zoning and utility review, so we build that time into the plan rather than promising a quick turnaround. Once permits are in hand, construction depends on type — a conversion moves faster than a ground-up cottage. We give you a realistic schedule after the feasibility check, handle the permitting ourselves, and keep you posted through our client portal as the unit takes shape.

Why homeowners in Salmon Creek choose JDI

An ADU rewards a builder who knows the rules as well as the framing, because a second-dwelling project can stall at the permit counter long before a wall goes up. As a single accountable design-build team, we handle the feasibility, the design, the utility connections, and the construction under one roof, so nothing falls into the gap 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. Being just a short drive south in Vancouver, we're close enough to stay responsive through a project this involved.

JDI Construction — "Built by family. Trusted by neighbors." Design-build remodeling and ADU construction based in downtown Vancouver, WA, serving Salmon Creek and the greater Portland–Vancouver metro since 2007.