Sherwood ADU Builder

Building an ADU in Sherwood means reading the city code before drawing a floor plan

An accessory dwelling unit is a complete small home (kitchen, bath, sleeping space, its own entrance) on the same lot as your house. That makes it a zoning question before it is a design question. The City of Sherwood allows ADUs in its single-family residential districts and regulates them under its own chapter of the development code, so what you can build is decided by Sherwood's rules and your particular lot, not by what a neighbor in Portland was able to do. JDI Construction is a family-owned design-build remodeler based in Vancouver, WA, operating since 2007, and we begin every ADU with that homework.

Feasibility, design and construction are handled by one team here. The plan you fall for has already been checked against setbacks, utilities and the code by the same people who will build it.

The order we work in

ADUs go wrong when steps are taken out of sequence. This is the sequence we follow:

1. 1
   

   Feasibility firstZoning, setbacks, lot coverage and any recorded restrictions on your property, checked before design time is spent.
2. 2
   

   Site & utilitiesWhere sewer, water and power will come from, how a crew and materials reach the build area, and where stormwater goes.
3. 3
   

   Designing for smallWindows on more than one side, built-in storage, and a layout with no wasted hallway.
4. 4
   

   PermittingApplications, plan review responses and inspections managed for you from first submittal to final approval.

What to decide before design

Who is it for? A unit for a parent should be on one level with a step-free entry and a bathroom sized for easy movement. A rental needs durable finishes, sound separation and a private approach from the street. A studio or guest space can be simpler. Which form suits the lot? A detached cottage gives the most privacy and needs the most yard and the longest utility runs. An attached unit shares a wall and some structure with the house. Converting an existing garage reuses a shell you already own, though the slab, framing and insulation have to be brought up to the standard for living space. And what is the full budget? Construction is only part of it. Utility connections, system development charges, engineering and permit fees are separate lines, and we list them early so the total is not a surprise.

What Sherwood homeowners build ADUs for

The reasons we hear are consistent: room for an aging parent or an adult child, rental income, or a separate place to work. What is specific to Sherwood is the land these units go on. Most of the city was built out as subdivisions during the 1990s and 2000s, so the typical candidate is a single-family lot with a house in the middle, an attached garage, and a fenced back yard of modest depth. On lots like that, an attached unit or a garage conversion is often the more practical route, and a detached cottage works where the rear yard is deep enough to hold it inside the setbacks. Many of these neighborhoods also have recorded covenants or a homeowners association, and those private rules can restrict a second unit even where city zoning permits one. We ask about them at the first meeting.

Lots in and near Old Town follow the older 1889 street grid and fall under the city's Old Town overlay, which adds its own standards, so an ADU there gets an extra layer of review. For any Sherwood address, we confirm the current requirements directly with the city's planning staff before design begins, because local ADU rules have been revised in recent years and may change again.

What does an ADU cost in Sherwood?

The form of the unit sets the starting point. Converting space you already have under a roof generally costs less than building a new detached structure with its own foundation. From there, the figure moves with size, the level of finish, and site work: trenching for utilities, upgrading an electrical service, grading and access. The City of Sherwood's fee schedule also includes system development charges, and whether and how they apply to your unit is something we check during feasibility. We hold off on quoting until we know what the lot allows and what you want to build, then give you an itemized estimate that separates construction, site work and fees.

How long does an ADU take to build?

Plan for three stretches of time. The first is feasibility and design. The second is review: building plans go to the City of Sherwood Building Department, electrical permits are issued by Washington County, and the city's review period is outside any builder's control. The third is construction, which is shorter for a conversion than for a new detached unit. We give you a schedule once feasibility is done and update it in the client portal as each stage clears.

Why Sherwood homeowners hire JDI

An ADU asks one company to be good at code research, small-space design, utility work and construction. Our team handles all four and stands behind the finished unit with a 5-year workmanship warranty. We are licensed in Oregon, bonded and insured. You should also know that our office is in Vancouver, WA, and Sherwood is at the opposite, southwest end of the metro. We travel there for projects and build the schedule around the distance, so site visits and inspections are planned well ahead.

JDI Construction. "Built by family. Trusted by neighbors." Family-owned design-build remodeling and ADU construction since 2007, based in Vancouver, WA, and serving Sherwood along with neighboring Tualatin and Tigard.