Wood Village ADU Builder

An ADU in Wood Village is decided at the property line first

The hardest part of building an ADU usually isn't the construction — it's confirming what your specific lot actually allows. JDI Construction is a family-owned, Vancouver-based design-build remodeler, and we hold a simple belief about accessory dwelling units: a second, independent home on your property should be designed around the rules your parcel is subject to, not around a plan drawn in the dark. In Wood Village — a small east-county city tucked between Troutdale and Gresham, where lots tend to be modest in size — that early groundwork matters even more, because a compact site leaves less room for guesswork.

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. Here's what decides what you can build in Wood Village, along with what to expect on cost and timeline.

What decides what you can build

Before a single line is drawn, these four factors set the outer edges of what's possible on your lot:

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   Zoning & size limitsWhat your lot's zone allows for a second unit — in size, height, and placement.
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   Setbacks & coverageHow close to property lines and how much of the lot a unit can occupy.
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   Parking & accessWhether parking is required and how the unit is reached from the street.
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   Utilities & feesSewer, water, and power connections, plus the system development charges that come with them.

A few decisions worth making early

The choices that make or break an ADU come well before design. The first is feasibility: Oregon is broadly supportive of ADUs, but the details — size caps, setbacks, height, parking, and fees — are written into local code and differ from city to city, so what the City of Wood Village permits on your specific lot is something we confirm before drawing anything. The second is type and use: a garage conversion, a basement unit, an attached addition, and a detached cottage carry very different costs and site demands, and on Wood Village's more modest lots, setbacks and coverage limits often steer the decision as much as budget does. The third is planning for the parts you can't see — the sewer, water, and power connections and the system development charges that come with a new dwelling. We work through all of it up front so nothing catches you off guard once design is underway.

What Wood Village homeowners build ADUs for

Homeowners in Wood Village usually come to us with one of a few purposes: a rental unit for added income, a self-contained space for a parent or grown child close by, or a quiet home office or studio separated from the main house. Each purpose nudges the design a different way — a rental favors durable finishes and a private entrance, while a unit meant for family often calls for single-level, step-free access.

On the compact lots common in Wood Village, thoughtful siting and a smart footprint do the heavy lifting. We design so a small unit lives larger than its square footage — using generous daylight, built-in storage, and ceiling height to keep the space open rather than tight — while respecting how close it sits to the property lines around it.

What does an ADU cost in Wood Village?

ADU cost starts with type: a garage or basement conversion that reuses an existing structure generally costs less than a detached cottage built from scratch. From there it comes down to size, finish level, and — the part people most often underestimate — the site and utility work. Bringing sewer, water, and power to a new dwelling, managing grading and access on a tighter lot, and covering connection charges can account for a real portion of the budget, which is 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 figure reflects your project instead of a generic per-square-foot average.

How long does an ADU take to build?

An ADU moves through three phases: feasibility and design, permitting, and construction. Permitting for a second dwelling can run longer than a typical remodel because it brings zoning and utility review into the picture, so we plan for that time rather than pretending it away. After permits are in hand, the construction stretch depends on the type — a conversion finishes faster than a ground-up cottage. We lay out a realistic schedule after the feasibility check, carry the permitting for you, and keep you posted through our client portal as the build progresses.

Why homeowners in Wood Village choose JDI

An ADU rewards a builder who knows the rules as well as the construction, because a project like this can stall at the permit counter long before framing begins. As a single accountable design-build team, we handle the feasibility, the design, the utility connections, and the build under one roof, so nothing slips through the gap between a zoning question and the crew on site. We manage the permitting, keep you informed through our client portal, and back the work with a five-year workmanship warranty. Wood Village is a short drive from our Portland–Vancouver metro base, so we stay responsive from the first site visit through the final inspection.

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