Woodland ADU Builder

A second home on your Woodland lot begins with three questions

Can it be permitted, can it be served, and where does it sit? Until those three are answered, a floor plan for an accessory dwelling unit is only a sketch. Permitting depends on the zoning and site rules that apply to your parcel. Service means water, sewer or septic, and power for what is legally a second dwelling. Siting covers setbacks, access, privacy and, in parts of Woodland, the Lewis River floodplain. JDI Construction is a family-owned design-build remodeler based in Vancouver, and we work through that feasibility with you before design starts, so the unit we draw is one that can be built.

One team handles the research, the design and the construction. The person who learns what your lot allows is in the same conversation as the people drawing and pricing the unit, which keeps optimism out of the plans.

Types of ADUs we build

The term covers four quite different projects, and your lot and existing buildings often narrow the choice before budget does:

1. 1
   

   Detached (DADU)A separate small house in the yard with its own foundation and utilities, offering the most privacy and asking the most of the site.
2. 2
   

   Attached ADUNew space built onto the main house, sharing a wall while keeping a private entry, kitchen and bathroom.
3. 3
   

   Garage conversionAn existing garage insulated, plumbed and finished as a dwelling, reusing the shell and slab you already own.
4. 4
   

   Basement / interiorA self-contained unit carved from lower-level or other existing interior space, with separate access.

A few decisions worth making early

Decide who the unit is for, because that settles more than any other choice. A parent moving in points toward a single level, wide doorways and a step-free entry close to the main house. A long-term rental points toward durable finishes, sound separation and an entrance that does not cross your patio. A guest suite or office can be smaller and simpler. Next, look at what you already have. A sound garage or a large unused room can become a unit for less than building new, though it has to be brought up to dwelling standards for insulation, egress and fire separation. Then put the unseen costs on the table: trenching for utilities, connection and impact fees charged on a new dwelling, and any upgrade to the electrical service. These vary more from lot to lot than the building does, so we scope them before the design goes far.

What Woodland homeowners build ADUs for

Family is the most common reason people give for wanting an ADU: space for aging parents, for an adult child, or for the owners themselves to move into later while the main house is used differently. Rental income and a detached workspace come next. Woodland is a small city that is mostly made up of single-family houses, around 69 percent of its housing by the city's count, so a well-placed second unit is one of the few ways to add a smaller home to an established lot.

The rules are local, and in Woodland "local" needs sorting out. The town spans the Cowlitz and Clark county line, with most of the city on the Cowlitz side, and many properties with a Woodland address are outside the city limits and governed by a county. Inside the city, the Building Division reviews ADU permits, and Washington's House Bill 1337 has required cities planning under the Growth Management Act to open single-family lots to accessory units, so local standards have been changing. We read the code in force for your parcel at the time you apply, not a summary from a few years back. Floodplain status is the other early check. A substantial part of the city east of I-5 is in a mapped FEMA floodplain where new living space goes through a floodplain review, while other neighborhoods are protected by the dike or lie outside the 100-year floodplain. Outside the sewer service area, a septic system has to be evaluated for the added dwelling.

What does an ADU cost in Woodland?

Three things set the cost. The first is type: converting a structure you already have generally costs less than a new detached building with its own foundation, shell and services. The second is size and finish level, as with any home. The third is the site, which is where estimates most often go wrong. Utility runs, grading, access for equipment, and the fees a jurisdiction charges for a new dwelling can add up to a significant part of the budget and differ sharply between two lots on the same street. We establish those items during feasibility and then give you an itemized plan, so the number you see already includes them.

How long does an ADU take to build?

The calendar has three stages, and construction is only the last. Feasibility and design come first. Permit review follows, and for a new dwelling it can involve zoning, utilities and, on some Woodland parcels, floodplain review. Then comes the build, which is quicker for a conversion than for a detached unit that starts with excavation. We give you a realistic schedule once feasibility is done, manage the applications, and post progress in the client portal throughout.

Why homeowners in Woodland choose JDI

An ADU is part research project and part home construction, and it goes smoothly when one accountable team does both. We are licensed, bonded and insured in Washington, we handle permits and project management, and our workmanship carries a 5-year warranty. Woodland is north of us, about 20 miles up I-5 from Vancouver and at the outer edge of our service area. We say so plainly, and we plan the job accordingly.

JDI Construction. "Built by family. Trusted by neighbors." Design-build remodeling and ADU construction based in downtown Vancouver, WA, serving Woodland, La Center, Ridgefield and the wider Portland and Vancouver metro since 2007.