April 28, 2025
Can I Actually Fit an ADU on My California Property? (Spoiler: Probably)
How Long Does It Take to Build an ADU in California? The Honest Timeline
How Long Does It Take to Build an ADU in California? The Honest Timeline
- ADU Design & Construction
The real timeline for ADU construction in California: 6 months with prefab, 12+ months traditional (and why most companies won’t tell you this)
Hey there!
I’ve seen 8 homeowners lose their minds during ADU builds in the past 2 years.
The saddest story…
A couple in Palo Alto believed their contractor when he said their ADU would be finished in “just 4 months.” Two years and $85,000 in cost overruns later, they’re still using their half-finished ADU as an extremely expensive storage shed.
If you believe the 4-month timeline fantasy, you deserve the pain coming your way. The secret to ADU happiness? Realistic timelines from people who actually build these things for a living.
The LiveLarge Reality: 6 Months. Consistently.
At LiveLarge, we deliver ADUs in 6 months from contract to keys. This isn’t a one-time achievement we’re using for marketing – it’s our consistent average delivery schedule that we hit reliably.
We could promise shorter timelines to get you excited, but we’d rather set realistic expectations that we consistently meet or exceed.
Traditional Building Process: Why It Takes 12+ MONTHS
Even with the best contractors in the world, the traditional building process itself has inherent delays. I’ve worked with extremely skilled builders who still couldn’t overcome these systemic challenges. The traditional construction process typically takes 12+ MONTHS MINIMUM. Here’s why:
- Plan Set Revisions: The traditional process requires multiple rounds of design revisions. Each revision cycles through different departments and stakeholders, adding weeks to your timeline regardless of how efficient your builder is.
- Permit Processing: The California permitting process for custom designs is necessarily thorough and comprehensive. Even with perfect paperwork, permit processing typically takes 3-6 months due to the high volume of applications and rigorous review standards.
- Supply Chain Realities: “Sorry, those windows will arrive sometime between next Tuesday and 2027.” Global supply chains affect everyone equally – even the best builders can’t manufacture windows out of thin air.
- Weather Impacts: Traditional building methods are highly weather-dependent. Two weeks of rain can add a month to your timeline – not because contractors are incompetent, but because concrete and certain materials simply can’t be installed in the rain.
- Subcontractor Scheduling: The traditional construction model relies on specialized subcontractors who work on multiple projects simultaneously. This creates unavoidable scheduling complexities that extend timelines.
- Project Complexity: As custom projects evolve, unexpected challenges inevitably arise. These aren’t due to poor planning but are simply realities of custom construction.
Why Our 6-Month Timeline Actually Happens
Not all prefab companies are created equal. Some hit 6 months, others are shockingly worse than traditional builds. We nail the 6-month timeline for four specific reasons that other companies can’t match:
- 1. State Pre-Approval: The VIP Pass Our units are STATE PRE-APPROVED by California. This isn’t some minor detail – it’s a game-changer. We don’t need permits for the design, just for your specific site. This alone cuts MONTHS off your timeline while your neighbor is still trying to explain to the permit office what an ADU is.
- 2. We Own Our Factory Unlike competitors who beg third-party manufacturers for attention, we control our own production facility. When you go with companies at the mercy of external factories, your ADU becomes someone else’s lowest priority. We control every step of manufacturing because we own the place.
- 3. In-House Construction Team with Actual Experience Our contracting team is on our payroll with years of specific ADU experience – not random subs we found scrolling Craigslist last Tuesday. They’ve installed hundreds of our exact units and know our process cold. No “learning on the job” with your $200K investment.
- 4. Inventory Fast-Track Sometimes we already have your perfect unit built and waiting in our storage facility. In these cases, we can deliver in as little as 90 DAYS from signing to completion. That’s 3 months instead of 6. We don’t promise this upfront because we’re not in the business of disappointment, but it happens more often than you’d think.
What Can Actually Affect Your Timeline
Even with our streamlined process, a few factors can add time. We’d rather be upfront about these now than surprise you later:
- Site-Specific Considerations: If your property has challenging topography or requires significant clearing, additional site preparation time may be needed. Similarly, if there’s existing concrete or structures that need removal, we’ll factor that into the timeline.
- Local Permitting Processes: While our units are state-approved, local jurisdictions have their own important review processes. Some municipalities process permits very efficiently, while others have higher volumes of applications that can extend review periods. We work closely with permitting offices to keep your application moving forward.
- Tree Considerations: California has important environmental protection policies. If your project requires tree removal, particularly of protected species, additional permits and considerations may apply to ensure environmental compliance.
The Bottom Line
Could we technically deliver some units in 3-4 months? Yes, with inventory units we sometimes hit 90 days. But we’re not here to sell you a fantasy timeline and then spend the next year explaining why we missed every deadline.
We say 6 months because that’s what consistently happens with our process. Not what we hope happens in some perfect parallel universe where permits are instant and concrete cures immediately.
We feel extreme confidence in our 6-month timeline because of two key factors most companies don’t have:
- 1. We own our factory, giving us total control over production
- 2. Our contracting team is in-house with tons of experience – no negotiating with outside contractors who could care less about your timeline
Getting an ADU should make your property better, not your life worse. That’s why we’ve built our entire business around being predictable and transparent – because you deserve to know exactly when you can stop paying for that storage unit and start enjoying your new space.
Ready to work with a company that respects your intelligence enough to tell you the truth? Let’s talk timelines, designs, and turning that empty space in your yard into something that actually gets built this decade.
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