ADU Before & After in Long Beach, CA
We’ve been designing, permitting, and building ADUs across Long Beach since 2015. Numbers tell part of the story - 900+ projects, every one with a written price up front. But the real proof is in the transformation: a garage that became a rental income source, a backyard that now houses family. Here’s what that actually looks like on the ground in Long Beach.
Recent Transformations
Garage Conversion ADU - Belmont Heights, Long Beach
The garage was a 1926 single-car structure with a cracked slab and no insulation. The owner needed rental income to offset a recent mortgage adjustment. We found the existing slab was 3.5 inches - thin, but within range for a conversion with a moisture barrier and floating floor system under Haven Standard Clause 3 (Existing Conditions Protocol). We designed a 420-square-foot studio with a kitchenette, three-quarter bath, and separate meter. The photo record shows the original rafters, the sistered joists, and the final certificate of occupancy. Rent started 11 months after permit submission.
New Detached ADU - North Long Beach, Near Houghton Park
This was a bare backyard, 6,200 square feet total, with an aging shed and a failing retaining wall along the alley. The client wanted a two-bedroom unit for her mother. We specified a Dvele modular system - factory-built to Long Beach’s Title 24 requirements, craned in over the existing fence line. The site prep included replacing 40 feet of retaining wall and running a new sewer lateral to the main at the street. Setback variance - the extra distance the city requires between the new ADU and the property line - was tight at 4 feet on the alley side, but we worked it through planning with a fire-rated exterior. The unit passed final inspection 14 weeks after module delivery.
Junior ADU & Interior Conversion - Alamitos Beach, Long Beach
A 1950s duplex with an underutilized master suite - the owner had been using it for storage since his divorce. Junior ADU rules in Long Beach allow a conversion within the existing footprint, no additional parking required, provided the owner occupies one unit. We separated the suite with a new exterior door, added a kitchenette with induction cooktop (no gas line extension needed), and brought the electrical panel up to 200 amps to handle the additional load. The photo record shows the original knob-and-tube we found in one wall cavity - not unusual for this era in Alamitos Beach - and the new conduit run. The owner now collects $1,850 monthly from a tenant who moved in three weeks after final.
ADU Site Prep & Utilities - Bixby Knolls, Long Beach
The client had a permitted set of plans from another designer but couldn’t get a contractor to commit to the utility scope. The problem was the sewer: a 60-foot run from the proposed ADU to the main, crossing a mature ficus root system and a concrete driveway installed in 1987. We trenchless-bored the sewer line to preserve the tree, then ran new electrical underground in Schedule 40 PVC. The water line required a 1-inch meter upgrade, which meant coordination with Long Beach Water Department - we handled the application, the inspection, and the tie-in. The client finished the ADU with a separate contractor but came back to us for the next project because, as he put it, “you were the only ones who’d put the utility scope in writing.”
Garage Conversion ADU - Signal Hill Adjacent, Long Beach
A two-car garage on a sloped lot, with the floor 18 inches below grade on the alley side. The owner had been quoted $40,000 more by another firm for a full foundation replacement. We brought in a soils engineer who confirmed the existing slab was structurally sound with a perimeter stem wall - we needed only a French drain system and a raised subfloor to meet floodplain requirements for this zone. The conversion yielded a 580-square-foot one-bedroom with a stackable washer-dryer. The written price before work started was $127,000 all-in, drawings through final inspection. No change orders. The photo record documents every phase, including the one day it rained hard enough to test the drain before we closed the walls.
New Detached ADU - Los Cerritos, Long Beach
A corner lot with an old pool the client had filled years ago. The soil was suspect - fill over clay, common in this part of Long Beach near the old wetlands. We specified a Plant Prefab unit on a raised foundation with helical piers rather than a standard spread footing, which would have required extensive over-excavation. The piers went in in two days, the module arrived on a flatbed, and the crane set it in four hours. The client received the permit set, the photo record, the written warranty, and the written scope - all four documents, every time, per Haven Standard. Her sister is now living in the unit and paying below-market rent that still covers the property tax increase.
Want Results Like These?
Every project here started with a free estimate, a written price, and no obligation. If you already have a written estimate from another firm, we’ll give you a free second opinion - no strings, no pressure. Call (562) 414-4842 to schedule your free estimate. A live person answers 24/7, and Nadia Ellery reviews every project personally before any work starts.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Long Beach, serving Long Beach since 2015.