A guest house, a rental, a place for family to land. A small building is still a building — setbacks, services, and a permit path entirely its own.
Before the finishes
Nobody goes looking for a contractor in the abstract. These are the three things we hear first, and what we do about each of them.
Size caps, height, setbacks, owner-occupancy and parking, answered in writing before design starts.
Whether you may let it, short or long term, is decided by the ordinance and sometimes by an HOA. It can change the design.
An ADU is a dwelling. It is permitted and inspected as one, not as an outbuilding.
The run from the main house for water, waste and power is priced off what is actually in the ground.
Separate or shared, decided by how you intend to use it rather than by what is easiest to install.
Waste needs a gradient. Where the unit sits is partly a plumbing decision.
Roof pitch, eaves, window proportion and cladding drawn from the main residence.
The single thing that decides whether a small building feels temporary or permanent.
Placed for light, privacy and approach, within what the setbacks permit.
Three ways to do it
A one-bedroom cottage, a studio with a porch, a pool house with a bathroom — all of them a dwelling with its own permit path, and all of them detailed to sit in the garden as though they were always there. The photographs are references for a treatment rather than our own projects.
Our process
Six stages, in order, with what you get at the end of each one. Nothing here starts until the stage before it is finished and signed off — which is the whole reason the schedule holds.
Zoning, lot size, setbacks, height and coverage, plus whatever the local ordinance says about accessory units specifically. The rules differ by jurisdiction and change more often than most.
A written answer on what is permitted on your lot.
Where it goes on the plot: access, privacy from the main house and from neighbours, where the sun is, and how services will reach it. Siting decides more about how an ADU feels than its floor plan does.
A site plan showing the unit, access and service runs.
A small building is an exercise in not wasting a square foot. Storage, ceiling height, and where the daylight comes from do the work that floor area does in a larger house.
Plans, elevations and a storage strategy.
Water, waste, power and heating run from the main house or brought in separately, and metered to suit whether the unit will be rented.
A services plan, and the utility applications where separate supply is needed.
Foundation and framing engineered and stamped, then submitted. An ADU is its own permit and its own inspections.
A stamped set, permit issued.
Foundation to certificate of occupancy, detailed to match the main house rather than to look temporary — because the resale value of the whole property depends on it not looking temporary.
Final inspection, certificate, and a closed snag list.
What’s included
Need inspiration?
Bring us the pictures you keep coming back to and our designers take it from there — working from the exterior style of the house, its proportions, its era and its materials, so every room reads as part of the same building rather than a set of separate good ideas.
One vision, carried through, inside and out. The image here is a reference for a treatment, not a photograph of one of our own projects.
Talk to a designer →What it takes
Every job is priced from its own drawings, so what follows is scope rather than a menu: what falls inside each level, in the order the decisions actually get made. The same three names run through our finish levels below, because the two questions — how much work, and to what standard — are answered together.
Priced at design
Priced at design
Priced at design
Same Queen Boss craftsmanship at every level. Scope and finish are what move the number, never quality of workmanship — and you get an exact figure for your own project after the walk-through and the drawings, not before.
Define the finish
Two rooms of exactly the same size can cost dramatically different amounts, and the difference is selections. Cabinetry, countertops, tile, fixtures, lighting, appliances, doors, trim and hardware all move the number. These three tiers give us a shared language, so when you say “a $50,000 kitchen” we can talk immediately about what that realistically includes.
A clean, well-built home using quality builder-grade materials — the right choice when maximising budget toward square footage and structure matters most.
Upgraded materials and brands throughout that elevate everyday livability and long-term durability — without moving into full custom pricing.
A full custom finish package with premium brands, natural materials, and designer detailing — built for clients who want the home to be a showpiece.
Per square foot, finishes only — excludes land, site work and structural. Same Queen Boss craftsmanship at every tier: the difference is customisation and material investment, never quality of workmanship.
Pre-construction investment
| Pre-construction stage | Scope | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Design & Architectural | Complete plan set: layouts, selections, construction drawings & renderings | $2,000 – $4,000 |
| 2 — Structural Engineering | Site evaluation, calculations & engineer’s stamp (if required) | $2,000 – $4,000 |
| 3 — City Permit | Plan submission & city stamp · permit fees billed at cost | At cost |
| Total pre-construction | Final range confirmed once scope & areas are set | $2,000 – $8,000+ |
Design, engineering and permit are priced separately from the build, so you can stop at any stage with a set of drawings you own outright.
Financing
A renovation is usually worth more than the house was before it. RenoFi is built on that: their lending partners underwrite against your home’s after-renovation value rather than what it is worth today, which is why the number they can reach is so often larger than a standard home-equity offer.
RenoFi is not a lender; it works with lending partners who make the loans. Queen Boss Construction is not a lender or a broker, does not arrange credit and takes no part in the application or the decision — we point you at them because clients keep asking who to talk to. All terms, rates and eligibility are between you and the lender.
What moves the number
We do not publish prices, because a price quoted before the drawings exist is a number that changes. These are the four things that decide it, so you know what you are choosing between.
Distance from the main house to the unit for water, waste and power. Trenching is cheap; rock is not.
Required for some rental arrangements, and a utility process with its own timeline.
Slope, soil and whether machinery can reach the location at all.
A guest suite and a long-term rental are specified differently, and should be.
In their words
Robert is a great communicator and we love working with him and his team.
Adam Peter S.They are always professional and strive to provide exemplary customer service.
Shannon L.Common questions
That depends on your jurisdiction's ordinance, and sometimes on whether the owner occupies the main house. We check it before design, because the answer can change the design.
Not always. It depends on the ordinance and on how you intend to use it. Separate metering is worth deciding early because it affects the trenching.
Generally yes, and more where the local market rents them. It is also the reason it should be detailed to match the house — a unit that reads as temporary appraises as temporary.
Also from us
Get started
A conversation and a walk through the rooms you are thinking about — no charge, and no obligation at the end of it.
