Adu Los Angeles: How to Retrofit Your ADU

If you have an accessory dwelling unit, aka an ADU on one of your properties that you’ve been interested in retrofitting, you’ve come to the right place. Simply continue reading in order to learn how to retrofit your ADU building to a high standard and how to choose a reputable company to handle your retrofit on your behalf. 

The two main reasons to retrofit your ADU:

If you live in Los Angeles or the wider California area, you may be aware that buildings that were built in California before 1978 are required to undergo extensive seismic retrofits, in order to ensure that they meet the state’s new earthquake-focused construction regulations. What you may not be aware of is the fact that ADU Los Angeles buildings or accessory dwelling units that were built before 1978 such as stand-alone residency units must also be retrofitted to ensure that they meet the same regulations. So if you’re currently the owner of one or more accessory dwelling units that were built prior to 1978, it’s definitely in your best interests to speak to a construction company that boasts talented engineers who’ll be able to retrofit your building for you, before the date that your ADU is mandated to be retrofitted. As unfortunately, if you fail to retrofit your accessory dwelling unit in time, you may be required to demolish it. 

The second reason that you may want to consider retrofitting your ADU is for your own peace of mind. Especially if you or your family members or friends currently reside in your ADU and you are concerned about what would happen to yourself or a loved one in the event of a serious earthquake. Especially due to the fact that the state of California suffers from a large number of earthquakes and even if damage to your unit’s structural integrity is not readily visible, damage to a building’s structural integrity can be accumulative and can cause your buildings’ structural integrity to deteriorate over time. So even if your accessory dwelling unit was built after 1978, it’s still well worth investing in a retrofit for your ADU. Particularly if you treat it as an investment. 

How to choose a reputable company to handle your retrofit:

Regardless of whether you are legally ordered to retrofit or demolish your stand-alone unit or not, it’s important to hire a reputable company to handle your retrofit. Your first consideration is to choose a company that employs several highly qualified engineers who are passionate about designing custom seismic retrofits for Los Angeles based clients. Secondly, it’s a great idea to complete your own due diligence and to look for unbiased reviews on your final shortlist of companies. So that you’ll be able to avoid selecting a cowboy company with negative reviews to complete your retrofit. As less than reputable businesses may try to overcharge you for their work and may not complete your work to a high standard. 

So what are you waiting for? If you are serious about having your ADU, aka your accessory dwelling unit retrofitted use the above guide in order to get started.