Apartments
with their own access
A basement or attached apartment with its own entrance, kitchen and bathroom. For rent that helps with the house payment, or for family who need a place close by.
What it takes to add an apartment
An apartment needs its own way in. In a basement that usually means a new entrance: digging down along the house, opening the foundation for a doorway, a footing and foundation for the entrance, concrete stairs, a French drain and the door. Not every builder will take that on. We do.
Inside, it gets a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom, built and inspected like the rest of the house. The people living there have their own way in, and you keep yours.
Andy started building apartments into his new homes when interest rates went up. Buyers could see how the rent would help with the payment, and those houses sold.
What the job includes
- A free visit to look at the house, the lot and where an entrance could go
- A new outside entrance with its own footing and foundation, concrete stairs, a French drain, the door and railings
- A kitchen and a full bathroom
- Bedrooms with egress windows, as the building code requires
- The building permit and every inspection
- One price in writing, and walk-throughs with Andy any time he is at the house
Attached to the house, not out back
Some people ask about a small house in the back yard. In Grantsville, a separate unit needs its own sewer, power and water lines run in from the street, which can mean tearing up the road. That cost is often what stops it. An apartment in the basement or built onto the house avoids most of it.
Each town has its own rules for a second unit. They get settled with the building permit, before any work starts.
Questions people ask
Who are these apartments for?
Families use them in different ways: a renter whose rent helps with the mortgage, a grown child getting started, or a parent who wants to be close without living in the same rooms.
Can it be a finished basement now and an apartment later?
It can, but adding the outside entrance after the basement is finished means tearing out work that is already done. If you think you might want an apartment someday, say so at the estimate, so the entrance and the plumbing are planned from the start.
Does it need a permit?
Yes. We pull the building permit before any work starts, and the work is inspected like any other part of the house.
Example photos, chosen to show the kind of work. They are not photos of Andy's own jobs.
Thinking about an apartment?
Andy comes to your house, looks at the space and gives you one price in writing. Tell him which project you have in mind.