Malibu ADU services
Eleven services, one team. Some Malibu owners come to us knowing exactly which ADU type they want. Most arrive with a lot and a goal, and the right service becomes clear once we have looked at the septic, slope and coastal picture.
All ADU services
A separate cottage or guest house placed on the lot where septic fields, slope, fuel modification and coastal buffers leave room. Best suited to wider parcels on Point Dume, in Malibu Park and on inland Broad Beach lots.
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A wing, lower level or side addition joined to the main house with its own entrance. Often the answer for narrow beachfront homes and for hillside houses where the only flat ground is the existing pad.
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Turning an attached or detached garage into a legal home. No new footprint, no replacement parking under state law and usually a lighter coastal review than building something new.
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A private suite of 500 sq ft or less within the walls of the main house, with its own door and at least an efficiency kitchen. A strong fit for gated beach communities where there is no room to build outward.
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A living level stacked on the garage, which keeps work on ground already graded. Useful on canyon and hillside lots, with height, structure and view questions resolved during design.
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A unit built in a plant and craned onto footings we pour on site. Before you choose a model, we check its fire-zone specifications and the delivery route along PCH or canyon roads.
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New detached units and conversions of storage, laundry or carport space on duplex and apartment lots, as state law now allows. Septic capacity on these properties is checked first.
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Site analysis, consultant coordination and plans drawn around the septic area, slope, habitat and fire limits on your parcel, so the design survives plan check with few changes.
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Applications prepared for the City of Malibu or Los Angeles County, with coastal, Environmental Health, geology and fire reviews coordinated until the permit is issued.
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Foundations from slabs to drilled piers and beach piles, grading and drainage, septic connections and upgrades, water service, SCE electrical work and sprinklers where they are required.
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Compact kitchens and full baths planned for daily living, with water-efficient fixtures that go easy on the septic system and hardware chosen to resist salt air.
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The lot usually chooses for you. Narrow beachfront parcels in the Colony or along Carbon Beach point toward junior ADUs, attached units and garage conversions, because there is no room for a second building. Steep canyon lots in Las Flores and Big Rock tend to favor work on the existing pad: a conversion or a unit over the garage. Broad, flatter parcels in Malibu Park and on Point Dume open the door to detached cottages.
Purpose matters too. A unit for an aging parent benefits from single-level living and an accessible bathroom. A long-term rental needs its own entry, laundry and a full kitchen. A caretaker's unit may be best placed near the gate or the barn. We sort through these goals with you before recommending a type.
Three services sit underneath every ADU type. Design turns the site analysis into plans that fit the coastal, septic and fire limits. Permitting carries those plans through the City of Malibu or, in Topanga, Los Angeles County. Site work delivers the foundation, septic connection, water, power and drainage that make the unit livable.
Owners can hire us for any of these alone, for example to take over a permit application that has stalled, but most choose a single contract that runs from first visit to final inspection. Keeping design, permits and construction together means the people solving problems on paper are the same ones who build the result.
Four local conditions run through every service on this page. The entire city sits in the Coastal Zone, so coastal program review comes before ADU review. Most properties rely on onsite septic systems, which Environmental Health must confirm can carry the added flow. Much of the city faces very high wildfire hazard, so new work follows wildland-urban interface standards. And hillsides, bluffs and beaches all call for engineered foundations.
We plan for all four from the first meeting. That is why our service descriptions talk about septic and slope as often as they talk about kitchens and floor plans. In Malibu, those are what decide whether an ADU gets built.
Once the structure and systems are set, the interior determines how the ADU feels to live in. Kitchens and bathrooms take the most planning, both for function in a small footprint and for their connection to the septic system. We help owners choose fixtures, appliances and finishes that suit the unit's purpose and hold up in coastal air.
Finish level is one of the factors owners control most directly. A rental unit may call for durable, simple materials, while a guest house for family can match the main residence. Either way, we price finishes clearly so the decision is made with full information.
FAQs
Conversions of existing space, such as a junior ADU or garage conversion, usually cost the least because they avoid new foundations and grading. Septic findings can still change the picture.
Yes. We can step in at design, permitting or construction. We review the existing plans, reports and correspondence before committing to a scope.
Yes, including Topanga, which is permitted by Los Angeles County. The service area page lists the neighborhoods we cover.
Often yes. On a single-family lot, state law lets you combine a conversion of existing space, a junior unit within the house and a newly built detached cottage. Septic capacity and site constraints decide how many make sense.
ADU consultation
Fill in the consultation form with a short description of the property and your goals. Our reply arrives within 24 hours, by phone or email, with a suggestion on where to start.