Custom Duplex ADU Build in Oak Park
Layout
2 units: both 2br/1ba
Size
Both 810 sq. ft.
Location
Oak Park, San Diego, CA
Service
Build From Approved Plans
Status
In Progress
A ground-up detached duplex ADU on a single-family lot in San Diego's Oak Park neighborhood. Two side-by-side, single-story units at 810 square feet each, two bedrooms and one bathroom per unit, making full use of the backyard within allowable setbacks. The homeowners came to us with custom architectural plans already drawn up and approved, and a competing bid in hand. Construction started in late January 2026 and is on track to wrap up in late spring.
Project Overview
The homeowners had already spent time and money getting their two-unit A.D.U. plans drawn up and approved with the City. By the time they started calling builders, they weren't looking for design help. They were looking for someone to execute the plans they already had, do it well, and not try to rework the project into something different.
Their project manager had driven past our office by 70th St & El Cajon Blvd a few times, which is how TrueBuild ended up on their shortlist. They wanted a smaller local company that could match the quality of a bigger ADU builder without the premium on cost and time, with the owner personally involved in the build instead of a rotating cast of project coordinators.
Jose walked the property with the customer, put together an apples-to-apples bid based on the approved plans and other Estimate, and after finalizing contracts, broke ground the last few days of January 2026.
What the project called for:
A single-story, side-by-side duplex ADU with two 810 sq ft units
Maximizing the buildable area of the backyard within setbacks
Two bedrooms and one bathroom per unit
Full build scope from site prep and foundation through finishes
Site prep & concrete ADU foundation in-house by our sister company
Execution of approved architectural plans without design changes
Build Progress
We're making steady progress on this project and will continue adding photos as we complete more phases. The video clip above will be replaced with a full project video. Current status: framing complete, moving into roofing and mechanical rough-ins.
We had custom plans for our duplex ADU already drawn up and approved, so we were mostly looking for a builder who'd execute them well without trying to upsell us on changes we didn't need. Jose walked the property himself, gave us a straightforward bid, and has been hands-on throughout the entire build. We weren't pawned off to a project manager we'd never met, and never felt like we were just another number. That's exactly what we were hoping for when we decided to go with a smaller, local builder instead of a bigger outfit.
What We've Navigated
No build goes completely without issues. This project has had a couple things to work through so far:
Additional site prep: We ended up taking on more of the site prep than initially planned per our apples-to-apples estimate. This was worked out with the customer and we were able to stay on track with the schedule.
Weather delays: Some bouts of rain storms affected our progress with the concrete foundation and early framing phases. Working around weather is always a balancing act between calling off work based on forecasts to be safe, and trying to stay on track. All you can do is be flexible and keep the customer in the loop.
