ADU Before & After Gallery in Santa Clarita | Ellery ADU Studio Santa Clarita

ADU Before & After in Santa Clarita, CA

Photos beat promises every time. Below are real jobs we’ve completed across Santa Clarita, from Canyon Country to Valencia, showing what the property looked like when we first walked it and what the city signed off on at final inspection. Each project includes a written price up front and a documented photo record at every stage.

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Recent Transformations

Garage Conversion ADU - Valencia, Near West Creek Park

Two-car garage with concrete slab, uninsulated roll-up door, and exposed framing before conversion — Before: Unconditioned 400 sq ft garage with 4-inch slab and no utility rough-in.

Finished studio ADU with kitchenette, egress window, and separate meter — After: Permitted studio ADU with full kitchenette, bath, mini-split HVAC, and separate electrical meter.

The homeowner had a standard two-car garage in Valencia collecting storage bins and old paint cans. The slab was 4 inches, within range for conversion, so we didn’t need a full foundation replacement, just a perimeter stem-wall retrofit to meet Santa Clarita’s current energy code. We ran new electrical from the main panel, added a mini-split for heating and cooling, and installed an egress window on the side wall facing the yard. The city inspector flagged the original roof framing as undersized for habitable load, so we sistered the rafters and added collar ties, documented in the photo record. Under Clause 5 (No Surprises), that structural line item was locked at signing, not discovered mid-job. Final permit was issued 14 weeks from plan submission.

New Detached ADU - Saugus, Bouquet Canyon Area

Flat backyard with existing concrete patio and detached shed, no utilities run — Before: 600 sq ft backyard with aging shed, no sewer or gas extension.

Modern 1-bedroom detached ADU with covered porch and landscaped setback — After: 640 sq ft 1-bedroom, 1-bath detached unit with covered entry porch.

This Saugus lot had the depth, 42 feet from the rear property line, which gave us workable setback clearances under Santa Clarita’s ADU ordinance. The challenge was sewer: the main house sat on a raised foundation with the cleanout 8 feet above grade, so we designed a sewage ejector system in the ADU’s utility closet rather than trenching a gravity line through the existing patio. We specified a Cover prefab shell for the envelope, then handled all site prep, utility rough-in, and finish carpentry under the same contract. The client received the permit set, the photo record showing the ejector basin installation, and the written 365-Day Done Right Promise at keys. Total timeline: 6 months from contract to certificate of occupancy.

Junior ADU & Interior Conversion - Newhall, Near Railroad Avenue

Attached bonus room with exterior door but no kitchen, shared wall with main house — Before: 320 sq ft attached bonus room used as home office, no separate kitchen or meter.

Efficiency kitchen with compact appliances, separate entrance, and sound-rated shared wall — After: Junior ADU with efficiency kitchen, separate entrance, and independent electrical subpanel.

Newhall’s older housing stock, much of it built in the 1960s and 70s, creates natural Junior ADU opportunities: rooms that were never quite bedrooms but have exterior access and plumbing nearby. This one shared a wall with the main house’s living room, so we added resilient channel and double-layer drywall for sound attenuation, documented in the photo record with decibel readings before and after. The kitchen is compact, 7 linear feet of counter, but it meets California’s efficiency kitchen standard for JADUs. Because Junior ADUs don’t require parking replacement in Santa Clarita, we saved the existing driveway. The owner now rents it for $1,400 monthly, which we didn’t promise, but the math was in the feasibility study we delivered with the written price.

ADU Site Prep & Utilities - Canyon Country, Sierra Highway Corridor

Steeply graded backyard with drainage issues, no flat pad for construction — Before: 15% grade backyard with seasonal drainage toward the foundation, no buildable pad.

Retaining wall with tiered landscaping, level pad with compacted base, and utility trenching complete — After: Engineered retaining wall, 640 sq ft level pad, and underground utilities stubbed to pad edge.

The Canyon Country site looked unbuildable at first walk. Fifteen percent grade, hard-packed decomposed granite, and runoff that pooled against the main house during Santa Clarita’s winter storms. We brought in a soils engineer for a compaction report, designed a 6-foot tiered retaining wall with drainage behind it, and cut a level pad that didn’t require export of more than 40 cubic yards. The utility trenching, 75 feet to the sewer main in Sierra Highway, was the longest line item. We documented every lift of compacted base in the photo record, and the city geotechnical inspector signed off on the pad density before we set the Abodu unit. Site prep to weather-tight shell: 10 weeks.

Garage Conversion ADU - Stevenson Ranch, Pico Canyon Road

Three-car tandem garage with water heater and laundry, partial drywall, exposed trusses — Before: 540 sq ft tandem garage with water heater, laundry, and no insulation.

1-bedroom ADU with relocated utilities, finished ceiling, and sealed garage door replacement wall — After: 1-bedroom, 1-bath ADU with relocated utilities, R-13 walls, and sealed former door opening.

Stevenson Ranch’s newer construction, this one from 2004, actually complicated things. The garage door was a non-standard width, 18 feet, and the trusses were engineered for snow load that didn’t apply, which meant we couldn’t simply cut or modify them without a structural engineer’s letter. We replaced the door with a framed wall, matching the stucco texture, and relocated the water heater and laundry to a new exterior closet on the main house side, which required a Santa Clarita mechanical permit amendment. The client had a written estimate from another firm that didn’t mention the truss review or the relocation. We gave a Free Second Opinion, identified the missing line items, and still came in under their quoted price with everything included under Clause 1.

New Detached ADU - Castaic, Lake Hughes Road Vicinity

Dirt lot with oak tree in buildable area, septic system instead of sewer connection — Before: Unimproved parcel with protected oak, septic leach field, and no power to pad location.

Compact 1-bedroom ADU with septic connection, underground power, and oak-preservation zone — After: 500 sq ft 1-bedroom ADU with septic tie-in, underground service, and oak-protection compliant landscaping.

Castaic sits in LA County’s unincorporated zone, so we pulled permits through the county rather than Santa Clarita city, which changes the inspection schedule and the fee structure. The oak tree, 24-inch diameter, triggered a county arborist review; we designed the ADU footprint to stay outside the critical root zone, documented with an irrigation plan that kept trenching clear. Septic required a leach field expansion, not replacement, which saved three weeks. We coordinated a Mighty Buildings modular shell for the tight footprint, then handled the septic, electrical trenching, and finish work under the same contract. The photo record includes every county inspection sign-off, not just ours.

Want Results Like These?

Architect and client reviewing ADU design blueprints and 3D building models — Want Results Like These?

Every project above started with a free feasibility walk and a written price before any work began. Call (747) 294-4817 to schedule yours. A live person answers, 24/7. If you already have a written estimate in hand, we’ll give you a Free Second Opinion, line item by line item.

Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Santa Clarita, serving Santa Clarita since 2015.

Before & After Gallery - Ellery ADU Studio Santa Clarita