10 service categories · 100 service pages · Miami-Dade, Broward & Palm Beach
View all servicesAn accessory dwelling unit built onto the house you already own — its own entrance, its own kitchen and bathroom, its own sense of being somewhere else — while sharing a wall, a foundation edge and a utility run with the main home. Cheaper to service than a detached unit, and stricter about the one thing that separates them.
Miami-Dade · Broward & Palm Beach Counties
ScrollAn attached ADU is a complete, independent dwelling — sleeping space, bathroom, kitchen and its own front door — joined to the primary house rather than standing apart from it. That single decision makes the utilities shorter and cheaper, and makes the separation between the two homes the most heavily inspected thing you will build.
Zoning verification, design, structural tie-in to the existing building, fire-rated separation between the two units, kitchen and bathroom rough-in, service upgrades where the existing panel or water service cannot carry the load, and the permit closed in our name at handover.
Start with the zoning checkAlmost every attached ADU we are asked about is driven by a person rather than a return: a parent who should not be far away, an adult child who cannot yet buy, or a household that wants the option of rental income later without moving now.
There is no statewide right to build an ADU in Florida. Whether you may add one, how large it can be, whether it needs its own parking space, and whether the owner must live on site are all set by your municipality — and they genuinely differ between neighbouring cities. That check comes first, because it can change the entire brief.
Which one fits depends on what your lot allows and what the existing house already gives you. The cheapest is almost always the one that reuses structure you have already paid for.
A purpose-built unit added to a side or rear elevation, with its own entrance and its own services. Everything is designed for the use, so nothing is a compromise — and it is the option zoning scrutinises hardest, because it adds footprint.
The footprint, foundation and roof already exist. What has to be added is habitable-standard insulation, egress-compliant windows, moisture detailing at the slab, and the separation assembly — plus wherever your parking requirement now goes.
Where the lot has no width to give, the unit goes up. This is a structural project first: the existing foundations and walls have to be verified for the new load before the plan is worth drawing.
Carving an independent unit out of space the house already encloses. The least external change, and often the most complex separation and egress problem to solve.
These two rooms carry nearly all the plumbing, ventilation and inspection load in an ADU. Their position, more than the layout, decides what the unit costs to service.
Where head height allows, a sleeping loft buys a bedroom without buying footprint — subject to ceiling height, guarding and stair rules that apply to it as a habitable space.
A finished studio accessory dwelling unit built by Elbaz Construction, photographed after completion. Everything described below is visible in the photographs. No address, cost, date or schedule is stated, and this unit is a different project from the two-level unit shown further down the page.
Read what the photos showSix observations drawn only from the project photography on this page.
The first set of frames shows one room containing a full kitchen, a full bathroom, a sleeping area and a private external door. That combination — not the floor area — is what makes it a dwelling rather than a converted room.
Described from the photographs. Two separate completed units are shown and are not presented as one project. No location, cost, date or schedule is claimed.
Both units are vaulted to the underside of the roof with the beam left exposed. In a small footprint the only dimension left to spend is the vertical one, and spending it removes the boxed-in feeling a flat ceiling at standard height would give.
The two-level unit puts a stacked washer and dryer under its own stair. A shared laundry in the main house would have been cheaper and would have quietly undone the independence the whole project exists to create.
Mini-split heads sit high on clear wall sections, the skylight lands between structure, and the stair void was sized to take appliances. None of those positions survive being decided after the framing is closed.
Both units are shown finished and furnished rather than mid-construction — fittings in, floors down, appliances connected. What is not visible in any photograph is the separation assembly between the ADU and the main house, which is the part inspectors care about most.
An attached ADU is legally a second dwelling sharing a building with the first. Six systems have to establish that separation. Select one to see what it does.
Before anything is drawn: is a second dwelling allowed on this parcel, at what maximum size, with what setbacks, and with what parking provision. This is the layer that most often changes the project rather than delaying it.
Set locally. Neighbouring cities routinely answer this differently.
LayerNew foundations meeting old ones, a continuous load path for wind, and a roof that ties in without creating a valley that will leak. The existing structure has to be verified, not assumed — particularly if the unit is going above it.
LayerThe wall and floor-ceiling between two dwelling units must be a tested, rated assembly, built exactly as tested. Every penetration — every duct, pipe, cable and recessed box — has to be firestopped to keep the rating.
This is the single most common place an attached ADU fails inspection: the assembly is right and the penetrations through it are not.
LayerNot always mandated to the same degree as fire rating, and the thing occupants actually notice every single day. Decoupled framing, insulation in the cavity and sealing at the perimeter cost very little while the wall is open, and cannot be added afterwards at any sensible price.
LayerWhether the existing electrical service and water supply can carry a second dwelling, and whether the unit is sub-metered or separately metered. On septic, the drainfield is sized by bedroom count — so adding bedrooms can force a septic upgrade that costs more than the room it serves.
LayerAn independent entrance that does not pass through the primary dwelling, and compliant emergency egress from every sleeping area — which is what usually decides window sizes in a converted garage.
Purpose-built, nothing compromised, and the most zoning scrutiny because it adds footprint and lot coverage.
Reuses foundation, walls and roof. Cost moves to insulation, egress glazing, moisture detailing and replacing the parking.
No footprint added, so it can work where nothing else does. Structural verification of what is already there comes first.
Owners arrive with a layout and a look. The two things that actually decide whether an attached ADU is buildable are what your zoning permits and whether the existing services can carry a second home. We check both before drawing, because finding out later invalidates the design rather than adjusting it.
Requirements are set by the authority having jurisdiction for your municipality and genuinely differ between them. What follows is how the stage runs, not a promise about what your city permits or how long it will take.
An ADU is reviewed as a new dwelling unit, not as an extension. Expect at minimum:
Zoning and building are two different reviews and can reach different conclusions. Where the property is on septic, the health department becomes a third party with a real veto.
The rated separation is inspected before it is closed, and every later trade that penetrates it can undo it. That is why electrical and mechanical rough-in are sequenced against the separation rather than around it.
Whether an ADU is permitted at all, its maximum size, parking, and any owner-occupancy or rental restriction are local rules that change. Nothing here is a legal opinion. We establish what applies at your address before you commit to anything.
A second completed ADU — not the studio shown above, and not the same property. Two levels, with a sleeping loft over the living space. Use the thumbnails, the arrows, arrow keys, or swipe on the image.
We do not publish a price per square foot for ADUs, because a small dwelling contains a kitchen, a bathroom and a full set of services regardless of its size — which is exactly why the rate is misleading. These are the twelve factors that decide it.
Maximum size, setbacks and parking can reshape the brief entirely, and occasionally end it. This is checked first for that reason.
Whether the electrical service and water supply can carry a second dwelling. A service upgrade is a real line item, not a rounding error.
On septic, drainfield sizing follows bedroom count — so one extra bedroom can force a system upgrade costing more than the room.
Reusing an existing foundation, walls and roof removes the most expensive third of the work.
The rated wall and its firestopping, plus any acoustic work done while the wall is open.
Two rooms carrying almost all the plumbing, ventilation and inspection load in the unit.
Joining new to old, and verifying the existing structure if the unit is going above it.
Sleeping areas need compliant escape openings, which often means new or enlarged windows.
Which reviews your scope triggers, and your jurisdiction’s current turnaround.
Cabinetry, tile and appliances — the part owners control most directly.
Working alongside an occupied home, with limited laydown space and a shared driveway.
Building against a house people are living in means dust control, noise windows and keeping the main dwelling’s services on. It is a real cost and it is worth pricing honestly.
After a site visit and the zoning check you get a written scope priced against drawings — stating what is included, what is not, and where a contingency is likely. We will also tell you which of the twelve factors above is the one driving your number, and whether a detached unit would serve you better than an attached one.
Request an estimateFilter by what you are trying to work out. Every answer stays on the page.
That is a local question with a local answer, and it is the first thing we establish. Florida has no statewide right to build an accessory dwelling unit — whether one is permitted, how big it may be, and what parking it needs are set by your municipality, and neighbouring cities frequently answer differently.
We check your specific parcel before any design work starts, because the answer can change the project rather than merely delay it.
An attached unit shares at least one wall with the main house. That shortens every utility run and reuses a foundation edge, which usually makes it cheaper to service.
In exchange it introduces a requirement a detached unit does not have: a fire-rated separation assembly between the two dwellings, built exactly as tested and firestopped at every penetration. Zoning also treats the two differently, sometimes markedly.
Often, yes. A second dwelling adds a full set of loads — cooking, water heating, air conditioning, laundry — and many older South Florida services have no headroom for that. A load calculation answers it properly, and it is done during design rather than discovered during rough-in.
Significantly. Drainfield capacity is sized by bedroom count, so adding bedrooms can require a septic upgrade — and that upgrade sometimes costs more than the room creating the need for it. On septic properties this gets checked before the layout is settled, not after.
Frequently the best value, because the foundation, walls and roof already exist. The work moves to bringing it to habitable standard: insulation, compliant egress glazing, moisture detailing at the slab, conditioning, and the separation assembly.
The question that catches people is parking — if your zoning required those spaces, they have to go somewhere else on the lot.
Because an ADU is the worst possible use of that number. A small dwelling still needs a complete kitchen, a complete bathroom and a complete set of services, so the fixed content is spread over very little area. Two ADUs of the same size can differ enormously depending on service capacity, septic and whether you are converting or building new.
Sometimes, and sometimes only on certain terms. Some jurisdictions require the owner to live on the property, some restrict short-term letting, and some place no restriction at all. Because it is a local rule and it changes, we confirm what applies to your address rather than telling you what is generally true.
A wall — and where the unit is above or below, a floor-ceiling — built as a tested assembly that holds back fire for a defined period, so the two homes do not function as one building in an emergency.
The detail that decides whether it works is the penetrations. Every duct, pipe, cable and recessed box through that assembly has to be firestopped, or the rating is gone. It is the most common inspection failure on attached ADUs.
Yes — independent access that does not require passing through the primary dwelling is part of what makes it a separate unit rather than a bedroom suite. Every sleeping area also needs compliant emergency egress, which is usually what sets window sizes in a converted garage.
Yes, and an ADU is an unusually good opportunity to do it, because you are designing from scratch rather than retrofitting. Level thresholds, a wider door set, blocking in the walls for future grab rails and a curbless shower cost very little at design stage and a great deal afterwards.
Service capacity discovered late. An electrical upgrade or a septic problem found during construction lands as a large unplanned cost at the worst moment. Both are knowable during design, which is where we deal with them.
Yes. We work with four financing partners — Service Finance, Synchrony, Ygrene and Renew Financial — so you can compare options before you finalise the scope. Terms and eligibility are set by each lender and differ by programme. Which is appropriate depends on the scope and on whether the unit is intended to generate income.
No questions in that topic yet.
Details from both completed units. These are two separate projects and are not presented as one property.
A completed studio ADU, shown as a still rather than a film — there is no cleared footage of this service, and we would rather show you a real photograph than borrow a clip from another trade.
Zoning and design, then structure and tie-in, then the separation assembly, then services rough-in and inspections, then fit-out. The separation is built early and protected by every trade that follows it.
The separation assembly before it is closed, and again after every trade that penetrates it. Egress openings against the requirement rather than against the drawing. Service capacity against the load calculation before rough-in starts.
Everything here is either a licence number, a figure Elbaz publishes company-wide, or a description of how we work. No awards, memberships or certifications are listed, because inventing them is the easiest lie in this industry to tell.
Certified building contractor, bonded and insured. Verifiable with the State of Florida.
Across residential and commercial work in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Combined years across the team, in this market and this climate.
Cities served across the three counties.
We file with your building department directly, and we close the permit at handover.
Specified products are checked against their Notice of Acceptance or Florida Product Approval before ordering.
Service Finance, Synchrony, Ygrene and Renew Financial. $0 down and 100% financing available on qualifying PACE work, subject to lender approval. Compare all four.
The zoning verification happens before drawings, because an ADU that your parcel does not permit is not a design problem to be solved later — it is a different project, and you should know that before paying for a set.
A family-run, locally owned business. The same point of contact stays with your project through every stage, and the phone is answered in month six as well as week one.
Shown verbatim from the connected Google Business Profile — not rewritten, not combined, not re-attributed.
“We had a good time dealing with Asher and the crew, he went over and above all our expectations and made every effort to ensure that the end result was up to their high standards. Thank you !!”Emmett Giffin · Google
Based on 343 Google reviews of Elbaz Construction across all services.
Read all reviews on Google“If you are planning to remodel your kitchen or bathroom or do any other construction project, call Sean from Elbaz Construction . He has a lot of experience and will recommend the best options/ suggestions to your project. He did high quality job !”Kameron Allison · Google
“Elbaz Construction provided excellent service and great customer service. also provide the right team to get the job done. Any project or style that’s needed it. Elbaz Construction is the place to call. Thank you!”Jaee Rodriguez · Google
“The team was amazing. Did a fabulous job with the landscaping, roofing and backyard renovation. The best contractors I have worked with! Will definitely use this company in the future.”Derpy Day · Google
No review schema is emitted on this page. Aggregate ratings marked up on a business’s own service pages are self-serving under Google’s structured-data policy, so the rating above is presented as visible content only.
Project files
A room addition with a vaulted ceiling, a black-and-white tiled bathroom and a converted garage bedroom. They are separate project files, shown for the rooms and finishes of a second home.
The interior of a room addition with green walls, a vaulted ceiling with an exposed beam and wood-look flooring. A white shaker kitchenette runs along one wall with a patterned backsplash and stainless appliances. Sliding glass doors and a hall at the entry complete the plan.
Follow the exposed beam across the ceiling, then look at the entry door and hall. A second home needs its own way in and its own circulation, and this plan shows both.
Elbaz Construction project photo · 3 photos
A bathroom with black-and-white cement-style tile on the shower walls and floor, a light wood vanity with a white top and industrial sconces. The shower has black fixtures, floating shelves and a window. A green wall shows beyond the doorway.
Check where the patterned tile meets the window and the shelves. Keeping that pattern aligned around openings is the detail that makes a bold tile look deliberate.
Elbaz Construction project photo · 3 photos
Two views of a converted garage bedroom: an empty room with a vinyl-blind window, wood-look LVP flooring and recessed lights, and a finished room with a mirrored sliding closet and a bath visible through the doorway. This is a garage conversion, not a new addition.
A garage conversion is one way an attached unit gets built. Look at the floor and ceiling: it reads as a bedroom, with no sign that it was ever a garage.
Elbaz Construction project photo · 3 photos
Budget and schedule
An attached unit shares a wall and a roof line with the house, so the tie-in work takes real budget, alongside the systems and finishes.
These are typical shares only. How the unit attaches and the finish level move them.
Permit review varies by municipality, so treat these bars as a sequence, not a promise.
How it works
Three diagrams show the types of ADU, how loads travel on a build that connects to a house, and how services reach the unit.
Detached, attached, garage and two-story units each use a different relationship to the main house. An attached unit shares one wall.
Weight travels from roof to walls to footing. On an attached unit, the new structure has to be designed with the existing house in mind.
Sewer, water and power run from the main house to the unit. An attached unit is usually a shorter run than a detached one.
Scope planner
Pick how it attaches, the shared wall, the bath and the entry to see an indicative range of weeks on site.
Finish details
The addition is white and green. The pattern comes from tile, and these close-ups show where it sits.
More questions
The tie-in questions that only an attached build raises.
Ask us directlyThe new roof is framed to meet the old one at a valley or a flashed wall line, with underlayment lapped and metal flashing set before the final roof covering. In Miami-Dade and Broward the roofing product needs a current approval. A roof tie-in is the most common leak point, so it gets a closer inspection than the field of the roof.
Not exactly, and it does not have to. The new footing is designed for its own load and for the soil, then detailed so the two buildings can move slightly differently without cracking the joint. An engineer sizes it. We also expose the existing footing where the new work connects, rather than guessing its depth.
Generally the new work must meet the current code, and the existing house is evaluated only where the work touches it. That can include the wall you open, the electrical panel or smoke alarms, depending on the municipality. The reviewer decides, so we ask at the pre-application stage instead of finding out during inspection.
Usually not without a check. A cooling load calculation compares the house's system with what the new space needs. Often the unit gets its own mini-split or small air handler, which keeps the temperature independent and avoids overworking the old system. Adding a duct run to an undersized system rarely works.
Usually yes. We hang a dust barrier, set a protected entry and schedule shutoffs of water or power in short blocks, typically a few hours at a time. Opening a wall is the loudest and dustiest stage. We tell you the day before, and the house stays closed up at night.
New openings in an addition need hurricane protection. In Miami-Dade and Broward that means products with High-Velocity Hurricane Zone approvals, or shutters, and the approval numbers appear on the plans. Elsewhere in South Florida impact products are the usual choice. Matching them to the existing house is a design choice, not a code requirement.
Tile alone is not waterproof. A membrane or waterproof board goes behind the tile, with sealed seams, corners and a pitched floor to the drain, and it is flood-tested before tile goes up. In humid South Florida, a failed shower hides mold behind the wall. This is the work you cannot see after the tile is set.
Usually yes. The new square footage raises the replacement value, and many insurers want to know before construction, not after. Wind-resistant windows, a new roof and a current roof tie-in can help at inspection. A flood zone may add requirements. Call your agent before work starts and again at completion.
Proudly serving homeowners across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach
104 municipalities across three counties — and we hold the licence to build in all of them. Not sure about your address? Ask us.
Where to go next, depending on which part you are pinning down.
What governs whether you may build an accessory dwelling unit at all, how large it may be, and which local rules decide it — the check that comes before design.
The address is the useful part — it lets us check what your parcel actually permits before anyone talks about layouts. If you know whether you are on sewer or septic, say so.
If your parcel will not carry an ADU, or a detached unit would serve you better, or the septic makes the plan uneconomic, we will tell you on the first call rather than after you have paid for a design.
Sun–Fri 7am–7pm · Saturday closed. Licensed, bonded and insured · CBC1265280.
Your details are with the Elbaz Construction team and we will come back to you, usually the same or next working day. If it is urgent, call (754) 236-0675.
Zoning, service capacity and septic decide what an attached ADU can be long before anyone chooses a finish. Start with a conversation — no obligation, and no brochure.
