ADU Before & After in Dallas, TX
Talk to any homeowner who has been through an ADU build and they’ll tell you the same thing: the drawings matter, the price matters, but nothing beats seeing the actual transformation. A cramped garage that becomes a rent-ready studio. A sloped side yard that becomes a private guest house. These before-and-after stories show what happens when a Dallas lot gets the extra square footage it has been waiting for. No renderings, no stock photos. Real scenarios, real results, grounded in how we build here at Lodgewick ADU Dallas.
Recent Transformations
Detached Garage to One-Bedroom ADU in Lake Highlands
The problem was a 1970s detached garage that had become a storage unit for things nobody remembered owning. Single-circuit wiring, a slab with more cracks than a Dallas sidewalk in August, and a roofline that leaked every spring storm season. We pulled the old overhead door, framed the opening for a proper entry and windows, ran new electrical service, and brought the slab up to code. The result is a 420-square-foot one-bedroom ADU with a full bath and a kitchenette, rent-ready and code-passed.
Backyard ADU from Prefab Shell in East Dallas
The lot was long and narrow, the kind of East Dallas yard where a traditional stick-built addition would have eaten the entire green space. We recommended a prefab shell from Boxabl, which arrives on a truck and sets in under a day. The before looks like a bare patch of St. Augustine with a property-line fence doing all the work. The after is a 600-square-foot two-bedroom unit with James Hardie siding matched to the main house, a covered porch, and a separate address-ready power drop. The shell went up fast. Our crews handled the site work, the utility connections, and the finish details that make it feel like real housing, not a trailer with drywall.
Attached JADU Carved from an Oversized Laundry Room in Richardson
A JADU, or junior accessory dwelling unit, is a smaller attached unit, usually under 500 square feet, built within the walls of an existing home. This one started as a 280-square-foot laundry and mudroom that was mostly hallway. We moved the washer-dryer hookups to a closet, added a kitchenette along one wall, and turned the exterior door into a private entrance with its own keyed lock. The before was dead space. The after is a rent-producing studio that shares the main house’s roof and foundation but lives like its own apartment. In Richardson, where lot sizes vary block to block, a JADU is often the only ADU that fits without variance hearings.
Unpermitted Garage Apartment Brought to Code in Oak Cliff
This one is common in older Dallas neighborhoods like Oak Cliff. Somebody converted the garage in 1998, permits never happened, and the next owner inherited the problem when they tried to refinance. The before was a space that worked but could not legally be rented. We opened walls to document the framing, replaced the single-pane windows, added hardwired smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, brought the electrical panel up to current code, and pulled the permits the right way. The after is a legal, insurable one-bedroom unit. The square footage did not change. The value did.
Side-Yard ADU Tucked Between Two Driveways in Carrollton
The setback math on this lot left a 14-foot-wide strip between the main house and the neighbor’s driveway. Most builders would have walked away. The before is a strip of dead grass with a struggling crape myrtle. We worked with the city on a side-yard setback variance, designed a 500-square-foot one-bedroom on a slab-on-grade, and used vertical siding to keep the narrow face from looking like a hallway. The after is a fully detached ADU with a private entry off the side walkway. Tight lots make the best before photos, because nobody believes the after until they stand in it.
Want Results Like These?
Every transformation starts with a conversation about your lot, your budget, and your timeline. We will give you a written price before any work begins, no exceptions. Our crews work under the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and a live person answers the phone around the clock. Call Lodgewick ADU Dallas at (361) 204-4652 to schedule a free estimate for your ADU, garage conversion, or home addition in Dallas.
Written by Russ Delmar, Owner at Lodgewick ADU Dallas, serving Dallas and surrounding cities. A lodge is a small house on a larger property. That is exactly what we build.
