About Upside ADU
The Sacramento ADU builder that builds ADUs — and nothing else
Upside ADU is a Sacramento-region builder that designs, permits, and constructs accessory dwelling units across Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo counties. We do one thing — ADUs — with published pricing, a $1,000 down payment (California's legal maximum), and every payment after that tied to a passed inspection. Licensed, bonded, and insured.
Our story
Why we started Upside ADU
Upside ADU was founded by a Sacramento real-estate and property-management professional who has managed dozens of local doors and watched the ADU boom from the inside. The backyards were perfect. The math worked. The problem was the builders.
Sacramento homeowners kept signing with general contractors who took 30–50% deposits, over-promised a timeline, and then disappeared mid-build or padded change orders until the "affordable" ADU wasn't. Several high-profile local builders collapsed and left owners holding half-finished foundations and empty bank accounts. That is the cautionary tale we built Upside to be the opposite of.
So we structured the company around the homeowner's risk, not ours. Your down payment is $1,000 — the most a California contractor can legally collect up front — and everything after is an inspected milestone draw. Pricing is published, not hidden behind a form. And because we came up through property management, we build for real rents and real ROI, then hand you to a trusted manager when you're ready to rent. The deposit math and milestone schedule live on our guarantee page.
Team & credentials
Who builds your ADU
ADUs are permanent dwellings on your property. Before you trust anyone with that, you should know exactly who they are, what they're licensed to do, and how to check it yourself.
Real-estate & PM roots
Founded by a licensed Sacramento real-estate broker and property manager. We've underwritten local rents, run the numbers on hundreds of properties, and managed tenants — so we design ADUs that actually rent, not just ones that look good in a render.
Licensed, bonded, insured
Upside ADU is a licensed California contractor, bonded and carrying general liability and workers' comp coverage. We print our active CSLB license number on every contract so you can verify it at cslb.ca.gov before you sign.
Sacramento-local crews
We pull permits in these jurisdictions every week — City of Sacramento, the county, and Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo. Knowing each plan-check desk is how we hit the 60-day permit window (or ~30 days on a preapproved plan) instead of getting stuck in resubmittals.
Upside ADU Inc. · Licensed, bonded & insured California contractor · Serving Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado & Yolo counties.
How we're different
Three things most Sacramento ADU builders won't do
We publish our prices
Detached ADUs run roughly $165k–$500k ($250–$360/sqft); garage conversions start near $95k; JADUs from about $85k. Real numbers, on the site, before you ever fill out a form.
See current price ranges →Your money is protected
$1,000 down — the California legal maximum — and every draw after that is released only when an inspector signs off on a completed phase. You never pay ahead of finished, inspected work.
How the guarantee works →We only build ADUs
No kitchen remodels, no room additions to upsell you into. ADUs are all we do, so the whole company is tuned to one thing: permitting and building accessory dwellings in Sacramento.
See how working with us works →- Pure ADU builder — no in-house property management to sell you
- Published pricing instead of a price hidden behind a quote form
- $1,000 down, then inspection-tied milestone draws only
- Built for real Sacramento rents and ROI, not optimistic guesses
By the numbers
What Upside ADU is, in plain figures
Upside ADU serves four Northern California counties — Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo — and builds five ADU types: detached, garage conversion, attached, junior, and multigenerational. Typical permits clear in about 60 days, or roughly 30 with a preapproved plan, and the maximum down payment is $1,000 by California law.
Where we build
Building ADUs across the Sacramento region
From the city of Sacramento and Elk Grove to Roseville, Folsom, and El Dorado Hills — we permit and build across the four-county area. Not sure if your address is in range? The directory has every city.
Counties we serve
- Sacramento County — Sacramento, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Carmichael
- Placer County — Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Auburn
- El Dorado County — El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Placerville
- Yolo County — Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento
About Upside ADU — common questions
Upside ADU is a Sacramento-region design-build firm that builds accessory dwelling units only — detached units, garage conversions, attached ADUs, JADUs, and multigenerational suites. We design, permit, and construct your ADU under one contract across Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo counties.
Yes. Upside ADU is a licensed California contractor, bonded and insured, building ADUs across the greater Sacramento region. We list our active CSLB license number on every contract so you can verify it on the CSLB website before you sign.
No — Upside is a pure ADU builder, not a property manager. When your unit is finished and you want to rent it out, we hand you off to a vetted Sacramento property-management partner. The referral is on our property-management page; managing the rental is their company, not ours.
We build across the four-county Sacramento region: Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo counties — from the city of Sacramento and Elk Grove out to Roseville, Folsom, and El Dorado Hills. See our service-areas page for the full city list and to confirm your address is in range.
See what your backyard could become
Get a transparent, all-in quote and a feasibility check for your specific Sacramento lot — usually within a few days.