The Venn Diagram
A Venn diagram is an illustration of the relationships between and among groups of objects that share something in common. Usually, Venn...
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Sophia's Cottage
A DIY ADU In Silicon Valley
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Permit Cost Estimates
Ah, permits. A permit for this and permit for that For schools and parks and a cat in the hat . . . Ok enough of Dr. Seuss, what's the...
My Visit To City Hall
I intended to go to City Hall bright and early (8 AM) on Thursday (2/18/20) to talk to a City Planner about my dreams of building an ADU...
Ready, Set . . . Go To City Hall
I'm ready to go down to City Hall and talk to a City Planner. I have . . . ADU Universal Check List with Yes/No answers √ Site Plan √...
Get Your Ducks In A Row
So you're ready to head on down to City Hall to meet with a city planner and discuss your dreams of adding an ADU to San Jose's housing...
The Scaled Site Plan: 1/8" = 1'
Google Drawings (GD) is a great tool to use, but it's not a cad program so it's a bit trying to draw your site plan to scale. But I...
ADU Property Tax Assessment
So if you have a good idea of what it will cost to build an ADU, what about the property tax assessment? My neighbor built an ADU in his...
Ol' man river i.e. Hydrant Water Flow
Ol' man river That ol' man river He don't say nothing But he must know something Cause he just keeps rolling He keeps rolling along...
Walking The Back 40
back + forty, meaning “backside of a farm”. In the Homestead Acts (1860s), farmers were granted a quarter section; a section was 640...
Site Plan - Measure Twice And Cut Once
As I mentioned in a previous post I've selected Google Drawings to layout my site plan which I'll take to my meeting with the City...
Fire Hydrant Hide And Seek
I'd like to know how many fire hydrants there are in my Naglee Park neighborhood, which is a residential neighborhood in downtown San...
Fire Hydrant Location
When building an ADU a fire hydrant can be your friend or foe. I've walked past my fire hydrant for the last 30 years without once...
Water Flow Request
Your ADU project will be reviewed for compliance with the California Fire Code (CFC) to ensure projects are built for safety and ease of...
Site Plan Software
As I mentioned in a previous post you need a site plan when you meet with the City Planner regarding your ADU. The site plan can be...
Drawing A Site Plan
To meet with a city planner for a free ADU consultation I need a site plan, which can be as simple as a hand drawn sketch of my...
Talking To A City Planner
Now that we’ve worked through the ADU Universal Checklist and have a number of questions that need to be addressed we can drop by the...
Does Your Property Qualify?
So you’ve comes to terms with the reasons why you want to build an ADU and have a good idea of what it will cost, now what’s the next...
Where To Begin
San Jose is trying to become California's friendliest ADU City, and with 120,000 single-family homes having the potential to build an ADU...
A Place To Live (1st Post)
We live in San Jose, the self-proclaimed economic, cultural and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern...
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