Modern Cottage-Style ADU in Pasadena, CA

Hey, everybody. We are with Sheree Clay- Yes ... in Pasadena at a brand-new project that we're about halfway done on construction with, and I believe it's a little over 800 square feet. 800. 800 square feet. Mm-hmm. How many bedrooms? Three bedrooms. Now wait a second, three bedrooms in 800 square feet. That's impossible. And two bathrooms. And two bathrooms. All right. Yes. So we're gonna see all this in a second. I wanna talk to you about, let's go back in the beginning. Uh, we met some time back. Yes, we did. Right? Quite a while. And it wasn't easy trying to figure out what you were gonna do. I think you were telling us the story earlier that you and your mother originally were thinking about you buying a house, and it was her idea maybe build an ADU out back. Yes, absolutely. Right? She decided, "Don't move. Let's build." So any regrets? Not a one. Yeah? Not one. Everything has been just so great. It's gone well. Um, the anticipation is probably my biggest worry- Right ... and it's only because I want it done. So when we started, we took pictures of the backyard, which I'll also do a, a screenshot and put in this video as well, so we can see how pretty the, the lawn was, and now it's a construction zone. Sorry, it'll, it'll get greater later. We'll fix that. That's okay. But how was the journey during the design and the, um, the planning phase? I know that a lot of people are going, "Wow, it takes a long time. It's just, uh, it, it's a long wait." Was it worth the wait? First off, was it a long wait? It was... I, I'm gonna say it was a long wait because it's something that I'm looking forward to the end, but in reality it probably was not a long wait. Uh, there was a little bit of city permitting wait time, and what can you do about that? It is what it is, right? It is what it is. Right. And then after all of that came together, it started to move, and it's been moving every day since. So now you got permit in hand- Yes ... right? Mm-hmm. Was the design phase or, or the experience with ADU Resource and the design team, was it satisfactory? It was very satisfactory. The architect was really great. He drew up stuff. Me, who didn't know anything about what I wanted, made changes- Okay ... talked to him about it. Okay. Everything was always okay. He came back. He showed me the drawings. He was- Good communication? Great communication. I'd call him on the phone. He'd call me right back. Good, good. Uh, he'd go down to the city, take care of the permits. I never had to go. Uh, I don't know if you remember, I had a tree issue- I do ... with the city- I do ... that caused a little delay in this. He even went down and took care of that for me. Right. Right. That's our job. So that- That's our job ... that was great. I had thought about that tree for 30 years. It's taken care of. We know a guy that knows a guy. Let's just get it out right. There we go. I love knowing the guys. Okay. So you got permit in hand, and now you meet this character right here, Vache- I know Vache. And it's time to go to construction. Mm-hmm. And so now this whole pile of paper over there we see now transforming into what we see here. Um, I'm gonna show, if I can, the framing and the, the foundation stage in this video at some point, and now we're here at the drywall. So I would say, Vache, what percentage would you say? Are we 50% done with construction? 70%. 70%. Okay. So in timeline, how many, how many more months, after appliances, co- countertops, everything goes in, how much more time, how many more months do you think we got before we're done? A month, yeah. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad at all. Then we're, you're ready to go. I'm ready. Right? The construction team- Yes ... that is working on your project? Very good. You liking them? I like them very much. Yeah. They've been... If I ever had to ask them a question, and I haven't had to talk to them too much 'cause Sako and Rafi got their team under control- Right. Right ... but if I ever had to just look out and see a little something and kind of ask a question, uh, out of danger, mostly because of the daycare, they took care of it right away. Everybody has been pleasant. Nobody has been disagreeable, and everything's worked out. I'm blessed with this process. It looks like their workmanship is good. We, you know, we're not the cheapest contractor out there. We're not the Motel 6 of ADUs. Mm-hmm. We're not Waldorf Astoria. We're certainly somewhere in between, which is the best value, but what y- I think you're paying for is their experience. Their experience is great. Right? And, and their workmanship so that they can do, uh, attention to detail. Um, some of the things that I see, you know, I, are, are not your typical things. One of the things I'm looking at right now is the ceiling. So that's a, a nine-and-a-half foot ceiling, so, uh, it just makes it feel more open in here, doesn't it? It does. It does. The high ceilings, I had no idea they were gonna be like this. Right. And I saw that there's sealed eaves outside. Yes. I'll get a shot of that, and we'll show everybody on the video. But little finishing touches, and you didn't even know they were gonna do that, did you? I didn't even know. Right. They just told me they did it. That's why we get seasoned people- Yes. That's right ... so they know what they're doing, right? That's why. The electrician called me in when he was in, and he told me about a Christmas thing that he put up there for lights. I had no idea it was even one. And then he took me in the rooms, and he a, said, "You know, people are mounting TVs these days. Do you think you might be interested?" So he put sockets up high for me. Right. Things you don't even think about. Well, here's the thing. If we don't mention it, you wouldn't know. Absolutely. And then after the fact you'll have all these cords going everywhere, and you go, "This was dumb. Why didn't we plan better?" Yep. So if we pay for anything, we pay for experience because these guys know they can anticipate, and you're gonna go, "You know what? That's a very good idea. I do want that." Very good. Right. Yes. Okay. Everything's been fine. So- The recessed lighting, I love it. I know. It's wonderful. I can't wait to see it till the power comes on. So that's about it for today. Um, I wanted to find out, are you, is there anything that you could make a suggestion to anybody watching the video who's starting out? You're a woman. A lot of our customers are women. The, the dads seem to say, "L- talk to her, whatever she, whatever she wants to do." Mm-hmm. So the women are seem to be driving the ADU projects that we're working with right now. Yes. But some of them feel like, "I don't know if I'm even qualified to be doing this. I don't know nothing about construction," yet here you are. Right. It's almost done. Mm-hmm. You did it. What advice do you have for women out there watching? Um, find somebody you really like, like Danny. Sorry, but I had to point you out. But find some... Because I went in completely blind, didn't know what to do. Like I said, I had a lot of people tell me, no, it couldn't be done. Once I met you, you did my storyboard, told me I could, it could be done, it was done. I haven't had a problem. Just get a great company, ADU Resources. Thank you so much. I'm telling you- All right ... it's been great. Thank you so much. You're welcome. All right. Stay tuned for part three, and we'll see the final product very soon.