WOW Construction Group — Los AngelesConstructionGroup

Garage Conversions in Los Angeles

That Garage Holds Boxes. It Could Hold Rent.

Permitted garage-to-living conversions — 380 to 800 sq ft of brand-new usable space.

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Garage Conversions in Los Angeles by WOW Construction Group
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Your options

Your Garage Conversions Options

Studio Conversion

Open plan, full kitchen, three-quarter bath. The classic rentable unit.

One-Bedroom Conversion

Separate bedroom, real closet, real door — and roughly $400 a month more in rent.

Home Office / Gym

Insulated, mini-split, wired for everything. No kitchen, no ADU permit path, faster build.

Guest Suite

Private entry so nobody has to walk through your kitchen at 6 a.m.

Two-Car Full Conversion

400–500 sq ft of the biggest, cheapest square footage on your property.

Above-Garage ADU

Keep the parking, build the unit on top — exterior stair, new floor system, new roof.

What’s included

  • Garage conversion
  • ADU construction
  • Junior ADU (JADU)
  • Detached ADU
No call, no sales pitch

What Will Your ADU Cost?

Pick your type, size and finish level and see a real Los Angeles range in seconds. No email gate — the estimate is right there. Your exact number still comes from a site visit.

01 — Type of build

02 — Square footage

500 sq ft300–800 sq ft

03 — Bedrooms

Bathrooms

04 — Finish level

Your estimate

$160K – $195K

Build range for a 500 sq ft garage conversion at mid-range finish, excluding architectural and engineering plans and city permit fees.

Architectural & engineering plans — not included in the estimate above
$6,500 – $15,000
City permit fees — not included in the estimate above
Varies by city

Architectural and engineering plans are not included in project prices or cost estimates. ADU plans typically cost $6,500–$15,000 and are quoted separately according to each project's size, specifications, requirements and difficulty.

City permit fees are not included in project prices or cost estimates. They are separate costs based on what the city charges for your project. WOW processes all permits for every project so clients don't have to worry, and we provide the city fee receipts for their control.

Est. monthly payment
~$1,550/mo
Typical LA rent
~$2,550/mo

Payment assumes a 20-year loan around 8.5% APR on the build midpoint, excluding architectural and engineering plans and permit fees. Rent is a neighborhood average, not a guarantee — some LA pockets run well above it, some below.

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Ranges come from recent Los Angeles builds. Slab condition, sewer distance and panel capacity are the three things that move the number — we check all three on the free site visit.

Our promise

What We Lock In Before Day One

We check the four expensive things first

Slab condition and height, sewer lateral distance, panel capacity and ceiling height. Those four decide whether your conversion is $120K or $190K — and we know which before you sign anything.

Permitted as a real ADU

Full plan check, Title 24, and a final inspection with an address assignment. An unpermitted 'bonus room' can't be legally rented and will cost you at appraisal.

It stops looking like a garage

The door opening gets framed, insulated and finished with real windows and siding or stucco to match. From the alley it reads as a small house, not a converted garage.

Fixed scope, priced in writing

Line-item budget after design, change orders signed before work happens.

Lot to keys

How The Build Actually Goes

Six stages, no mystery. We map the timeline to your project and your city's permit requirements before work begins.

  1. Stage 01

    Free On-Site Consultation

    We measure the garage, check slab height, ceiling clearance, sewer run and panel size in one visit.

  2. Stage 02

    Design + Fixed Quote

    Floor plan, exterior elevation showing the new façade, and a real number.

  3. Stage 03

    Permits & Plan Check

    ADU submittal with Title 24 and structural where the walls or roof need upgrading.

  4. Stage 04

    Demo, Slab & Shell

    Door opening framed, slab leveled or raised, moisture barrier, new footings where the structure needs them.

  5. Stage 05

    Rough-In & Inspection

    Plumbing to the sewer tie-in, new subpanel, mini-split lineset, insulation, then drywall.

  6. Stage 06

    Finishes & Final

    Kitchen, bath, flooring, exterior stucco or siding, final inspection, keys.

The work, up close

Real Work, Real LA Homes

Not stock art. Actual projects our crews have delivered across Los Angeles.

Two-car garage converted to a permitted studio ADU, Van Nuys. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Two-car garage converted to a permitted studio ADU, Van Nuys.
Converted studio interior — full kitchen where the garage door used to be. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Converted studio interior — full kitchen where the garage door used to be.
Murphy-bed conversion — one room that works as bedroom, office and living space. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Murphy-bed conversion — one room that works as bedroom, office and living space.
Above-garage unit with exterior stair, parking kept below, Atwater Village. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Above-garage unit with exterior stair, parking kept below, Atwater Village.
Junior ADU conversion under 500 sq ft, Eagle Rock. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Junior ADU conversion under 500 sq ft, Eagle Rock.
Conversion bathroom — full tile, permitted plumbing tie-in. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Conversion bathroom — full tile, permitted plumbing tie-in.
Insulation and drywall stage — where a garage stops being a garage. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Insulation and drywall stage — where a garage stops being a garage.
Finished façade at dusk. From the alley, nobody calls it a garage. — Garage Conversions by WOW Construction Group in Los Angeles
Finished façade at dusk. From the alley, nobody calls it a garage.
Why bother

What You Get Out Of It

  • Fastest ADU path — the shell already exists
  • Foundation, slab and roof usually reusable
  • Plumbing and electrical brought fully to code
  • Typically 3–5 months on site
  • No side or rear setback required for most existing structures
  • Lowest cost per square foot of any living space we build
Our garage held a dead treadmill and nineteen boxes of Christmas. WOW told us on the first visit that the slab had to come up four inches and the panel had to go to 200 amps — no surprises later. Four months on site. It rents for $2,350 and our neighbor keeps asking who built it.
Rosa & Danny K., Highland Park
Ballpark budgets

What It Usually Runs

Real ranges from recent LA jobs so you know where you stand before we ever walk the property. Your exact number comes from a site visit.

City permit fees are not included in project prices or cost estimates. They are separate costs based on what the city charges for your project. WOW processes all permits for every project so clients don't have to worry, and we provide the city fee receipts for their control.

Architectural and engineering plans are not included in project prices or cost estimates. ADU plans typically cost $6,500–$15,000 and are quoted separately according to each project's size, specifications, requirements and difficulty.

Office / Gym Conversion

$55K–$95K

No kitchen, no bath, or a half bath only. Insulation, drywall, flooring, mini-split, lighting and a finished façade. Fastest and cheapest.

Studio ADU Conversion

$110K–$165K

380–450 sq ft with a full kitchen, three-quarter bath, laundry hookup and its own entry. The standard rentable unit.

One-Bedroom / Two-Car Conversion

$150K–$220K

450–800 sq ft with a separate bedroom, full bath, and often a slab raise or roof upgrade. Highest rent, still the cheapest legal unit you can build. Larger conversions and higher-end finishes are quoted per project.

FAQ

Questions People Actually Ask

State law generally waives replacement parking for garage conversions in LA, especially within a half mile of transit. You keep the driveway — it just stops being a garage.

An office or gym conversion runs $55K–$95K. A permitted studio ADU is typically $110K–$165K, and a one-bedroom or full two-car conversion $150K–$220K. These ranges cover a typical conversion of an existing garage; larger conversions and higher-end finish levels are quoted per project. The build ranges and the cost estimator exclude architectural and engineering plans and city permit fees. Plans are quoted separately according to the project's size, specifications, requirements and difficulty; city permit fees depend on what the city charges. WOW processes all permits and provides the city fee receipts for your control. Use the calculator above for a build range on your specific size and finish level.

Usually yes, but garage slabs slope toward the door and often sit below the required floor height. We core-test, then either level with a self-leveling pour or build a raised subfloor — which also gives us a chase for the plumbing.

Yes, when it's permitted as an ADU. A full kitchen is what makes it a legal dwelling unit and what makes it rentable at full market rate.

Habitable rooms need 7 ft clear. Many LA garages sit right at 7'6"–8 ft, which is fine — but if we raise the floor, that clearance is the first thing we check. Where it's tight, we vault into the rafters.

We trench from the garage to the main sewer lateral or the house cleanout, maintaining slope the whole way. Distance and hardscape in between are the cost drivers — a long trench under a paver driveway is the version nobody budgets for, so we measure it on visit one.

Often. A 100-amp main panel typically has to go to 200 amps to carry a new subpanel, mini-split, range and water heater. Budget $3,500–$6,000 for the upgrade if yours is original.

Design and permits run 2–4 months, construction 3–5 months. It's the fastest legal unit you can add in Los Angeles.

Yes — detached conversions are the most common version we build, and existing structures generally don't need side or rear setbacks. It also gives the tenant real privacy, which raises rent.

Not when we're done. The door opening gets real framing, windows and a finished wall in matching stucco or siding, with proper eaves and a front door under cover.

Close, at roughly half the cost. Appraisers value permitted livable square footage — where a detached build wins is size, privacy and long-term rent ceiling.

Yes. HELOC, renovation loan, or our financing with soft-pull pre-qualification that doesn't affect your credit score. See the financing page for monthly estimates.

A garage conversion may qualify as an ADU, or as a Junior ADU (JADU) in an eligible attached space, depending on local rules and the existing home. A Detached ADU is a separate building. We review those options before defining your ADU construction scope.
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Recent Projects

Garage Conversion ADU

Van Nuys · 2024

Read our guide: Garage Conversion vs. Detached ADU: Which Is Right for Your LA Home?Read our guide: How Much Does an ADU Cost in Los Angeles? (2026 Price Ranges)Read our guide: How Long Do Permits and Design Take in Los Angeles?
Where we do this

Garage Conversions across Los Angeles County

Garage Conversions in 1920s Spanish bungalows, mid-century post-and-beams and Westside contemporaries — three very different sets of walls, three very different game plans.

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