Building an ADU with my best friend’s family at 18

This was one of my admissions essays for UC Berkeley

When I was 18, I was given the challenge of building a two-bedroom accessory dwelling unit alongside my best friend’s family home. I offered to take on the job in exchange for a year of free rent in the ADU’s second bedroom. Having just begun my carpenter’s apprenticeship, much of what this job necessitated was uncharted territory for myself and my friend’s family. Unlike at my full-time trade job, where roles were specialized and clearly defined, building an ADU required me to wear as many hats as necessary to get the job done.

Since we did not have an architect, I used my limited drafting experience and my father’s AutoCAD license to make our first architectural drawings. My friend’s parents and I brainstormed and made revisions until we were all happy with the design, at which point I began filing for all the necessary city permitting. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our plans were not deemed up to code, the first of many unforeseen circumstances that arose on this project.

Another significant challenge surfaced while attempting to connect to the property’s main water line. We learned that the existing plumbing we planned to connect to was corroded and made from galvanized steel, which needed replacing regardless of the ADU. While this part of the job was not initially within our scope, it now seemed impossible to avoid.

My friend and I did most of the labor ourselves despite knowing little about plumbing to save on costs. We employed a friend who had been working as a plumber since high school who gave us a hand on the trickier parts, and after three painstaking days of no water, the water line was in new, working condition.

All told, the project took around six weeks and was undoubtedly one of the most challenging group efforts I have ever led. However, I still would not trade my experience building it for anything. It gave me the confidence to keep pushing the limits of what I can accomplish and was ultimately a positive experience for my friend’s family and me.

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