By TR Robertson
What happens when an aerospace engineer with over 20 years in factory-built housing and a high-end custom home builder who founded his own construction business and has built homes for over 20 years meet by chance at a party, begin discussing their jobs and ideas they have for making home construction easier for future homeowners? This chance meeting happened in 2020 and out of that meeting has emerged Proteus Homes. A home construction process that is revolutionizing the home building process for ADU’s (Accessory Dwelling Units). Former aerospace engineer Luca Brammer, and owner of Jantz Construction, Ryan Jantz, co-founded Proteus Homes and have developed a panelized building system that provides design flexibility meshed with prefabricated building methods that allows for the structural finish of predesigned or custom homes in one day and a move in ready home in 3 months. In a recent visit to the factory, located in Vista, Ryan and Luca said, “Speed and efficiency are great benefits, but we also reinvented the entire customer experience.”
Ever since the passing of California bills like AB 68 and AB 881, removing many of the restrictions imposed by local agencies and setting rules that favor homeowners that want to put an ADU on their property, there has been a surge in the number of ADU’s throughout the state. ADU’s, also referred to as guest houses or granny flats, are second dwelling units built on the same property as the single-family home. They typically have their own entrance, a kitchen, a bathroom and living area. They can be attached to a single-family home or be detached from the main house. JADU’s (Junior Accessory Dwelling Units) are like ADU’s, but no more than 500 sq. ft., located in the main residence, typically with a separate entrance but no kitchen.
Many homeowners are building, or about to build, ADU’s and JADU’s on their property for several reasons. One reason might be to provide a home for an aging parent or parents. Another reason may be to provide a home for multi-generational family members – such as a son or daughter’s families. One of the major reasons for construction of an ADU is to provide an additional steady stream of rental income for the homeowner. Studies show adding an ADU can increase the homeowner’s property value from $150,000-$500,000. The homeowner can gain more square footage at a fraction of the cost using the Proteus pre-fabrication process.
The Proteus Design/Build team will provide an easy step-by-step process for those interested. They said the key to their process is the company will show the future ADU owners their craftsmanship in the building process, the great value they have over the traditional ways of building a structure and they guarantee the future owners will have an enjoyable experience throughout the construction of the ADU or JADU. Ryan said the only drawback can occur in the initial phase of the process, the permitting from the city the ADU is being built. He said Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista have been the easiest to work with. The state says the permitting acceptance should only take 60 days, but they have found that is not necessarily the case. Proteus has built ADU’s all over San Diego County and is in the design stage of building one in Santa Barbara and did a test build in Moab, Utah, for work-force housing. The Step-by-Step process begins once a homeowner decides they want an ADU added to their property. It starts with Proteus employees meeting with the homeowner to evaluate the site feasibility for the type of unit the homeowner wants on their site.
Next involves the Design and Permitting working with the city requirements and the homeowner working with the Design Team members to either pick out a pre-designed ADU or to customize an ADU for the homeowner. A 3-D rendering will be made for the homeowner to allow the homeowner to make changes as needed. The homeowner can also pick from a number of tiles, flooring, hardware, and cabinetry selections or may choose to pick other designs they may have seen elsewhere. Step three is the off-site fabrication and site preparation for the ADU. This might include the leveling of ground and pouring of the foundation or the removal of a garage roof for an ADU being built over a garage. Building the ADU wall and roof sections off-site reduces the noise and mess normally associated with construction.
Step four is Crane Day, when everything is delivered, and the structure is assembled. Usually, three flat beds will bring the large wall and roof panels, assembled with wiring for electrical, the roof, windows, doors, all kitchen and bath fixtures and a number of other items that will be used for the completion of the ADU. Step five is Finishing the ADU, applying all finishing touches and fixtures. Step six is the completion making the ADU ready for move in for whomever the homeowner will have living in the structure. I was able to visit a three bedroom two-story ADU on Crane Day in Vista and see the amazing team work necessary to complete the one-day framing process.
The Proteus website (www.proteus.homes) shows the prepared popular floor plans starting with a 336 sq. ft. studio/home office plan running $161-$192,000. Next would be a 497 sq. ft. one bed linear running $197-$232,000. A $749 sq. ft. two bedroom would run $268-$310,000. A 1,200 sq. ft. three bedroom would cost between $366-$422,00. There is also a design for a 441 sq. ft. one bedroom above a garage that could be built for $246-$302,000. Price differences can be explained by speaking with Proteus employees. An ADU can also be completely customized by the homeowner and the Proteus Design Team.
This unique panelized building system is well worth investigating for any homeowner interested in adding an ADU or JADU to their property. Contact the company at 760-650-3050 if you are interested in scheduling a free site feasibility to see if an additional structure could be added or what type of structure is best for your property. Click on this site (www.proteus.homes/#what-to-do) and then click on the video to see a 1 min. 45 sec. time lapse 3-bedroom ADU being built in Encinitas in one days’ time.
