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Adding a garage apartment, in-law suite, or detached cottage to your Sarasota property? The electrical has to be done right — permitted, inspected, and built for the way you plan to use it.
An ADU is an investment in your property — whether it's housing a family member, generating rental income, or giving you a dedicated workspace. The electrical has to support how you're actually going to use it, and it has to pass inspection as a habitable space.
We work on every type of ADU in the Sarasota area — garage conversions, detached cottages, in-law suites built onto the main house, and above-garage apartments. Each one has its own electrical requirements depending on size, intended use, and how it connects to the main house.
One of the first questions on any ADU project is how the electrical will be set up. The two main options are a subpanel fed from your existing main panel, or a completely separate utility meter.
A subpanel is simpler and less expensive. It's the right choice when you're keeping utilities in your name — a family member living there, or a rental where you include utilities.
A separate meter gives the ADU its own utility account. If you're renting it out and want the tenant to handle their own electric bill, this is the cleaner solution long-term. We coordinate directly with the utility on new service installations.
Planning to rent your ADU? We'll help you think through the metering decision up front so you don't have to redo it later. A separate meter now is much cheaper than separating it after the fact.
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Converting a garage into a living space — studio apartment, in-law suite, or home office — requires upgrading the electrical from "garage standard" to habitable-space standard. That means proper lighting circuits, outlet spacing per NEC, HVAC circuits, smoke and CO detectors, and a subpanel sized for living loads. We handle the full electrical scope coordinated with your GC or directly with you.
A detached ADU — whether a new build or an existing structure being converted — needs an underground feeder run from the main house panel. We dig the trench (or coordinate with your landscaper), run conduit and wire, install the subpanel, and wire the structure from scratch. All permits and inspections included.
An in-law suite added to the main home is part remodel, part new construction. We assess your panel capacity before the project starts — an addition adds load, and sometimes the right answer is a panel upgrade or subpanel before any walls go up. We'll tell you upfront what your existing service can handle.
If your ADU will have a parking space — garage spot, driveway, or carport — roughing in an EV charger circuit while the walls are open costs a fraction of what a retrofit costs later. We can install the outlet or charger at trim-out, or leave the circuit capped for whenever you're ready. Many of our ADU clients also want one for the main house — we can run both at the same time.