Custom Homes, Remodels, and ADUs
Built Beautifully Across San Diego

Yes. Almost any structural, electrical, plumbing, or square-footage change in San Diego requires a permit from the City of San Diego or your local jurisdiction (Encinitas, Chula Vista, Carlsbad, etc.). Working without one risks fines, forced demolition, and major resale issues. As your licensed general contractor, NJ Design & Build prepares every drawing, pulls every permit, and schedules every inspection on your behalf, so the paperwork never lands on your kitchen counter.

Timelines depend on scope and jurisdiction, but here’s the honest range: a bathroom remodel runs 4–8 weeks of construction, a kitchen remodel 8–14 weeks, a detached ADU 4–7 months, a major addition 5–9 months, and a ground-up custom home 12–18 months. Add 2–6 months for design and permitting upfront. We hand you a written schedule before construction starts and update it weekly, so you always know what’s next.

Absolutely — and they’re genuinely free, with no obligation and no high-pressure sales pitch. You can choose an in-person walk-through at your San Diego home or a virtual consultation if your schedule is tight. During the meeting, we listen to your goals, take measurements or review plans, talk through realistic budgets and timelines, and identify any red flags early. You’ll leave with clarity on what’s possible, even if you decide not to build with us.

ermit timelines vary by jurisdiction and project complexity. Straightforward kitchen and bathroom remodels can be permitted in 4–8 weeks. ADUs typically take 8–16 weeks under California’s streamlined ADU laws. Custom homes, additions, and coastal-zone projects often run 4–9 months due to plan check rounds and Coastal Commission review. Because we submit hundreds of San Diego applications a year, we know which plan checkers prefer what — and that experience shaves real weeks off the calendar.

Yes. We partner with reputable national and California-based lenders that specialize in renovation, construction, and ADU financing. Options include single-close construction loans, RenoFi-style equity products, FHA 203(k) loans, and ADU-specific financing tied to projected rental income. We also help eligible homeowners apply for the California $40K ADU Grant. Our team isn’t a lender, so our advice is unbiased — we recommend the structure that costs you the least over the life of the loan.

Yes. Every NJ Design & Build project is backed by California’s 10-year statutory warranty on latent structural defects, a 1-year comprehensive workmanship warranty on everything we touch, and the full manufacturer warranties on appliances, roofing, windows, and finishes. If something isn’t right after handover, one phone call brings our team back out. That accountability is the entire point of hiring a licensed, insured, design-build general contractor instead of piecing trades together.

Yes — and we do it constantly. Many San Diego neighborhoods (Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, Coronado, Solana Beach, Del Mar) carry HOA design review, while properties west of I-5 often fall inside the California Coastal Zone and require a Coastal Development Permit. Our in-house design team prepares HOA submittal packages, attends architectural review meetings, and navigates Coastal Commission requirements. We’ve worked across dozens of San Diego HOAs, so we know what gets approved on the first pass.