Home Remodeling in
Lakewood, WA

Lakewood requires an accessory dwelling to have its own independent exterior door. That part is normal. What is not normal is the rest of it.

The area in front of that door has to be covered by a roof extension and porch. And there has to be an exterior paved pathway, at least 36 inches wide, connecting the entry doorway to the public sidewalk.

Both of those are site plan decisions, not finishing details. A unit tucked into a back corner of the lot with no clear run to the street can fail on the pathway requirement alone. This is the single most common reason a Lakewood ADU concept has to be redrawn, and it is much cheaper to catch at sketch stage.

Lakewood requires a separate service for trash, recycling and green waste for an accessory dwelling unit.

It is a small thing on paper and an easy one to miss, but it is a real condition and it carries an ongoing cost the owner needs to know about before they commit. It also means somewhere on the site has to accommodate a second set of bins.

One accessory dwelling is allowed on a lot with an existing or proposed single-family dwelling. It can be a new detached building, an addition to an existing building, or a remodel of a building or part of one, including a garage conversion.

Parking is not required for an ADU within a quarter mile of a Pierce Transit bus route, or within half a mile of the Sound Transit Lakewood Station. Given how the transit network runs through Lakewood, a lot of the city qualifies, but it is worth confirming for your specific address rather than assuming.

Permits go through the city's eTRAKiT portal. Lakewood runs a specific permit type for accessory dwellings, separate from the general residential remodel permit that covers interior work such as basement finishes, kitchen and bathroom remodels and damage repair.

The relevant code is Lakewood Municipal Code 18A.40.110 and 18A.70.313.