Accessory dwelling units

Describe the ADU. Get a floor plan your drafter can open.

Square footage, bedrooms, baths, kitchen, laundry. CADdillo drafts the ADU to scale with fixtures, furniture, room areas and dimensions, as an editable CAD file your drafter, engineer or plan reviewer can work from.

Drafting, not a stamped submittal. CADdillo draws the plan. It does not approve, stamp or seal anything, and it does not know your jurisdiction's rules.

Updated . Feet and inches throughout.

Briefing

How to brief Dillo for an ADU (US units)

Draws today: a detached one-bedroom, one-bath ADU casita drawn near 600 sq ft (24 x 25 ft; 580 to 625 sq ft by default, and a larger ask stretches it a little), a one-bedroom flat over a two-car garage (27 x 28 ft, 756 sq ft, two storeys), and a two-bedroom plan from about 915 sq ft.

Not drawn for an ADU: driveway, parking or landscape site layouts, framing, foundation or structural sheets, a stamped or sealed drawing, and a check against your city's ADU rules. It is drafting; your local department and a licensed professional govern.

A real drawing, not a mock-up

600 sq ft one-bed detached ADU

Detached ADU Casita: 7 rooms, 600 sf, 5 doors, 5 windows, 17 fixtures. Drawn to scale by the CADdillo engine.
Detached ADU Casita: 7 rooms, 600 sf, 5 doors, 5 windows, 17 fixtures. Footprint 24 x 25 ft (centerline), 600 sq ft. Drawn by the CADdillo engine from the brief below; graded by our drawing QA ledger at zero defects.
The brief

Detached ADU, about 600 sq ft: one bedroom, one bath, kitchen and living room, stacked laundry.

Overall dimensions on the sheet are to the outside faces of the walls; the footprint above is the wall centerline.

Free to download and edit. Walls, doors, windows, fixtures, room labels with areas and dimension strings are separate CAD entities on named layers, in inches.

How it works

From a sentence to a file you can hand off

  1. 1. Describe it

    Square feet or width and depth, bedrooms, baths, and anything that must be there: laundry, a closet, an open kitchen.

  2. 2. It is drafted to scale

    Rooms, doors, windows, kitchen and bath fixtures and furniture are placed and dimensioned, with each room labelled with its area.

  3. 3. Edit and export

    Adjust it in the browser editor, then export DXF or DWG for your drafter or designer.

What you get

  • A to-scale ADU floor plan in feet and inches
  • Kitchen, bath and laundry fixtures, and furniture, as CAD blocks
  • Room labels with square footage
  • Overall and segment dimension strings
  • Exterior elevations of the ADU on request (elevation drawing)
  • Named layers you can restyle or extend

What it is not

  • A stamped or sealed drawing
  • A check against your state or city ADU rules
  • Structural, MEP or energy calculations, or a wall-section detail
  • A site plan placing the ADU on your lot
What it costs

Free to start. Pay as you go.

Free CAD + Free AI: 50 Free AI Credits. No card necessary. Need more credits? Pay-as-you-go. No subscription, no commitment.

Free - $0
  • 50 free AI credits, no card. An AI drawing costs 20 credits, so your first 2 drawings are free.
  • Full browser editor, unlimited drawings drawn and edited by hand
  • DXF export; 3 DWG exports
  • All 474 CAD blocks
Pay as you go - from $10
  • One-time packs: 100 credits for $10, 250 for $20, 500 for $30 or 1000 for $50
  • A drawing 20 credits; a redraft or another layout 10
  • No subscription, nothing renews, credits never expire

Business: custom plans. For architecture firms and design teams: high-volume credits at volume rates, team accounts, API access, priority support. Talk to us

Answers

Questions builders actually ask

Can AI draw an ADU floor plan I can actually edit?

Yes. Describe the ADU (square footage, bedrooms, baths, kitchen, laundry) and CADdillo drafts it to scale with walls, doors, windows, kitchen and bath fixtures, furniture, room labels with areas and dimensions. It is a CAD file on named layers, not a picture, so you or your drafter can keep working on it.

Is the drawing ready to submit for an ADU permit?

No. It is drafting, not a stamped submittal. ADU rules (size caps, setbacks, parking, utilities, fire separation) are set by your state and city, and CADdillo does not know them. Use the plan as the floor-plan sheet to develop with your drafter, designer or engineer, and confirm what your department requires.

What size ADU can it draw?

The detached ADU casita is a one-bedroom, one-bath plan drawn near 600 sq ft (24 x 25 ft; 580 to 625 sq ft by default, and a larger ask stretches it a little) with a kitchen open to the living and dining area, a closet and a laundry. A flat over a two-car garage is 756 sq ft, and two bedrooms are drawn on the smallest two-bedroom plan, about 915 sq ft. Other sizes are drawn on the closest dwelling plan, with the size difference said. Say the square footage, or the width and depth in feet.

Can I open it in AutoCAD?

Yes. Export DXF on any tier; 3 DWG exports are included on the free tier. Both open in AutoCAD, BricsCAD, DraftSight and other CAD programs. The sample DWG and DXF on this page are free downloads.

What does it cost?

An AI drawing costs 20 credits. New accounts get 50 free AI credits, enough for two drawings, no card. More credits are pay-as-you-go, from $10 for 100, with no subscription.

How should I describe my ADU so the drawing comes out right?

Draws today: a detached one-bedroom, one-bath ADU casita drawn near 600 sq ft (24 x 25 ft; 580 to 625 sq ft by default, and a larger ask stretches it a little), a one-bedroom flat over a two-car garage (27 x 28 ft, 756 sq ft, two storeys), and a two-bedroom plan from about 915 sq ft. Type: say "detached ADU" for the single-storey casita, or "garage apartment" for the flat over a garage. Size: 600 sq ft or 24 x 25 ft is the casita, drawn near 600 sq ft (580 to 625 by default; a larger ask stretches it a little). 756 sq ft or 27 x 28 ft is the garage apartment. Other sizes are drawn on the closest dwelling plan, with the size difference said. Use feet and sq ft. Bedrooms and baths: one bed and one bath at about 600 sq ft is the casita. Two bedrooms are drawn on the smallest two-bedroom plan, about 915 sq ft. Kitchen: open to the living room, with range, refrigerator and dishwasher. Laundry: washer and dryer off the hall. Porch or deck: after the first drawing, ask Dillo to add it, such as "add a covered porch on the front wall". Output: end the brief with Export DXF or Export DWG. Example: "Detached 600 sq ft ADU, 24 x 25 ft, one bed one bath, open living and kitchen, laundry. Export DXF."

What does CADdillo not draw for an ADU?

Not drawn for an ADU: driveway, parking or landscape site layouts, framing, foundation or structural sheets, a stamped or sealed drawing, and a check against your city's ADU rules. It is drafting; your local department and a licensed professional govern.

Related

Your ADU, drawn to scale, in a file you own.

Drafting, not a stamped submittal.