Erda · Tooele County
5-star rated by Tooele County homeowners. Locally owned by Danny & Trayson.
We build the space under your Erda home into a legal rental or an in-law suite, with its own kitchen and its own entrance. Egress windows and permits included, with one honest price in writing.
We know what you are really worried about
After doing this out here for 20 years, we can almost guess what is on your mind before you say it. The people in Erda who call us are nervous about the same handful of things. Here is what we hear, and exactly how we handle each one.
That fear is earned. Most of the horror stories out here start with a low bid and a pile of change orders. We put one honest, itemized price in writing before we start, and it does not move unless you change the plan.
An apartment that is not permitted is a problem when you rent it or sell the house. We build it to code and pull the permit, so you end up with a legal unit, not a liability.
A legal apartment needs a real egress window and its own safe entrance. We size and build both correctly, so it passes inspection and it is safe.
Nobody wants to rent a cave. We plan the light, the layout, the ceiling height, and the finishes so it lives like a real apartment people actually want.
You deal with the owners here, not a salesman who sells the job and hands you off. One point of contact, calls and texts get answered, and you always know what is happening this week and next.
What a basement apartment includes
A rental has to stand on its own. One crew builds all of it, from the private door to the last inspection, so it can be rented the right way.
A separate door so your renter or family comes and goes without walking through your house. Their space stays their own.
A code-legal egress window and well in every bedroom, so it is a real, safe place to sleep that passes inspection.
Real cabinets, counters, a sink, and hookups for a stove and fridge. A full kitchen is what makes it a true apartment.
A full bathroom with a tub or shower, plus the plumbing run to the kitchen and laundry, all built to code.
Washer and dryer hookups in the unit, so your renter does not have to share your laundry room upstairs.
We pull the Tooele County permit and build it to code, so it is a legal apartment you can rent with peace of mind.
Our specialty
You already own the space under your house. Turn it into a legal apartment and it can bring in rent every month, or give your family a place to live close by. Same square footage you already have, now working for you.
Why a basement apartment
If you want rental income or a place for family, you have three ways to get there. Here is the honest comparison.
| A basement apartment | Build an addition | Buy a rental property | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Lowest | High | Highest |
| Uses space you already own | Yes | Partly | No |
| Earns rental income | Yes | Sometimes | Yes |
| Adds to your mortgage or debt | No new mortgage | Often | A second mortgage |
| Disruption to your life | Low, it stays downstairs | High | A separate property to manage |
Every basement is different. The fastest way to a real number is a free walkthrough.
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Recent work
These are real finished Upterra Builders spaces, the kind of full basement apartment the newer homes out in Erda have the room for. Tap any photo to see it larger.
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Local apartment experts
Erda is a rural, large-lot town in the Tooele Valley, between the Oquirrh Mountains and the Stansbury Mountains. The newer custom homes out here sit on acreage and come with big basements, which is the cheapest square footage you will ever add to a home. A lot of Erda families turn that space into a basement apartment for family, so grown kids or aging parents have their own place to live right on the property.
Erda became its own city in 2022, so a legal apartment here needs a city building permit and inspections. A legal rental or in-law suite has to be built to code, with a real egress window and its own separate entrance. We handle all of that for you. You are not handed off to a salesman here. You get Danny and Trayson, the two owners who are actually on your job.
The custom homes going up out here on acreage almost all sit over a full basement, and a lot of them are walk-outs because of the slope across the valley floor. That is a huge amount of space already framed and under roof, which makes it the cheapest square footage you will ever add. Instead of leaving it as one open room, we build a full apartment down there: a real kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom with egress, and a living area, all finished to match the rest of the house.
The most common reason Erda families call us for this is family. They want a place for aging parents or grown kids to live close but independent, on the same acreage, with their own front door. We build the apartment with its own entrance, its own laundry, and a layout that actually lives like a home instead of a finished basement. It keeps everybody on the property without anybody feeling on top of each other.
A second full kitchen and bathroom add real load to a septic system, and since many Erda homes are on a private well and septic rather than city utilities, we look at your septic capacity before we start so the apartment does not overrun it. The upside of acreage is that a private entrance is easy: a walk-out door or an exterior stairwell down the side of the house gives the apartment its own way in and out without cutting through your part of the home.
Since Erda incorporated and issues its own building permits, a legal basement apartment has to be done to code and inspected, not just finished off. That means a proper egress window in the bedroom, a separate entrance, the right fire separation between the units, and its own heat. We pull the Erda city building permit, build it to those requirements, and get it through inspection so it is a legal, rentable apartment and not a liability down the road.
Just want the basement finished? See our basement finishing in Erda page, or see everything we do on our main basement apartments & ADUs page.
Why Upterra
Upterra Builders is not a big company with a sales office. Danny and Trayson run the jobs themselves, so the people who quote your project are the same people who finish it.
Danny and Trayson quote the work and stay on the job. No handoff to a project manager you have never met.
You get a real written estimate before the work starts. If the budget and the plan do not match, we tell you up front.
We work in Tooele, Stansbury Park, Grantsville, Erda, Stockton, and nearby. We know the local permit process.
Clean framing, straight tile, and a crew that treats your home like it is theirs. Homeowners tell us so.
Where we work
Upterra Builders is based in Tooele County and finishes basements and remodels homes across the whole valley.
Not sure if you are in our area? Ask anyway. We travel across the county.
Questions
Maybe it is an unfinished basement, a basement apartment, a new kitchen, or a bathroom that is past its time. Start with one free estimate.
Or call or text us any time