Tooele, Tooele County
5-star rated by Tooele County homeowners. Locally owned by Danny & Trayson.
We build the space under your Tooele County 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 Tooele 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.
Free, no pressure
Ready to see what a basement apartment would cost?
Recent work
From finishing the big unfinished basement in an Overlake home to cutting a private entrance and egress windows, this is the work we do. Every photo here is a finished Upterra Builders project. Tap any photo to see it larger.
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Get a real written price for your basement apartment.
Local apartment experts
We build basement apartments all over Tooele, the county seat, so we know these homes well. A lot of Tooele families commute over the hill to the Salt Lake valley for work, and plenty of other people want to live out here where homes cost less, so there is real demand for a good rental. Up in Overlake and the newer subdivisions on the north end of town, most houses were built with a big unfinished basement under the whole footprint, which is exactly where a legal apartment fits. Down in Old Tooele, the older homes near downtown can work too, and we build to match the character of the house.
A legal rental has to be built to code and permitted, with a real egress window and its own separate entrance. We know what the county looks for, and we handle all of that for you. If you want to spread the cost out, financing is available. And you are not handed off to a salesman here. You get Danny and Trayson, the two owners, on your job.
Here is the good news if you bought newer. Almost every house in Overlake and the north-end subdivisions was built with a full unfinished basement under the whole footprint, and the builder ran the main plumbing stub down there already. That is a basement apartment waiting to happen. The space is there, the ceiling height is there, and often the rough plumbing is close to where a second kitchen and bath would go. We are not fighting the house, we are finishing what the builder left for you.
A basement apartment is not legal or rentable without its own door, and that is where a lot of Tooele homes need real work. On the newer subdivisions there is usually a side yard where we can cut in a private ground-level entrance or a stairwell down. On the homes up on the east bench, where the lots step down the hill toward Middle Canyon, we can sometimes use a walkout or a daylight side that is already there. We look at your grade first, because the entrance is what decides whether the whole thing is even possible.
Every bedroom in a legal apartment needs an egress window big enough to climb out of in a fire, and in most Tooele basements that means cutting the foundation and setting a window well. We do this all the time. We size the window to code, cut the concrete clean, and waterproof the well so it does not turn into a bathtub in a spring storm. We know what the county inspector looks for, and we handle the permit and the inspections so your rental is legal, not just finished.
This part matters more in Tooele than in most places. More than half the homes tested in Tooele County come back high for radon, because of the same Oquirrh Mountain minerals that put this town on the map. Radon collects in basements, which is exactly where your renter or your family member is going to be living. When we finish a basement apartment we can build a radon system in under the slab so the gas gets vented outside instead of sitting in the living space. It is a small cost during the build and a big deal for the people who live down there.
A basement apartment starts with a finished basement, so see our Tooele basement finishing page too. See everything we do on our main basement apartments and 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