Typical cost in Murray
Owners who live in their Murray house and want a self-contained unit below it, for relatives or a long-term tenant, are the reason this page exists. Murray and Utah call the unit an accessory dwelling unit. Murray Basement Finishing starts with what the city permits and moves on to what the building code requires of the unit.
The service area is Murray with Midvale and Sandy beside it. In Murray about 63 percent of housing units are one-unit homes, a group that includes the single-family houses an internal unit is built into, and owners live in about 65 percent of homes, which matters because the city ties the unit to an owner on the property.
A parent, an adult child or another relative lives in the basement and the owner lives upstairs. The owner still has to satisfy Murray’s occupancy rule, and the unit still needs its own escape opening, alarms and a way of separating the two homes.
Murray prohibits renting for stays shorter than 30 days, so a rental here is a long-term one, and the city requires a business licence to rent the unit. The owner must live in the main house or in the unit.
Murray’s rule allows the owner to occupy the accessory unit instead of the main house. Whichever way round it is, the affidavit records the arrangement before the city accepts the application.
Utah’s building code defines an accessory dwelling unit as a habitable living unit created within the existing footprint of a primary owner-occupied single-family dwelling. State law makes an internal unit a permitted use in areas zoned primarily for residential use, and it limits what a city can require: a municipality may not restrict the unit’s size in relation to the main home, the total lot size, the street frontage or the internal connectivity.
The statute leaves a few decisions to each city, among them a permit or licence to rent the unit, a ban on rentals under 30 consecutive days, owner occupancy as a condition of renting, a ban on units where the lot is 6,000 square feet or smaller, and a ban on a separate utility meter. Every applicable building, health and fire code still binds the unit.
A new accessory dwelling unit in an existing basement needs an emergency escape and rescue opening, and the egress rules page sets out the sizes. When a permitted alteration creates the unit, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are placed as in a new dwelling, and the unit’s smoke alarms are interconnected.
Fire separation between unit and house: Utah’s amendment exempts an accessory dwelling unit from the dwelling-unit separation requirement when the walls and the bottom of the floor assembly carry at least half-inch gypsum board or equivalent on each side. Where fire-resistance-rated construction is required, the building official inspects after the board is up and before joints and fasteners are taped.
Murray permits one accessory dwelling unit per lot, in every zoning district that allows single-family dwellings. The city does not allow owner-building of accessory units: a homeowner has to hire a licensed contractor and obtain a building permit through the Building Department. The owner must live in the main house or in the unit.
Before an application is accepted, the owner signs an affidavit confirming compliance with the occupancy and short-term rental rules, and the affidavit must be recorded at the Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office. The unit cannot be used as a short-term rental, and renting it for stays under 30 days is prohibited. A long-term rental needs a Murray business licence. The city’s page refers to Chapter 17.78 for the complete ordinance, so read that chapter before you commit to a layout.
A unit with its own kitchen also brings in a line of the basement checklist: when a kitchen is added, Murray asks for the Second Kitchen Covenant. Ask the city, through the building permits desk at 801-270-2431, how that covenant sits alongside the ADU affidavit.
Murray allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in zoning districts that allow single-family dwellings, with an owner who lives in the house or the unit and a recorded affidavit. Whether your lot qualifies is a question for the city.
No. Murray says accessory units cannot be used as short-term rentals and prohibits collecting rent for stays shorter than 30 days.
Yes, if it is a new unit in an existing basement. The state’s version of the residential code requires an emergency escape and rescue opening for it, and the egress window page has the sizes.
The size of the unit, the kitchen, the bathroom, the separating wall and floor, the egress cuts and how much of the mechanical system has to move. We give an estimate after a visit to the basement, within the ranges above.
An apartment pulls in the other services: a kitchen needs the second kitchen step, a bathroom needs its own ventilation, and a sleeping room needs an escape window. See basement kitchen and wet bar, basement bathroom and egress window installation, or go back to the Murray Basement Finishing home page.
Is the basement already framed, partly finished or bare, and who will live in the unit? Tell us whether you plan to rent it long term. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (385) 485-8556