ADUs & Additions in Brentwood

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). Permits are issued by LADBS, since this is part of the City of Los Angeles rather than a separate city. Hillside lots north of Sunset fall under the Baseline Hillside Ordinance (No. 184,802) for height, floor area and grading limits, and import or export of more than 1,000 cubic yards in a hillside grading area triggers a haul route hearing before the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners. The canyons are mapped Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which brings Chapter 7A ignition-resistant construction and brush clearance obligations. The city's protected tree and shrub ordinance (No. 186,873) covers oak, western sycamore, Southern California black walnut and California bay laurel, plus toyon and Mexican elderberry. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing the city.

Broad, level, deeply landscaped lots in the flat park district, transitioning to long, narrow canyon parcels with steep side slopes and single-lane frontage. In practice that means flat park-district lots carry mature sycamores, oaks and walnuts whose protected root zones frequently dictate where a pool shell, footings and utility trenching can go..

All of it, including Brentwood Park, Mandeville Canyon, Kenter Canyon, Sullivan Canyon. We are based in Los Angeles at Cahuenga Pass, so Brentwood is a short run for our crews rather than a job we service from out of the area.

Detached ADU in this market generally runs $150,000 to $400,000+. What moves it is square footage, finish level, utility runs, and site access; garage conversions typically run well below a ground-up detached build. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

Plan a realistic year. Design and engineering typically take one to three months, city plan check and corrections add several more, and construction usually runs four to eight months depending on size and site access.

Usually yes, and often substantially, because the foundation, walls and roof already exist. The trade-offs are that you lose the garage, and older slabs and framing sometimes need upgrading to meet current code.

California ADU law is designed to allow long-term rental, and an ADU is one of the few ways to add rentable square footage to a single-family lot. Short-term rental rules vary by city, so confirm your local ordinance before counting on that income.

Yes. Plans, engineering, Title 24 and the city submittal are all handled in-house, including responding to plan-check corrections. That is a service we sell on its own, so it is not something we hand off.