Backyard & Outdoor Living in El Segundo

City of El Segundo Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division. Building permits come from the Building and Safety Division of the Community Development Department, which takes applications, plans and fee payments through its online E-Z Permit Hub and requires a permit for pool and spa installations and most excavation. The City states that regular plan check takes one to four weeks depending on scope and that accelerated plan check is aimed at seven working days, both counted from payment of plan review fees. Work that builds or alters a sidewalk, alley or public street also needs a permit from the Public Works Department. Inside the Residential Sound Insulation zones near LAX, new buildings and additions must meet the City's noise standards, with the checklist for the 65-70 dB or 70+ dB zone attached to the submitted plans. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing plan check.

Mostly single-family streets, with two-family lots scattered throughout and a substantial share of multi-family housing, all within the northwest quadrant of the city. The General Plan sets 5,000 square feet as the minimum for new single-family lots and notes a trend toward larger homes, both through additions and through older houses replaced with larger new ones. One local condition that shapes the work: In the 65-70 dB noise zone, the City's prescriptive checklist calls for openable windows rated at least STC 35, caps glazing in sleeping rooms at 20 percent of the lesser of floor or wall area, and requires kitchen cooktop hoods to be non-ducted recirculating units with no connection to the exterior.

All of it, including Downtown El Segundo, Grand Avenue and Imperial Avenue. Our crews run every job out of our Cahuenga Pass base in Los Angeles, with our own people on site.

Full backyard transformation: generally $50,000 to $250,000+ across Southern California. What moves it is how much hardscape is involved, whether a pool or outdoor kitchen is included, grading and retaining, and the level of lighting and planting. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

A patio and turf refresh often finishes in three to five weeks. A full transformation with hardscape, an outdoor kitchen, structures and lighting typically runs ten to sixteen weeks, and longer if a pool is part of the same phase.

Pavers cost more up front but flex with ground movement instead of cracking, and individual units can be lifted and replaced. Poured concrete is cheaper initially, but a crack means cutting out and repouring a section that rarely matches. On most Southern California soil we recommend pavers for anything you will look at every day.

Yes, and on most projects we insist on it. Correcting grade and adding proper drainage while the yard is already open is far cheaper than retrofitting it after new hardscape is down.

Yes. Design, permits, hardscape, structures, kitchen, lighting and planting run through one team and one project manager, so nothing gets lost between trades.