Backyard & Outdoor Living in Los Angeles

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). LADBS issues residential building, grading, plumbing, electrical and pool permits citywide, with Development Services Centers downtown and in Van Nuys, West Los Angeles, South Los Angeles and San Pedro, while zoning entitlements and design review come from Los Angeles City Planning. Parcels inside a designated hillside area fall under the Baseline Hillside Ordinance (No. 184,802), which caps grading quantity, floor area, height and retaining wall dimensions. A large share of the city sits in a Methane Zone or Methane Buffer Zone under Ordinance 175,790 where mitigation must be addressed before permits issue, and coastal neighborhoods such as Venice and Pacific Palisades additionally require a Coastal Development Permit. Protected trees and shrubs — oak, western sycamore, Southern California black walnut, California bay, Mexican elderberry and toyon — are regulated under Ordinance 186,873 at four cumulative inches of trunk diameter and need an Urban Forestry permit; review length varies by parcel and scope. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing the city.

Lot character varies enormously, from 5,000-square-foot flat R1 parcels in the older grid neighborhoods to steep, irregular hillside lots where usable outdoor space has to be manufactured with retaining structures and cantilevered decking. In practice that means soil swings from deep alluvial fill on the valley floors to weathered bedrock and old landslide debris in the hills, so the geotechnical report drives foundation and pool shell design more than the architecture does..

All of it, including Hancock Park, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Cheviot Hills. We are based in Los Angeles at Cahuenga Pass, so Los Angeles is a short run for our crews rather than a job we service from out of the area.

Full backyard transformation in this market generally runs $50,000 to $250,000+. 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.