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 in a designated hillside area fall under the Baseline Hillside Ordinance (No. 184,802), which limits residential floor area, building envelope height, and grading and import/export quantities. Protected trees and shrubs (native oaks other than scrub oak, western sycamore, Southern California black walnut, California bay, Mexican elderberry and toyon) are regulated under LAMC 46.00 at four inches of cumulative trunk diameter, and removing or relocating one needs a StreetsLA Urban Forestry Division 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 plan check.

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. One local condition that shapes the work: 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 and Cheviot Hills. 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.