Backyard & Outdoor Living in Westchester

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). Private pools in the City of Los Angeles are permitted through a Combined Building-Mechanical permit, while pools serving more than two dwelling units need separate building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits. Using a City of Los Angeles standard plan on file with LADBS reduces plan check time. Parts of Westchester are mapped inside the city's Hillside Grading Area, including the blocks near the bluffs on the northern edge and parts of Westport Heights and Loyola Village, and a pool on a lot in that area needs its own LADBS grading permit. In Kentwood, some of the Kentwood Home Guardians' Declarations of Protective Restrictions contain architectural restrictions, so plans for exterior changes or an ADU go to the Kentwood Home Guardians Architectural Review Committee before any work begins. A decision is due within 30 days of a complete submittal, and no variances from those restrictions are approved. Because the whole neighborhood lies within 20,000 feet of LAX's runways, any construction or alteration that would rise above the FAA's 100-to-1 notification surface requires notice on FAA Form 7460-1 at least 45 days before construction starts or the building permit application is filed, whichever comes first. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing plan check.

Most lots sit on the level top of the coastal terrace. The blocks near the northern bluffs and parts of Westport Heights and Loyola Village fall inside the Hillside Grading Area, and Kentwood lots are reviewed against the protective restrictions written for their tract and lot. One local condition that shapes the work: Westchester is built on a broad terrace 100 to 150 feet above sea level, where older alluvial deposits are locally capped by a veneer of old, largely stabilized dune sand, and deep borings describe dense to very dense sands and silty sands.

All of it, including Kentwood, Westport Heights and Loyola Village. 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.