Pool & Spa Remodeling in Lake Forest

City of Lake Forest Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division. Lake Forest's Building and Safety Division issues building permits, and pools and spas go on the city's Combination Pool/Spa Permit, with permit applications and building inspections requested through the eLakeForest portal. That application states that all bodies of water deeper than 18 inches must be fenced in accordance with state law and city ordinance. The city's Approvals Referral Sheet asks whether a site has slopes steeper than 5 percent or cut or fill exceeding 50 cubic yards or 3 feet in depth, and the Engineering Division can require a grading permit and pad certification before any building permit is issued. ADUs need both an ADU permit and a building permit unless the unit is created within existing or proposed single-family space, and every ADU and JADU must apply for its own address. Newly built detached and attached ADUs also need separately metered gas and electric service. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing plan check.

Minimum lot sizes vary by zoning district and planned community: 7,200 square feet in the city's R1 district, 5,000 square feet in the Lake Forest and Rancho Serrano planned communities, 3,000 square feet for conventional detached lots in Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills, and one acre for Portola Hills rural estate lots. In Portola Hills, an attached or detached covered patio must sit at least 3 feet from a property line, or 8 feet from the street side of a corner lot. One local condition that shapes the work: Three liquefaction zones mapped by the California Department of Conservation run roughly parallel through the city along El Toro Road, Serrano Creek and Borrego Canyon Wash, with residential the largest land use inside them, and the General Plan calls for site-specific studies in areas potentially subject to liquefaction.

All of it, including Foothill Ranch, Portola Hills, Baker Ranch and Serrano Highlands. Our crews run every job out of our Cahuenga Pass base in Los Angeles, with our own people on site.

New pool construction: generally $70,000 to $150,000+ across Southern California. What moves it is size and shape, spa, water and fire features, decking material, automation, and how much access and grading the site needs. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

A straightforward replaster with new tile and coping usually runs three to five weeks. A full remodel that includes new decking, equipment and features typically runs eight to twelve weeks. Site access and permit timing are the two things that move that most.

Most new pool builds run about three to five months from permit to first swim. Hillside sites that need engineered retaining or difficult access sit at the longer end of that range.

If the shell and plumbing are sound and you only dislike the surface, replastering with new tile and coping is the efficient choice. If the equipment is aging, the deck is cracked or the shape no longer suits how you use the yard, a full remodel costs less than doing it in two separate phases.

Yes. Our own crews handle the build rather than passing it to a rotating set of subs, which is why the schedule and the finish standard stay consistent.