Backyard Remodeling · Los Angeles County
Backyard remodeling in Los Angeles County: pools, patios, covers, outdoor kitchens, drainage and yard rebuilds, planned and built by one licensed team.
Tell us about the house. A project manager will call to set up a walk-through.
Prefer to talk? Call (714) 449-9035
Los Angeles County has 88 incorporated cities plus large unincorporated areas, and the permit path for a backyard depends on the address: LADBS inside the City of Los Angeles, each city’s own department elsewhere, and LA County Building and Safety, through its EPIC-LA system, for unincorporated communities. Many backyards here are older than in the surrounding counties. Pasadena, Long Beach, Glendale, Whittier and the South Bay have yards laid out in the 1920s through the 1950s, with large trees, heaved concrete, old retaining walls and patio covers that may never have been permitted.
Hillsides drive a lot of the work. The Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriel foothills, the Verdugos and the Palos Verdes Peninsula put many lots on slopes and in CAL FIRE mapped fire hazard zones, where retaining walls, grading and defensible space near the house come first. Some cities set tighter wall rules near steep slopes; Rancho Palos Verdes, for example, requires a permit for walls over 30 inches within 10 feet of a slope steeper than 20 percent. Beach cities from Malibu to Long Beach add coastal zone review for exterior work.
Older Los Angeles County yards tend to hide problems: doubled slabs, roots under concrete, drainage that empties at the foundation and structures a previous owner built without a permit. As a licensed Class B general building contractor, with more than 18 years in Southern California, Horizon handles demolition, grading, drainage, engineered walls and the rebuild under one contract. We work with LADBS, LA County Building and Safety and the individual city departments, and we keep one project manager on the job from the first site visit to final inspection.
Each city page covers who issues the permit there, what the local housing stock looks like and what that means for your project.
Most do. Pools and spas, patio covers, California rooms, new gas lines and electrical circuits, taller retaining walls and significant grading are all permitted, by the city building department or by the county for unincorporated addresses. Setbacks for pools, equipment and covers vary by jurisdiction, so we check them during layout. We prepare the drawings, pull the permits and handle plan check.
In many communities, yes. HOA architectural committees often review pools, patio covers, walls, fire features and visible landscape, and some want approval before the city permit is submitted. We prepare the drawings for the HOA submittal and build their review time into the schedule so it doesn’t hold up construction later.
If the address is in a CAL FIRE mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the area closest to the house gets the most attention. CAL FIRE calls the first five feet, Zone 0, the most important, so we lean toward hardscape and gravel there, keep fire pits clear of structures and trees, and design attached covers with ignition resistance in mind. Local fire authorities can add stricter rules, which we check during permitting.
They can. California’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, adopted locally by every city and county, applies to larger permitted new and rehabilitated landscapes and can require a water budget and irrigation plan. Smaller backyard rehabs often fall under the thresholds. Either way, drip irrigation, a smart controller and plants suited to dry summers make sense, and turf rebates require approval before any grass is removed.
Planning backyard remodeling in Los Angeles County? Schedule a consultation or call (714) 449-9035.
Horizon Construction & Remodeling, Class B General Building Contractor.
