Altadena, Los Angeles County
Rebuilds, Retaining Walls and Decks in Altadena
Fire rebuilds, retaining walls and raised decks in Altadena, drawn to ember-resistance rules and reviewed by Los Angeles County Building and Safety.
Los Angeles County Building and Safety reviews permits for Altadena, because the community is unincorporated and has no city building office of its own. That county review covers retaining walls, raised decks, foundations and full rebuilds. Parts of Altadena sit in mapped fire hazard zones, and there it adds ember-resistance requirements to each exterior detail. Before plans are filed, we confirm the parcel's mapping and trace how storm water leaves the lot.
Rebuilding the envelope to county fire rules
A rebuild on a mapped parcel starts with the shell of the house. Roof coverings carry a fire rating, attic and foundation vents use ember-resistant designs, eaves are boxed or built from noncombustible material, and exterior walls take fiber cement, stucco or another ignition-resistant cladding. Windows get tempered glazing. A deck inside the zone uses listed boards or noncombustible framing, with the space beneath it enclosed or kept clear. County inspectors check these items at framing and again at final, so each is written into the drawings before footings are dug.
When the yard rises behind the house
If a lot climbs behind the house, a new addition or deck may need a wall cut into the bank. That wall is engineered for its height, for the soil it retains and for anything that loads it from above, with drain rock, a perforated pipe and an outlet that discharges away from neighboring parcels. Deck posts on a sloped yard bear on drilled piers set below the soil the engineer marks as unreliable. Pasadena, Sierra Madre and San Marino run their own city plan check, while the county keeps Altadena.
Work we take on in Altadena
Each service is planned around the lot, sloped or level.
Building in Altadena?
Send the address and the job, and a builder will arrange a visit to read the lot.