Recent rebuilds
Ten families have gone through this with us. The work is technical, the paperwork is worse, and the difference between a rebuild that finishes and one that stalls is almost always decided in the first ninety days.
Your settlement is a starting number, not a final one. Carriers price from software. Software does not know that your lot needs a retaining wall, that the code changed since your house was built, or that your street has one-way access for concrete trucks. Those costs are real and they are usually recoverable — but only if somebody documents them.
Rebuilding is not the same as what you had. A house built decades ago gets rebuilt to today’s code. Fire-rated assemblies, defensible space, energy compliance, seismic requirements. It affects cost and it affects your drawings.
The lot governs the schedule. Soils, slope, utilities, and access decide more about your timeline than anything happening inside the house. We look at those first, not last.
A rebuild touches more agencies and consultants than any other residential project. We manage all of it.
Altadena is unincorporated Los Angeles County, so your permits run through County departments rather than a city building department. Hillside lots, older septic and utility conditions, and lot-specific soils issues are common and they change both the drawing set and the budget.
The Palisades is within the City of Los Angeles, which means City plan check, City inspection, and City-specific requirements. Slope, access, and coastal-adjacent conditions drive a lot of the engineering here.
Rebuild requirements and agency programs change. We confirm current requirements for your specific parcel before you spend money on drawings.
No charge for the first conversation. Tell me what you have — a lot, a claim, a set of plans, or just a question — and I’ll tell you honestly whether I’m the right fit.