Structural Work in Los Angeles for Houses That Need More Room
Beams, footings and shear walls engineered for Los Angeles houses adding a floor or opening a plan, permitted through LADBS and inspected before walls close.
Every beam answers to its span, so the first figure we take at a Los Angeles house is the clear distance between the places where its two ends would land. Next comes whatever sits on top of that line, whether a bedroom floor, a tiled bathroom or an empty attic. With those two facts a quote can be written, and without them it would only be a guess.
From span to steel or lumber
A short span with a bare attic above it may call for little more than an engineered lumber header. A long span under a tiled bathroom floor is another matter, and may need a steel beam on posts that land on new footings. We also note ceiling height, since a deep beam hangs lower than a shallow one and changes how the room feels. The engineer turns these measurements into sizes, which is why they get taken with care on the first visit and written down room by room.
Review and inspection by LADBS
A house inside Los Angeles city limits is reviewed and inspected by LADBS, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. Changes to beams, bearing walls, foundations or shear walls go in as engineered drawings with a permit application. Inspections are called while the steel, footings and connections are still visible, and our photos go in the file alongside them. Floor patching, drywall and paint wait for that sign-off, because finishes would hide the very work being inspected. Each inspection is booked as the job reaches that stage.
Structural Work in Los Angeles: what families ask
It depends on what the engineer finds in the footings, the walls below and the way the roof is tied to them. A frame that falls short can often be brought up to the task with added footings, plywood shear walls or heavier hold-downs. The answer arrives as stamped drawings after a look inside the framing.
First the wall is confirmed as load carrying. An engineer then sizes a beam and posts, and the footing under each post gets checked. Temporary support holds the ceiling during the swap. Once the inspector has signed off, the drywall and flooring where the wall stood are made good.
An LADBS inspector, called at the stages listed on the permit. Footing trenches, steel, hold-downs and nailing are examined before anything covers them, and the approved drawings are what they compare against. Our photos go in the file as well. Drywall waits for that signature.
Structural Work in other cities
Other projects we take on in Los Angeles
Your Los Angeles project, start to finish
Tell us about the house and the space you need. We reply by phone or email to plan a visit.