Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles County

Home additions and structural work in Sherman Oaks

A second story on a Sherman Oaks house starts at the footing. Aspenwell Construction measures the foundation, plans the load path and builds up.

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A second story on a Sherman Oaks house makes the foundation the opening job of a home addition. The new rooms, roof and walls all add weight that travels down through the existing frame to footings that may have been poured for a lighter house. Before framing, we dig beside the footing at a few points, measure its width and depth, and give those numbers to an engineer, who decides whether it can carry the load or has to be enlarged.

Enlarging footings and stiffening the ground floor

A footing that falls short is usually widened in place. New concrete is poured against the old and tied to it with steel dowels drilled and epoxied into the existing work. Where upstairs posts will land, an isolated pad can go in under the floor. The ground floor needs attention as well, because a taller house carries more mass and pushes harder sideways in a quake. Its walls may get new plywood shear panels and hold-downs at each end, anchored into the enlarged footing. All of this is built and inspected before the first upper joist goes on.

LADBS plan check and nearby valley areas

Plan check for an addition in Sherman Oaks happens at LADBS, the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. Encino, Van Nuys, Valley Glen and Valley Village are reviewed by that same office, and the sequence is alike in each: drawings and calculations, then a foundation inspection, then framing and shear nailing. On an inland valley lot the new roof takes hard sun, so roof sheathing, underlayment and attic vents are chosen with heat in mind. Once the frame passes, insulation and drywall can close in the new rooms.

What we build in Sherman Oaks

Structural work comes first on this list, and every service starts with a look at the framing and foundation.

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Plan structural work in Sherman Oaks

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