Palms Room Additions With a Wall of Glass
Palms home additions drawn for LADBS review, with the header, posts and footings of a glass wall shown clearly, by Palmcrest Contractors.
A glass wall on the yard side gives an LADBS reviewer plenty to read. The header size, the posts under it and the footings below them all need to appear on the drawings of a Palms addition, along with the figures behind them. A set that answers those questions up front tends to draw fewer comments from the reviewer.
What the reviewer reads
Beyond the header, a plan checker looks at floor area, setbacks and roof height against zoning, then at the structural sheets for the path loads take to the ground. Energy forms follow, with the glass area and its ratings listed. New bedrooms bring escape-window and smoke alarm questions, and a new bath brings ventilation. Each of these is answered on the sheets so the reviewer does not have to ask. Structural calculations from the engineer are attached, and a glass schedule lists each opening with its size and rating.
Tie-in details
The hardest sheet to read is the one showing where new meets old. We draw the existing roof, wall and floor beside the proposed ones so the reviewer can see what is kept, what is removed and what is added. Existing conditions come from measurements taken at the house. When the reviewer asks for a change, the answer goes back to the engineer and the corrected sheet is sent to LADBS. Existing conditions are drawn from a survey of the house, so no sheet relies on an assumption.
Room Additions in Palms: what people ask
Yes, if the drawings show an engineered header and footings that carry it. LADBS reviews that structural sheet along with the energy forms listing the glass. Sliders, folding doors and large fixed panes all go through the same review.
Both need permits. A second story draws closer attention from the structural reviewer because it adds load to the old foundation, while a ground floor room mostly raises setback and lot-coverage questions. The lot's setbacks may decide the matter before the engineer does.
It is written up as an item of its own. That item covers the seam where the addition's framing meets the existing house, plus any corrections a plan checker may ask for at that seam. Hidden conditions in the old framing are what raise it.
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