Structural Work in Woodland Hills
Flashing, drainage and footings planned with every new beam in Woodland Hills, so widened openings stay dry and sound. By Palmcrest Contractors.
The header over a widened back wall sits right where water running down behind the stucco collects, so a Woodland Hills job that opens a room to the yard draws its flashing along with the beam. A metal head flashing over the new door throws that water outward, a sill pan under the threshold sends any that reaches the floor back outside, and the post at each end stands dry on a base of its own.
Keeping water off new framing
New structural lumber lasts as long as it stays dry. When a bearing wall opens for wide glass, the building paper above the header gets lapped over the new head flashing, so anything running down the wall stays on the outer face. Posts at the jambs sit on footings that finish a little above the patio, and the slab outside gets pitched away from the opening. Where wood meets concrete, a galvanized post base keeps it from wicking moisture. Gutters above the new opening get downspouts that empty well clear of the footings, and each flashing layer is inspected before stucco patches close the wall.
Footings, soil and runoff
Footings under new posts carry concentrated load, so the soil around them has to stay firm. We trace where roof water and irrigation end up before the engineer settles the footing size, because ground that stays soaked loses bearing capacity, and clay can swell and shrink as it wets and dries. Grading near the house gets turned to fall away from the foundation, and downspouts are piped to an outlet at a safe distance. A sloping lot can call for deeper footings or a drain behind the foundation, as the engineer decides. LADBS reviews and inspects the work, Woodland Hills being a City of Los Angeles neighborhood.
Structural Work in Woodland Hills: what people ask
Check the attic first. If ceiling joists land on the wall or splice over it, or a post above bears down on it, the wall is carrying weight. A wall running at right angles to the joists is a strong hint. We look in person, and an engineer confirms the answer before anything gets cut.
Often it can. Set flush, the beam shares the depth of the ceiling joists, which hang from its sides on metal hangers. Span and load decide whether a beam that shallow can carry the weight, and when it cannot, either the beam drops below the ceiling line or the joists get deepened to match.
We bring in a California-licensed civil or structural engineer, whose stamped calculations fix the size of the beam, the posts and every footing. That package goes to LADBS with the permit application, and the engineer answers any plan check questions about the load path. During construction the inspector compares the work with those stamped sheets.
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