Beverlywood Whole-Home Remodel & Two-Story ADU

A full remodel of a 100-year-old house, plus a 1,200 square foot two-story ADU built where the garage used to be.

Neighborhood: Beverlywood
Project type: Whole-Home Remodeling
Permit authority: LADBS

The brief

Two buildings on one lot in Beverlywood. The main house was remodeled down to its systems, and the old garage was demolished and replaced with a new two-story ADU of about 1,200 square feet.

Each building has its own entrance and its own yard. A vinyl fence divides the lot, and the ADU enters from the driveway through a metal gate we fabricated and welded on site.

Both properties now generate income.

The ADU

The ground floor is open concept, living and dining together, with a kitchen and island, a guest powder room, storage under the stairs, and a sliding door to a small porch.

Upstairs there's an office, two bedrooms, and two full bathrooms, each bedroom with its own walk-in closet. Laundry is on the second floor.

The challenge

The house is close to a hundred years old. When you open the walls on a house that age, you find things that weren't built to today's code and haven't been touched since.

We found a leak in the kitchen area, which meant water damage, rotted wood that had to come out, and structural reinforcement. That work followed the engineer's requirements and city regulations rather than our judgment alone.

The permitting ran on two tracks. The main house permit took a few weeks. The ADU permit took three months. Two separate processes through LADBS, with different requirements and different timelines.

There was also a change partway through. The owner lived in the main house during the early construction, then moved to New York and brought in a tenant. We built the ADU while they were in another state.

The solution

The main house was taken back to its systems: full rewiring, full repiping, and a tankless water heater replacing the old tank.

A load-bearing wall came out to open the plan, which meant new footings, posts, and a beam to carry what the wall had been carrying.

Then: two bathrooms remodeled, the kitchen remodeled, recessed lighting throughout, every window replaced, the main entry door replaced, and all door hardware changed through the house. A new flat roof with Spanish-style detailing. New tile at the entry, porch, and steps. Interior and exterior paint, whole house.

The ADU took eight months from the start of demolition to final inspection approval.

Scope of work

Main house

Full rewiring
Full repiping
Water damage remediation and rotted wood replacement
Structural reinforcement to engineer's specification
Load-bearing wall removal with new footings, posts, and beam
Two bathroom remodels
Kitchen remodel
Recessed lighting throughout
Window replacement, whole house
Main entry door replacement
Door hardware replacement throughout
New flat roof with Spanish-style detailing
New tile at entry, porch, and steps
Tankless water heater
Interior and exterior painting, whole house

ADU

Demolition of the existing garage
New two-story structure, approximately 1,200 sq ft
Open-concept living and dining, kitchen with island
Guest powder room and under-stair storage
Two bedrooms with walk-in closets
Two full bathrooms
Office and second-floor laundry
Sliding door to porch
Independent entrance from the driveway

Site

Vinyl fence dividing the lot
Custom metal gate, fabricated and welded on site
Separate yard for each building

Before & after

The old tile roof torn off, with the parapet wall exposed down to the decking — Tearing off the old tile roof, before the new flat roof went on.

The completed new flat roof, seen from above — The new flat roof completed, seen from above.

The main house

A close view of the parapet wall stripped down to the old roof decking — A closer look at the parapet wall, stripped down to the old roof decking.

Rolls of new roofing membrane staged on the bare roof deck — New roofing membrane staged on the bare deck, ready for installation.

A pile of drywall and tile demolition debris in the side yard — Demolition debris cleared out to the side yard as work moved through the house.

Water damage and dark mold staining exposed inside a wall cavity near the kitchen — Water damage and mold found inside a wall cavity near the kitchen — this is what triggered the structural reinforcement.

Rotted wood framing exposed under the house next to a newly installed black ABS waste pipe — Rotted framing exposed under the house, with new black ABS waste pipe already run.

New plumbing pipe routed through open attic framing — New plumbing routed through the attic framing.

The kitchen stripped to the studs, with new wiring and insulation and recessed light cans installed — The kitchen stripped to the studs, with new wiring and insulation going in.

A new white window installed in the kitchen wall, surrounded by fresh insulation batts — A new window installed in the kitchen wall, with fresh insulation batts around it.

A new window installed with a new HVAC duct run through the open ceiling — Another new window going in, with a new HVAC duct run through the ceiling.

Fresh fiberglass insulation batts filling the kitchen wall framing — Fresh insulation batts filling the kitchen walls ahead of drywall.

A new header beam spanning a wide opening where a load-bearing wall used to be — The header beam that replaced a load-bearing wall, opening up the floor plan.

The kitchen drywalled and painted with recessed lighting, floor still bare concrete, waiting on cabinets — The kitchen drywalled and painted, recessed lighting in, waiting on cabinets and appliances.

New floor tile being installed with leveling clips at the seams — New floor tile going down, still set with leveling clips.

The kitchen floor tile finished, with a new window and recessed lighting installed — The kitchen floor tile finished, with a new window and recessed lighting in place.

Kitchen cabinets being installed along a wall with several new windows — Kitchen cabinets being installed, with new windows along the wall.

The finished kitchen with white cabinetry, quartz counters, and new windows — The finished kitchen — white cabinetry, quartz counters, and new windows throughout.

The old tank water heater removed from its exterior alcove, with a new copper and gas stub-out mounted beside it — The old tank water heater removed, with a new stub-out ready for its tankless replacement.

One of the original showers before renovation, with white subway tile and a black accent stripe — One of the original showers before renovation, with its period subway tile.

The original bathroom before any work began, with black and white hexagonal floor tile — The original bathroom, before any work began, with period black-and-white tile.

The original toilet niche with its dated tile and a dark wood cabinet — The original toilet niche, with its dated tile and cabinet.

The original vanity, mirror cabinet, and light fixture before demolition — The original vanity and mirror cabinet, before demolition.

A worker prying up the original tile countertop during demolition — Prying up the original tile countertop during demolition.

A worker removing the old tile surround from a tub during demolition — Demolition in progress — pulling the old surround off the tub.

A bathroom stripped down to the studs and insulation, demolition debris on the floor — The bathroom stripped down to the studs and insulation.

New plumbing rough-in for a tub and shower valve, framed against plywood — New plumbing rough-in for the tub and shower valve, framed to plywood.

A new skylight framed into the attic above a bathroom — A new skylight framed into the attic above one of the bathrooms.

A pile of old rusted cast iron waste pipe removed from the house — The old cast iron waste pipe, removed and piled outside during the repipe.

New copper supply pipes run beneath the house during the repipe — New copper supply lines run under the house during the full repipe.

A bathroom framed with a new skylight above and waterproofing membrane over the tub — The bathroom framed with its new skylight above and waterproofing membrane over the tub.

A concealed tank and carrier for a wall-mounted toilet built into the wall framing — The concealed tank and carrier for a wall-mounted toilet, built into the wall.

Cement board shower walls with a niche framed in, ready for waterproofing and tile — Cement board and a shower niche framed in, ready for waterproofing and tile.

A second bathroom with the same cement board shower walls installed — The second bathroom getting the same cement board treatment.

A laser level projecting reference lines onto cement board shower walls for tile layout — Using a laser level to lay out the tile before setting it.

A worker setting tile around a tub — Setting tile around the tub.

The new flat roof with a skylight and vent penetration being installed — The new flat roof, with a skylight and vent penetration set into it.

Tile installed on shower walls with the niche formed and a level checking plumb — Tile installed on the shower walls, with the niche formed and plumb-checked.

Black floor tile being installed in a bathroom with a chandelier fixture already hung overhead — Black floor tile going in, with a chandelier fixture already hung overhead.

A worker standing in a raised crawlspace beneath a bathroom during the repipe — Working the crawlspace beneath the house during the repipe.

New copper supply lines run beneath the house next to a section of rotted framing — Repiping under the house, where rotted framing had to be cut out and replaced.

A worker with a reciprocating saw doing framing work in a gutted bathroom — Framing work with a reciprocating saw, gutted bathroom in the background.

A new bathroom exhaust fan installed and wired in the attic — A new bath exhaust fan installed in the attic, wired and vented.

A worker leveling a mortar bed for a new shower floor before tile — Leveling a mortar bed for the shower floor before tile.

A tile installer setting large-format tile with leveling clips in a shower — Installing large-format tile with leveling clips to keep the courses flat.

Finished floor tile with a toilet flange set in place — Finished floor tile with the toilet flange set and ready.

Freshly grouted tile in a shower, still covered in protective film — Tile grouted and still under protective film, ahead of the glass and fixtures.

Two workers installing a glass shower enclosure with brass shower fixtures — Installing the glass shower enclosure, with brass fixtures already in place.

A worker installing the final glass panel on a shower with brass hardware — Setting the final glass panel on one of the remodeled bathrooms.

The finished primary bathroom with black and white marble, a crystal chandelier, and a freestanding tub — The finished primary bathroom — black and white marble, a crystal chandelier, and a freestanding tub.

A double vanity in black marble with an ornate black mirror and a matching crystal chandelier overhead — The double vanity in black marble, with an ornate mirror and matching crystal chandelier overhead.

A matte black wall-mounted toilet on its concealed carrier — The wall-mounted toilet in matte black, on its concealed carrier.

A finished bathroom vanity with brushed brass hardware and a marble backsplash — A finished vanity with brushed brass hardware and a marble backsplash.

A finished bathroom shower in marble-look tile with brushed brass fixtures — One of the finished bathrooms, in marble-look tile with brushed brass fixtures.

A second finished bathroom shower with matching marble-look tile and brass fixtures — A second finished bathroom, matching tile and brass fixtures in a different layout.

The ADU

The original green wood garage with a basketball hoop, before it was demolished — The original garage, before it was demolished to make way for the ADU.

An excavated foundation trench with wood forms staked out where the garage used to stand — Foundation excavation for the new ADU, where the garage used to stand.

A two-story structure sheathed in plywood and wrapped in scaffolding under construction — The two-story ADU under construction, sheathed in plywood and scaffolded.

New wood framing on a second floor with plumbing stub-outs and electrical boxes in place — Second-floor framing for the ADU, with plumbing stubbed out.

Interior wall framing on a second floor, including closet layouts and window openings — Interior framing on the second floor, including closet layouts.

A near-finished second-floor bedroom with a walk-in closet visible — A second-floor bedroom near finished, with its walk-in closet.

A tiled shower stall ready for its glass door — One of the ADU's two bathrooms, tiled and ready for the glass door.

A near-finished bathroom with a freestanding tub and gray tile — The other ADU bathroom, near finished, with a freestanding tub.

A near-finished staircase with vinyl plank treads and painted walls — The stairs to the ADU's second floor, near the end of construction.

A closer view of finished stair treads and white trim — A closer view of the finished stair treads and trim.

A wide view of an open-concept living, dining, and kitchen area near completion — The ADU's open-concept living, dining, and kitchen, near finished.

An open-concept kitchen and living area with a sliding glass door to a porch — The kitchen and living area, with the sliding door to the porch.

A small covered porch seen from outside through an open sliding door — The ADU's small porch, seen from outside through the sliding door.

A finished stucco exterior corner with a white vinyl fence along the side yard — The ADU's finished stucco exterior, with the vinyl fence that now divides the lot.

The ADU's finished kitchen with white shaker cabinets, stainless appliances, and an island — The ADU's finished kitchen, with the island and open sightline to the living area.

The ADU's finished guest powder room with a white vanity and marble-look countertop — The ADU's finished guest powder room.

Common questions

Can a garage be demolished and replaced with a two-story ADU?

Yes, if the lot and setbacks allow it. On this Beverlywood project the existing garage came down and was replaced with a new two-story ADU of about 1,200 square feet, permitted separately from the main house.

Does an ADU need its own utility connections and entrance?

Yes. This ADU has its own entrance from the driveway through a custom metal gate, its own yard separated by a vinyl fence, and its own systems, independent of the main house.

What kind of problems show up when remodeling a 100-year-old house?

Wiring, plumbing, and framing that predate current code, and sometimes damage that was never addressed. On this project a kitchen leak had caused rotted wood and required structural reinforcement to the engineer's specification before the remodel could continue.

Can a main house permit and an ADU permit run on different timelines?

Yes, and often do, since they're two separate processes through the same permitting authority. On this project the main house permit took a few weeks while the ADU permit took about three months.

Planning a whole-home remodel or an ADU in Beverlywood?

Call (310) 717-0432 or request a consultation — we'll walk through what a main house remodel and a new ADU each take, on their own timelines.

Call (310) 717-0432