Older home remodeling in Lakewood, Los Angeles County
Older Home Remodeling in Lakewood
What we check first when we walk an older Lakewood house before a whole-house remodel: the panel, the pipes, the frame and the parts worth keeping.
The electrical panel is where our look at an older Lakewood house begins. Its label, its fuses or breakers and the wire leaving it tell us how much of the wiring is original and whether knob-and-tube is still live. From there we open the hose bibs to judge the galvanized lines, then walk the rooms noting which windows, doors and trim are worth keeping through the remodel.
Under the floor and in the attic
After the panel and the pipes, we go below the floor if there is a crawlspace and up into the attic. Under the floor, we look for anchor bolts along the sill plate, cripple walls with or without bracing, and any wood that is soft where it meets the foundation. In the attic, we note the rafter size, old wiring spliced across the joists and how much insulation is left. A probe and a moisture meter find soft or wet wood a flashlight would miss. Those findings shape the order of the job and the lines on the written scope.
Planning around an inland Lakewood lot
An inland lot sees hard sun and dry wind, which dry out exterior wood and open the joints in old paint. Kept fascia, sills and window trim are scraped back, filled with epoxy where soft and primed on every face. Inside, a new layout is drawn after the walk so the engineer can check any bearing wall that would come out. The plan set then goes to the building department that covers Lakewood for review, and inspections follow at framing, rough wiring and plumbing, insulation and final.
What we can do for a house in Lakewood
Whole-house work leads, and every other service is available for the same house.
Planning work on a house in Lakewood?
Tell us about it. We will walk through the house and send a written scope.