How does an ADU in Granada Hills tie into an older main house's utilities?

Power is usually the first limit, so the main panel is compared with the combined load, and LADWP either upgrades the service or sets a second meter. A camera goes through the lateral, and where it runs shallow, the unit moves closer to the house so its drain keeps enough fall. Gas and water lines are sized for both buildings, or gas is left out.

Can an old detached garage in Granada Hills become an ADU?

It can, provided the frame and slab hold up. We check the slab for settlement, the framing for rot and the roof for whether it can take insulation and, on a mapped lot, a Class A covering. If the old roof cannot, it is replaced while the walls stay, which keeps the garage's footprint and outline.

How do you make an ADU in Granada Hills match the main house?

Roof form carries much of the match. We follow the main house's pitch, eave depth and covering color, then the siding pattern and window proportions. On a lot that needs ignition-resistant materials, fiber cement and stucco can still be textured and painted to sit comfortably beside the walls of the older house.

ADU Construction in Granada Hills

ADUs in Granada Hills with a roof drained to the side that suits the yard, ember-ready gutters on mapped lots, and runoff kept off the older house.

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A shed roof on a Granada Hills ADU tips all of its rain to one edge, so the first choice is which edge. Draining toward the rear fence or an open part of the yard keeps water away from the older house's foundation and from the walk between buildings. One long gutter then carries the flow to downspouts at each end. A gable or hip on the main house can be repeated, with the same logic for its gutters.

Gutters on a mapped lot

Part of Granada Hills falls inside mapped fire hazard zones, and there the roof covering must carry a Class A rating, and gutters need a way to keep leaves and needles out, so we use metal gutters with a noncombustible cover. A gutter clear of litter also drains faster in a storm. Downspouts run into solid pipe that discharges past the foundation line, and a cricket behind any curb on a low-slope section keeps water from standing. Every joint where roof meets wall gets metal step flashing.

The main house roof, left as built

The older house's roof keeps its own gutters and its own path to the ground. We do not connect the unit's drainage to them, because an older gutter sized for one roof would overflow carrying two. If the original eaves are open with exposed rafter tails, the new unit may need enclosed eaves under the fire rules, and a soffit board set at the same depth keeps a similar shadow line from the yard. The unit's own downspouts drain toward open ground at the back of the lot.

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