Torrance ADU Construction With a Drained Wall
Torrance ADUs with furring or a drainage mat behind the siding, so the wall dries from behind, and trim sized to the older main house over that gap.
Furring strips or a drainage mat set behind the siding give a Torrance ADU a rainscreen: a thin cavity where any water that gets past the cladding runs down and out at the base. A coastal lot can see wind-driven rain and long damp spells, and a wall with that cavity dries from the back as well as the face. The house wrap behind it remains the actual water barrier, lapped like shingles from the bottom up.
Details at the top and bottom of the cavity
A rainscreen needs both air and water to move through it. At the base of the wall, a perforated closure strip keeps insects out while letting water drain and air enter, and at the top, the cavity vents under the eave. Each window sits on a sill pan with flashing lapped so that water reaches the face of the cavity and never the framing. Because the siding stands out from the wall, the casing and corner boards are made thicker, which also suits an older house whose trim stands proud of its boards.
Finishes and the city's review
Siding and trim go up primed on all faces with cut ends sealed, so moisture in the cavity finds no raw edge to soak into. A high-grade acrylic paint stays flexible as the boards move between damp and dry weeks. The City of Torrance runs its own building and safety division, and our drawings show the rainscreen in section, so the inspector sees how the wall is meant to work before the siding closes it in. The main house's siding is left alone unless its own wall shows damage.
About our ADU Construction serviceEverything we do in Torrance
ADU Construction in Torrance: common questions
Through flashed mounting blocks, so no pipe or conduit leaves an open hole in the rainscreen. Power comes from the older panel or from a new meter, depending on a load calculation, and any gas range or heater planned for the unit is added to the gas meter's load before it is approved. A camera goes down the house's sewer line before the new drain is joined to it.
When the frame is plumb and the footing sound, the shell can stay and be brought up to a dwelling's standard. That usually means new wrap and a rainscreen under fresh siding, since a garage wall is often a single layer of boards nailed to studs. Old boards in good shape are set aside, ready to patch the main house wherever its own siding has failed.
We size the trim to the house, then add the depth the rainscreen needs. Casing width, corner board width and fascia depth are measured on the main house and repeated, with boards thick enough to stand proud of the furred-out siding. Roof slope, overhang and window pattern follow, and the paint is mixed from a scraped chip of the house color.
ADU Construction in other cities
Other work we do in Torrance
Talk to us about your house in Torrance
Send the details and we will set up a walk-through and a written scope.