Room Addition
Contractor in Burbank, CA

The typical Burbank house is a 1,200–1,800 sq ft 1920s–40s Spanish or bungalow on a 6,000–7,000 sq ft lot, and the room that is missing is usually a primary suite, a second living space or a home office. A well-built addition gives you the extra bedroom, the primary suite, the bigger kitchen, or the second story you need, and it does it on the street and in the school district you already chose.

Right Image Builders is a licensed general contractor based in Valley Glen, a short drive from Burbank. An addition is a serious structural project — new foundation, framing tied into the existing house, roof and systems extended, all engineered and permitted. We manage the whole thing: architectural plans, structural engineering, City of Burbank permits, and construction, under one written fixed-price contract and one accountable company.

Most Burbank homes are 1920s–40s Spanish and traditional houses, which shapes what's possible: charming, solidly built structures that take a sensitive addition well, on lots whose setbacks — especially in the Rancho equestrian district — decide how you can expand. The art is in making the new square footage look original — matched rooflines, stucco, and windows — not bolted on.

Every Burbank addition starts with the parcel. Most homes here sit on 1920s–40s single-family lots, which set the rules: how much floor area you can add, and the front, side, and rear setbacks you have to keep clear. In the Rancho equestrian district those setbacks carry extra clearances tied to horse-keeping — a real constraint on where an addition can go. A ground-floor addition trades yard for square footage; a second story adds space without shrinking the lot.

Because Burbank is its own city, additions are permitted through the City of Burbank's Building & Safety Division — not LADBS — with its own plan check, fees, and inspection schedule. That local familiarity matters on additions, where plan check and structural review are more involved than a simple remodel. From our Valley Glen shop, the City of Burbank counter is a short drive.

The first thing we do at the free consultation is pull your parcel on the city's parcel map: zone, lot area, the floor-area limit, setbacks and any hillside or fire-zone overlay, so you know the buildable square footage before you spend anything on drawings. Most of Burbank is R-1 lots, R-1-H in the Rancho with horse-keeping setbacks, and hillside lots that need a Hillside Development Permit.

Burbank's neighborhoods set different constraints. Magnolia Park and the blocks around the Media District are mostly 1920s–40s single-family lots where floor-area limits and front, side and rear setbacks decide whether you build out or up. In the Rancho District the equestrian zoning adds extra clearances tied to horse-keeping that affect where an addition can sit. In the Burbank hills — the R-1 Hillside area above the flats — an addition to a single-family home can require a Hillside Development Permit, a Planning review for code compliance and neighborhood compatibility that protects views; it is not required on the flats, and we tell you at the consultation whether your parcel falls in that area. All residential additions in Burbank go through the Community Development Department's Building & Safety Division: plans stamped by a California-licensed architect or engineer are submitted electronically for plan check covering structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire and energy compliance, with the City's own inspection schedule during construction.

A Burbank room addition usually needs a few months for design, structural engineering and City of Burbank plan check before construction, then roughly three to five months of building for a ground-floor addition and longer for a second story. Additions on R-1 Hillside parcels add a Planning review step before the building permit.

City of Burbank process. Architectural plans and structural calculations are stamped by a California-licensed architect or engineer and submitted electronically to the Building & Safety Division as a plan-check permit. Zoning review runs alongside; a Hillside Development Permit, where required, is a separate Planning approval that comes first. Corrections are answered until the permit issues.

Construction. Foundation, framing and roof tie-in, rough electrical, plumbing and HVAC with City inspections at each stage, then insulation, drywall, exterior match to the original 1920s–40s finishes, and the final inspection. Because we are a short drive from the City counter, corrections and inspections are scheduled quickly. Your fixed-price proposal shows the whole sequence with realistic dates.

Verify the license at cslb.ca.gov (ours is 1021284): active, classified for structural work, bond and workers' compensation on file, and get insurance certificates in writing. Then ask the Burbank question directly: "Which building department will you permit this through?" The right answer is the City of Burbank Building & Safety Division. A contractor who says LADBS is planning to learn Burbank's process on your project.

Ask who prepares and stamps the plans, who submits to the City's electronic plan check and answers corrections, and — if your home is in the hills — who handles the Hillside Development Permit. Require a written fixed-price contract with an itemized scope, allowances, written change orders and a payment schedule tied to completed work; California caps the down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less. Finally, ask how the addition will match a 1920s–40s Burbank house — roof pitch, stucco or siding, window proportions and floor height — so it reads as original.