Room Addition
Contractor in North Hollywood, CA

The typical North Hollywood house is a 1,100–1,500 sq ft 1940s bungalow on a 5,500–6,500 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 neighborhood you already chose.

Right Image Builders is a licensed general contractor based in Valley Glen, minutes from North Hollywood. 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, LADBS permits, and construction, under one written fixed-price contract and one accountable company.

Most NoHo homes are vintage 1920s–40s houses on older, smaller lots, which shapes what's possible: tight lots often favor a second story over a sprawling ground-floor addition, and modest, well-matched additions over oversized ones. The art is in making the new square footage look original — matched rooflines, stucco, and windows that keep the home's arts-district character — not bolted on.

Every North Hollywood addition starts with the parcel. Most homes here sit on older, smaller 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. On a tight lot, a second story adds space without shrinking the yard; a modest ground-floor addition trades yard for square footage — the right choice depends on your goals and your lot.

Because North Hollywood is City of Los Angeles, additions are permitted through LADBS — an authority we work with regularly from our Valley Glen shop minutes away. That local familiarity matters on additions, where plan check and structural review are more involved than a simple remodel, especially on the older homes common across the NoHo Arts District, Toluca Woods, and Bakman.

The first thing we do at the free consultation is pull your parcel on ZIMAS: 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 North Hollywood is R1 and R2 lots in the older blocks, RD1.5 multifamily around the Arts District.

North Hollywood's housing is older and denser than most of the Valley. Around the NoHo Arts District and in Toluca Woods the single-family lots are typically narrow 1920s–40s parcels; across the 91605 and 91606 streets to the north, postwar houses sit on modest lots with detached garages. That geometry drives the design: side setbacks often rule out a wide addition, rear yards are short, and floor-area ratio caps how much can be added at grade — which is why a second story, or a rear addition combined with a garage conversion, is the common NoHo answer. Urban-infill conditions matter too: tight street parking, neighbors close on both sides and alley access all shape how a project is staged. North Hollywood is City of Los Angeles, so every addition is permitted through LADBS, and we work from our Valley Glen shop a few minutes away.

A North Hollywood room addition usually needs a few months of design, structural engineering and LADBS plan check, then roughly three to five months of construction for a rear addition and longer for a second story, which adds the reinforcement stage before framing. Tight-lot staging and street access can affect the schedule more than in larger-lot neighborhoods.

Rear additions. Plans and structural calculations, LADBS plan check, then foundation, framing, roof tie-in, rough trades with inspections, insulation, drywall, exterior match to the bungalow or postwar house, and finishes. On a narrow lot, material deliveries and concrete pours are scheduled around alley or street access.

Second stories. A structural evaluation of the existing foundation and framing comes first; if reinforcement is needed it is designed and built before the new floor goes on. Roof removal and dry-in are sequenced so the house stays weather-tight, and most NoHo families stay in the home with the downstairs protected. Your fixed-price proposal shows the whole schedule 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 NoHo question: "Given my setbacks and floor-area limit, should this be a second story or a rear addition — and can you show me why?" On a small lot the wrong answer wastes months in plan check.

Insist on a written fixed-price contract with an itemized scope, named allowances, written change orders and progress payments tied to completed work; California caps the down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less. Ask who prepares the plans, who engineers the structure and who pulls and closes the LADBS permit, and ask specifically how a second story would be sequenced so your family can stay in the house and the neighbors a few feet away are protected.