Room Addition
Contractor in Tarzana, CA

The typical Tarzana house is a 1,800–2,800 sq ft ranch on a 9,000–17,500 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 school district you already chose.

Right Image Builders is a licensed general contractor based in Valley Glen, a straight drive east on the Valley floor. 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.

Tarzana's lots shape what's possible. On the big, level flats north of Ventura Boulevard, there's genuine room for a large ground-floor addition or a primary suite. South of Ventura, in the upscale, semi-rural Tarzana hills, additions run into the City of LA Hillside Ordinance — grading, access, and drainage that have to be engineered from the start. The art either way is making the new square footage look original — matched rooflines, stucco, and windows — not bolted on.

Every Tarzana addition starts with the parcel — and here, that means which side of Ventura Boulevard you're on. On the flats north of Ventura, including the Vanalden area, the lots are big and level: the rules are mostly floor-area ratio and the front, side, and rear setbacks you have to keep clear, and there's real room for a large ground-floor addition or primary suite.

South of Ventura, in the Tarzana hills, the lots are larger and more valuable, with an upscale, semi-rural feel — but they're governed by the City of LA Hillside Ordinance. Grading limits, retaining, drainage, haul routes, and access all have to be engineered and permitted correctly. Because Tarzana is City of Los Angeles, every addition is permitted through LADBS, and hillside plan check and structural review are more involved than a flats project.

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 Tarzana is R1 and RA lots on the flats (RA parcels are 17,500 sq ft minimum), RE and hillside parcels south of Ventura.

Tarzana (ZIP 91356) reads differently on each side of Ventura Boulevard. North of it, the flats — including the streets around Vanalden — are large, level lots where floor-area ratio and setbacks are the main limits and a wide rear addition or a primary-suite wing is straightforward. South of Ventura, the Tarzana hills carry larger, semi-rural parcels; many are designated Hillside Area under the Baseline Hillside Ordinance, which limits grading, height and floor area and adds retaining, drainage and haul-route items to plan check, and some are in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. We keep Tarzana projects focused: confirm the parcel's designations, pull the zoning, and design the smallest set of structural moves that delivers the space you want.

A Tarzana room addition typically needs a few months of design, engineering and LADBS plan check, then about three to five months of construction for a ground-floor or rear addition and longer for a second story. Hillside parcels south of Ventura should allow extra time for grading and structural review.

On the flats the path is plans and structural calculations, LADBS plan check, then foundation, framing, roof tie-in, rough trades with inspections, drywall, exterior match and finishes. In the hills a grading plan, often a soils report, and Baseline Hillside Ordinance review come before plan check clears, and site access shapes the construction calendar. The fixed-price proposal shows the combined 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. Ask who prepares the plans, who engineers the structure and who pulls and closes the LADBS permit; on a Tarzana hillside parcel, ask specifically who is responsible for the grading plan and any soils report, because those items decide whether plan check clears on the first pass.

Require 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 how the addition's foundation, roof and stucco will be tied into the existing house so it reads as original.