Fiber cement, stucco, wood and conversions on 1900s–20s Craftsman bungalows, replaced or repaired by one licensed, insured general contractor, with the dry rot and flashing behind the wall fixed under the same City of South Pasadena permit, one fixed written price and a 10-year written workmanship warranty.
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Call now · (818) 210-4544Siding contractor in South Pasadena, CA: Right Image Builders (CSLB #1021284, licensed and insured since 2016) replaces and repairs siding and stucco on 1900s–20s Craftsman bungalows and Mission-style houses on the flats and in the Mission Street historic blocks, 1920s–30s Spanish houses, and 1950s–70s hillside houses in the Monterey Hills across the Craftsman streets north of Monterey Road and the Arroyo edge, with the dry rot, sheathing and flashing behind the wall repaired by the same crew on the same City of South Pasadena permit.
Fiber cement (James Hardie and similar), three-coat re-stucco and stucco repair, wood and engineered wood, stucco-to-siding conversions; the Monterey Hills and the Arroyo edge are mapped Very High; the flats and the historic blocks mostly are not; finishes and sealants chosen for sun and movement. Two to four weeks on site for a single-storey house, four to six for two-storey and hillside houses; one fixed written price after a free on-site estimate; 10-year written workmanship warranty. Office in Valley Glen.
Updated October 2026 · Right Image Builders project team · CSLB #1021284 · 5.0★ Google (45 reviews) · 4.9★ Angi (103 reviews)
South Pasadena is a preserved town, and its walls show it: street after street of 1900s–20s Craftsman bungalows in redwood lap and shingle, Mission-style houses in original stucco over wood lath, and 1920s–30s Spanish houses, most of them on the City's historic inventory or eligible for it. The wood is a century old, split at the ends and rusted at the nails, and the paper behind it is a single layer of felt; the stucco is delaminating at the parapets while the field still looks right.
On this inventory the exterior work is restoration first. A re-side matches the original lap and reveal, a re-stucco matches the original finish, and the trim, water table and corner boards are kept or rebuilt in kind, because the Cultural Heritage Commission's Certificate of Appropriateness is a condition of the permit on the designated and eligible houses and that is what it looks for. What changes is behind the boards: a lapped, taped barrier and flashed openings the 1910 wall never had.
Up in the Monterey Hills the 1950s–70s houses are a different job, stucco and wood on a slope in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, where Chapter 7A settles the cladding on a replaced wall. The permit is the City's own, from the Planning and Building Department on Mission Street, with the Commission's review first where the house qualifies.
Almost never in the middle of the wall. Always at an opening, an edge or the base. This is what we open and look at before we price.
A licensed, insured general contractor, not a siding installer: the framing behind the wall, the barrier and flashing, and the cladding, under one permit and one contract.
James Hardie, Allura and similar lap, panel and shingle, in the climate-rated grade for Southern California, factory-finished or painted on site, over a lapped and taped weather-resistive barrier with every opening flashed. Noncombustible, so it is the usual answer in the fire zones.
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Three-coat stucco over new paper and lath where the old coat has let go, floated and textured to match the house; crack, patch and parapet repair where the field is sound; the weep screed and base flashing replaced where the soil has buried them.
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Cedar, redwood and engineered wood lap, board-and-batten and shingle, profile-matched to the original on Craftsman and ranch houses; listed fire-retardant-treated wood where the parcel sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
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Full tear-off to the sheathing, framing and sheathing repaired, new barrier and flashing, then the new cladding; the conversion is permitted as an alteration and we handle the design-review or HOA submittal where there is one.
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Because we are a general contractor, the soft sill plate, the rotted sheathing, the missing window head flashing or the deck ledger that was sided over is repaired under the same permit and the same contract, not referred to someone else.
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In the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones the cladding has to be noncombustible or ignition-resistant and the vents ember-resistant; we specify from the State Fire Marshal listings and detail the eaves and trim to match, so the inspection passes the first time.
Get a free estimateProfessional, licensed and insured, and we put that in writing at every step, because re-siding a house is a trust decision before it is a construction decision.
California general contractor license CSLB #1021284 (General Building B), active since 2016, with general liability and workers' compensation insurance. Check the license yourself at cslb.ca.gov before you sign anything, with us or anyone else.
The proposal lists what comes off, what gets repaired, how the wall is flashed, which cladding goes on and which permit and reviews cover it. If it is not written down, it is not in the job.
When the old siding or stucco comes off we photograph the sheathing and framing and send you the pictures. Anything beyond the scope is priced in writing before the crew continues. You never find out from the invoice.
California law caps a home-improvement deposit at $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract, whichever is less. We follow it. Progress payments follow the work, and the final payment comes after your walkthrough.
We prepare the design-review, HOA or Art Jury submittal where the city has one, pull the permit, meet the inspector and close it. You get the closed-permit record a buyer or an insurer will ask for.
The people who inspect the wall are the people who re-clad it. No subcontractor hand-offs, no call center; your project lead answers the phone during the job and after it.
Every wall we re-clad is built the same way from the framing out, to the manufacturer’s written specification and the code for the parcel. Skip a layer and the warranty means nothing.
BeforeAfter
From our Calabasas hillside project: weathered wood siding to painted James Hardie fiber cement, full tear-off, six weeks on the slope. Two photographs from different spots on the hillside; drag the handle.
South Pasadena issues its own permits: siding and stucco work goes through the City of South Pasadena Planning and Building Department at City Hall, 1414 Mission Street, not LADBS. A like-for-like re-side or re-stucco is a simpler permit than a conversion or a wall that needs framing repair, which goes to plan check.
Exterior changes on designated and eligible historic properties go to the Cultural Heritage Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness before the permit, and the demolition of anything built 45 or more years ago is reviewed for historic eligibility; most of the Craftsman blocks qualify, so matching the original material and profile is the normal condition of approval.
We prepare whichever review comes first, submit the permit, schedule the inspections, meet the inspector at the flashing stage and at the final, and close the permit before the final payment. You keep the closed-permit record.
Sources, checked October 27, 2026: City of South Pasadena, Cultural Heritage Commission agendas (Certificates of Appropriateness for exterior alterations, 45-year demolition review); California Building Code Chapter 7A and the Office of the State Fire Marshal WUI product listings; CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps (2025 local-responsibility-area update).
Two things decide the material before taste does: whether the parcel is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and how close it is to the ocean. The rest is what is behind the cladding.
Exterior walls have to be noncombustible or ignition-resistant: fiber cement, three-coat stucco, listed fire-retardant-treated wood or an assembly tested to the State Fire Marshal standard, with ember-resistant vents and the eaves and trim detailed to match.
Within reach of the salt air the fasteners, flashing, screed and vents fail before the field does. Manufacturers call for hot-dip galvanized or stainless metal by distance from the water; we specify it for the parcel, not from a catalogue.
We look the parcel up on the CAL FIRE and city maps at the estimate, write the material and the fastening into the scope, prepare any design-review or HOA submittal, and pull the permit that matches. The Monterey Hills and the Arroyo edge are mapped Very High; the flats and the historic blocks mostly are not.
Sources: California Building Code Chapter 7A and the Office of the State Fire Marshal WUI product listings; CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps (2025 update); manufacturer installation guides for coastal fastening; the city and county pages cited above. Checked October 2026. Confirm the zone for your parcel with the city or county.
Honest, straightforward, and clear. The team was so professional, respectful, and clean. Everything was as planned and within the timeline.Zachary R. · Google
The fixed-price contract was exactly what we needed. No surprise invoices, no scope creep. The owner personally showed up to every major milestone.David & Sarah K. · Houzz
Prompt, thorough, and responsive. The price was very fair unlike three other contractors I requested bids from.Sherry C. · Yelp
CSLB #1021284, licensed and insured since 2016. Framing repair, flashing and cladding on one license, one permit, one contract.
One itemized price after the estimate. Hidden conditions photographed and priced in writing before the crew continues.
In the contract, handed over with the closed permit. Manufacturer warranties registered in your name where offered.
At the house in South Pasadena, with the base of the wall checked and a test section opened, not a quote from the driveway.
Also serving: Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Topanga, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, La Cañada Flintridge, Bradbury, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Stevenson Ranch, San Marino, La Habra Heights
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Plain answers on fire-zone materials, fiber cement versus wood versus vinyl, stucco versus siding and hiring, written for Los Angeles houses and kept current.
Which claddings qualify, what the vents and eaves have to do, and how the permit checks it.
Read the guide →Decision guideFiber cement, engineered wood and vinyl compared for Los Angeles sun, fire zones and maintenance.
Read the guide →Decision guideWhen the stucco can be saved, when it cannot, and what a conversion involves.
Read the guide →AnswersPermits by city, fire-zone materials, repair versus replacement, what a proposal must include.
Read the answers →On a designated historic property, or one the City considers eligible, which covers most of the Craftsman and Mission-era blocks, exterior alterations need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Cultural Heritage Commission before the permit, and the Commission looks for the original material, profile and details. We prepare that submittal with samples and elevations and apply for the permit once it is approved; on a house outside the inventory it is a standard City permit.
Yes. Redwood or cedar lap in the original reveal, shingles at the original exposure, the water table, belt courses and corner boards rebuilt to match; fiber cement milled to the same profile where the Commission accepts it and the owner wants less upkeep. The change that counts is behind the boards: a lapped barrier and flashed windows the 1910 wall never had.
The City of South Pasadena Planning and Building Department at City Hall on Mission Street, with the Cultural Heritage Commission's Certificate of Appropriateness first on designated and eligible properties. We pull the permit, meet the inspections and close it before the final payment.
Yes. Right Image Builders, Inc. holds California general contractor license CSLB #1021284 (General Building B), active since 2016, with general liability and workers' compensation insurance. Verify the license at cslb.ca.gov and ask us for the insurance certificates; we expect you to.
Usually whichever the house already has, done properly: a re-stucco over new paper and lath on a stucco house, fiber cement or wood on a sided house, because the look, the trim and the neighbours are already set. A conversion makes sense when the owner wants the other look or the existing wall has to come off anyway. We open a test section at the estimate and recommend from what is behind the wall, not from a catalogue.
Two to four weeks on site for a single-storey house and four to six for a two-storey or hillside house that needs scaffolding on every elevation, after the permit and any design review are in hand. The schedule is written before the first day and the house is kept weather-tight between elevations.
Everything the estimate scoped: tear-off, the repairs we can see, the weather-resistive barrier, flashing, the cladding, trim and finish where scoped, the permit, the inspections and any design-review submittal. Anything uncovered at tear-off is photographed and priced in writing before the crew continues, and the final payment comes after your walkthrough. No surprise invoices.
Fix the wall before the next rain. One licensed, insured crew, one fixed written price, the permit closed, a 10-year written warranty.
