Fiber cement, stucco, wood and conversions on 1920s–40s cabins, replaced or repaired by one licensed, insured general contractor, with the dry rot and flashing behind the wall fixed under the same LA County permit, one fixed written price and a 10-year written workmanship warranty.
Professional, licensed & insuredFixed-price proposalsPermits & reviews handledOur own crew, not subs
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Call now · (818) 210-4544Siding contractor in Topanga, CA: Right Image Builders (CSLB #1021284, licensed and insured since 2016) replaces and repairs siding and stucco on 1920s–40s cabins and 1960s–70s wood-sided houses on the canyon walls, post-and-beam and A-frames, with stucco on the newer houses and many on septic across Old Topanga Canyon, Fernwood, the Top of Topanga and the lower canyon toward Pacific Coast Highway, with the dry rot, sheathing and flashing behind the wall repaired by the same crew on the same LA County permit.
Fiber cement (James Hardie and similar), three-coat re-stucco and stucco repair, wood and engineered wood, stucco-to-siding conversions; the whole canyon is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so every cladding has to be noncombustible or ignition-resistant; ignition-resistant cladding, ember-resistant vents and hillside access priced honestly. 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)
Topanga is the most wood-sided place we work, and the hardest to reach. The cabins in Old Topanga and Fernwood were built in the 1920s–40s with boards nailed straight to the studs and no weather barrier at all; the 1960s–70s houses up the canyon walls are post-and-beam, board-and-batten and A-frames with the same open framing; and most of them are on a slope where the scaffold goes up by hand and the material comes in one bundle at a time.
The whole canyon is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which means a replaced wall has to be noncombustible or ignition-resistant under Chapter 7A. That does not mean losing the canyon look: listed fire-retardant-treated wood keeps board-and-batten as wood, and fiber cement is milled in the same profiles; what changes is what is behind it, a barrier and flashing the cabin never had, and ember-resistant vents.
The County issues the permit from Calabasas, Regional Planning handles the coastal determination on the lower-canyon parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains coastal zone, and the septic system decides where we can dig for base flashing. We confirm all three before we price, and we price the access honestly.
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.
Topanga has no city building department: the permit comes from Los Angeles County Building and Safety, from the Calabasas District Office of Los Angeles County Building and Safety, 27001 Agoura Road, Suite 250; parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains coastal zone also need a coastal determination from County Regional Planning before the building permit. 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.
Topanga is unincorporated, so the County issues the permit and inspects, Regional Planning handles the coastal zone, and the whole canyon is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone where Chapter 7A governs the cladding. Many houses are on septic, which decides where a scaffold or a trench can go.
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: Los Angeles County Public Works, Building and Safety office locator (Calabasas and Lomita district offices); Los Angeles County Regional Planning, Santa Monica Mountains coastal zone filings (coastal development permits and exemptions in Topanga); California Building Code Chapter 7A and the Office of the State Fire Marshal WUI product listings.
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 whole canyon is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so every cladding has to be noncombustible or ignition-resistant.
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 Topanga, with the base of the wall checked and a test section opened, not a quote from the driveway.
Also serving: Malibu, Calabasas, Pacific Palisades, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, La Cañada Flintridge, Altadena, Sierra Madre, Bradbury, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Stevenson Ranch, South Pasadena, 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 →Yes, as listed fire-retardant-treated wood, which counts as ignition-resistant under Chapter 7A, or as fiber cement in a board-and-batten or lap profile. The whole canyon is a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so plain untreated wood does not qualify on a replaced wall; the vents and eave details have to meet the chapter as well.
Parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains coastal zone, mostly the lower canyon toward Pacific Coast Highway, need a coastal determination from County Regional Planning before the building permit; a like-for-like exterior repair is often an exemption, but it has to be confirmed. We check the parcel and handle the determination with the permit.
Los Angeles County Building and Safety, from the Calabasas District Office on Agoura Road, because Topanga is unincorporated; the coastal determination comes from Regional Planning where the parcel needs one. 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.
