Sunroom contractor in East Los Angeles - more use from your back patio
Lightcraft Los Angeles Sunrooms & Patios builds sunrooms, patio enclosures and patio covers in East Los Angeles. We turn the patios and decks behind houses here into rooms you'll use, and we rework older sunrooms that have worn out.
East Los Angeles houses and the patios behind them
Most of East Los Angeles is blocks of older single-story houses on small, close-set lots. Many have a detached garage at the back and a concrete patio between it and the kitchen door. That patio does a lot of work. It's where the family eats, where the kids play and where relatives sit when everyone's over, so most calls we get here start with someone wanting that space to feel like part of the house. We hear the same thing from homeowners in Monterey Park next door.
Older houses usually come with older add-ons. A lot of back patios here already have a cover, a half wall or a room someone enclosed years ago, so on most jobs we start by working out what can stay and what has to come out before anything new goes up.
Services in East Los Angeles, CA
Patio-to-sunroom conversion
When the concrete patio out back is already the family's outdoor room, turning it into a sunroom keeps what little yard a small lot has. We confirm the slab can carry walls and glass, then frame and glaze the room on top of it.
Four season sunrooms
If you want a room you'll use like any other in the house, as a home office or a place for the grandparents to sit, a four season sunroom is usually the right pick. We build it with insulated walls, roof and glass so it joins the house like a real addition.
Sunroom remodeling
Older patio rooms on houses here often have aluminum sliders that drag and seals that have given up, the same way an old sliding door does. We replace the worn glass, tracks and seals, or rebuild the room when the frame or the base tells us a patch won't hold.
Patio cover installation
Plenty of back yards here have an old patio cover that's sagging or pulling away from the house. We take it down and put up a new cover attached properly to the house, and if you think you'll enclose it someday, we plan for that now.
Patio enclosures
If your patio already has a solid cover, an enclosure walls it in with glass or screen panels without starting over on the roof. We check the posts and the cover first, because new panels only sit square if what they hang from is square.
Screen room installation
A screen room suits a family that wants to eat outside without the bugs and doesn't need a fully glassed room. It costs less than glass, and we size the screen panels to each opening so they sit tight.
Working in East Los Angeles under County rules
East Los Angeles isn't a city of its own. It's one of the unincorporated areas the County runs, so your permit comes from LA County Public Works and not from the City of Los Angeles, even though the city line is right there. That puts the County's review at the front of your schedule, before our crew sets a single post. Before you hire anyone, check that the contractor holds a California state contractor license. If the business is located in an unincorporated part of the County, also ask whether it has a County Business License, because the County requires one for some kinds of work done by businesses based there.
We deal with that County office as a regular part of jobs here and build its review into the plan from the start. Price mostly follows the size of the room, the kind of room you choose and the shape the slab or deck under it is in. The schedule mostly follows the County's review and any repair the base needs first. My written quote after the visit puts your own price on it.
What the houses and lots here mean for your room
The slab matters more than the glass. Many patios behind older houses here were poured a long time ago for a grill and some chairs, and by now they've settled, cracked or dropped at a corner. In the window trade I learned that a frame is only as true as the opening it goes into, and a sunroom works the same way with its slab. If the base is out of level, the sliders bind and the seals open up within a few seasons. So I look hard at what's underneath, and if it's tired, we fix it before the room goes up instead of covering it up.
Tight lots shape the build too. Side yards here are often narrow and neighbors are close, so we plan how materials come through the gate and keep the room's footprint to what your lot allows.
Get a free on-site sunroom estimate in East Los Angeles
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a time for me to come to your East Los Angeles home. I'll measure, look at the slab or deck the room will sit on and follow up with a written quote. There's no obligation to go ahead.
How a sunroom job goes in East Los Angeles
Call or send a message
Call (213) 340-1547 or use the form, and we'll set up a time for me to come out. Have a rough idea of how your family wants to use the room, because that's the first thing I'll ask.
I come out and look
I measure and look closely at the patio, slab or deck the room will sit on, and we talk through who'll use the room and when. A room built for the wrong use is the one people regret, so we settle that before anything else.
You get a written quote
I send a written quote for the room you picked. Any work the slab or deck needs first is included in it.
We handle the County permit
Once you sign, we apply with County Public Works, and when we do, the office tells us whether the drawings need a plan check, which is a review before approval. That review is the step most likely to move the start date, so we get the drawings in early.
We build, then walk through
Our own crew builds the room with a lead installer running the site, and the County inspections happen along the way. When it's done, I come back and walk through it with you, sliding every panel and checking the seals.
East Los Angeles sunroom questions
Do I need a permit to enclose a patio in East Los Angeles?
Plan on one, because the County's permit list covers additions and alterations to a house and names patios and decks among its building permit items. We find out what applies at your address and handle the permit applications and inspections when your project needs them. Your contract says in writing who's getting the permits.
When is the first inspection due on an LA County building permit?
The first inspection has to be requested within 12 months of getting the permit. After that, the County wants a follow-up inspection every 6 months to keep the permit active. We book each inspection as the stage it covers is finished.
How do I check a sunroom contractor's license in California?
Look the contractor up with the California Contractors State License Board, which licenses anyone who builds or alters structures in the state. A license is required when a job needs a building permit, uses any additional workers, or totals $1,000 or more in labor and materials, and that takes in just about any sunroom. The contractor has to be licensed before giving you a bid, so check before you sign anything.
What drives the cost of a sunroom in East Los Angeles?
On houses here, the biggest swing usually comes from what's under the room and what it attaches to. A settled or cracked slab has to be repaired first, an older roofline takes more work to tie into, and a narrow side yard means more carrying by hand. Choosing a screen room over a fully glassed one brings the price down, and replacing an old patio room adds removal work that a bare slab doesn't need.
Are there East Los Angeles planning rules that affect a sunroom?
There can be, because County Planning lists three plans for East Los Angeles: the East Los Angeles Community Plan, the East Los Angeles Community Standards District and the East L.A. 3rd Street Specific Plan. I check whether any of them touch your lot before we settle the design.
How do I know if my patio slab can hold a sunroom?
You usually can't tell from the surface alone, so I check it at the estimate for cracks, low corners, thin edges and an old cover that's pulled away from the house. If your slab needs work, we deal with it before the room goes up instead of building over it.
Call about your East Los Angeles patio
We pick up seven days a week from 8 AM to 9 PM, so call (213) 340-1547 or use the form when your evening frees up.