Sunroom Contractor in Chino Hills, CA - Rooms Planned Around Your Slope and View

The city's list of work exempt from permits covers finish work like painting, tile, carpet, cabinets and countertops, plus one-story detached sheds up to 10 feet tall and 120 square feet. A detached deck up to 200 square feet and no more than 30 inches above grade is on it too, as long as it serves no required exit door. A sunroom or patio enclosure attached to your house isn't on that list, so I plan every room expecting the city will want to see it.

City policy lets you patch a specific damaged area of roof covering, tile or underlayment without a permit, but replacing or repairing a whole roof plane counts as a partial re-roof and needs one, and so does replacing any section of sheathing, the boards under the roofing. That matters on a sunroom when tying the new roof into yours means opening part of your existing roof. The city also requires Class A roof coverings, the top fire rating, though an addition replacing no more than 25 percent of your roof area in any 12-month period can match what's already there, and for anything between a patch and a full plane, ask the city's building office before work starts.

Yes, in nearly every case, because California requires a license from the Contractors State License Board to build or alter a structure whenever the project needs a building permit, uses employee labor or has contracts totaling $1,000 or more in labor and materials. A sunroom usually meets all three. We're licensed and fully insured, and I'm glad to show you our paperwork at the estimate.

The cost comes down to the room's size, the room type, the glass and roof, and how much prep your lot needs, so I price each one after seeing your yard. On hillside pads, footings near a slope, any digging and a tired old patio slab can add work before the room goes up, while enclosing a sound patio or deck usually keeps things simpler. I'll give you a figure for your own home at the estimate.

Rain and permit timing cause most delays here. The city says its hills and its street and storm drain layout let heavy rain flood roadways and trigger landslides that sometimes close an access route, and the clay in many yards stays soft afterward, so we hold off on footings and deliveries until the road and the site are safe. On the permit side, nothing goes up until it's issued, so we get the paperwork in early.

Start by finding out how much digging the room needs, because the city requires a permit from the building official for grading or excavation of any kind, apart from a short list of exemptions, and only issues it once the project has its zoning approvals. If the pad needs a retaining wall, it's exempt only when it holds back less than 3 feet of soil, the ground behind it rises less than 1 foot for every 4 feet across, no nearby structure presses on it and every part sits more than 5 feet from any property line, among other conditions. I look at the slope when I come out and tell you if a simpler footprint skips most of that work.