ADU Construction in Playa Vista, Placed by the Drain Line
Playa Vista ADUs placed where the drain line can fall to the house sewer by gravity, with a hardened shell of stucco, rated vents and tempered glass.
Gravity sets the rules for a Playa Vista ADU's drain line. From the farthest fixture in the unit, waste has to fall about a quarter inch for every foot of pipe until it joins the house sewer, so the depth where that line leaves the main house limits how far back and how low the unit can sit. Where the fall runs out, a pump becomes the fallback.
Finding the line and its depth
We open the cleanout on the main house and run a camera down the line, which shows its depth, its material and any breaks or roots. A locator on the surface then marks its path across the yard. With those two readings we can work out how much fall is available between the cleanout and any spot the unit might occupy. A unit close to the house rarely has trouble. One tucked at the far corner may need its floor raised a little or a pump chamber added, and we would rather know that before the footprint is drawn.
Other lines that share the trench
Water, power and the drain can travel in the same trench to the unit, kept at the separations the code sets between them. The route we pick for the sewer usually decides the route for everything else, so keeping the unit near the house can mean one short trench. Near the water, buried metal fittings get coated or swapped for plastic where the code allows, since damp soil carrying salt can eat at them. Every line enters the unit through a sealed penetration, so no opening at the base of the wall is left for embers or pests.
ADU Construction in Playa Vista: common questions
That turns on how the parcel is mapped for fire hazard, which LADBS checks during plan review for every Playa Vista address. Outside a mapped zone, the code permits a standard exterior. Our drawings keep the hardened details in either case, with stucco or fiber cement walls, listed vents and tempered glazing, because each of them also holds up well near the water.
The site plan does much of the talking in a Playa Vista set, since it shows the sewer path, the cleanout and where the unit can sit given the fall available, and it notes whether the parcel lies inside the coastal zone. The package itself handles a qualifying single-story unit, and any pump chamber is scoped apart from it.
It may be possible, depending on the lot and the permit path LADBS sets for the rebuild. The sewer work is where the two jobs connect most: if the house lateral is being replaced, the unit's line can be planned into the new one at the right depth from the start, which avoids digging the yard twice.
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Tell us about the house and the adu construction work. We reply about a walk-through and a written scope.