ADU Construction in Santa Monica
Santa Monica ADUs with a galley kitchen planned for daily cooking, corrosion-resistant metal at every opening, and a fire-rated exterior shell.
Steam and cooking smoke leave the kitchen of a Santa Monica ADU through a hood ducted outdoors, and the cap where that duct exits the wall belongs to the fire shell as much as any vent. We draw the kitchen as a short galley, cooktop on one side and sink across, with enough aisle for an oven door to drop open. Outside, the unit gets noncombustible cladding, tempered glazing and ember-resistant vents.
A galley that works every day
Facing counters keep every step short. The sink sits under a window where the wall allows, the cooktop sits on the opposite run with the hood above it, and the refrigerator closes off the end of the galley so its door swings clear of the aisle. Full-height cabinets stand in for the pantry a larger house would have. An induction cooktop keeps the unit off gas, which shortens the utility list, and a dedicated circuit feeds it from the unit's subpanel. Deep drawers under the counters hold pots within reach, and every outlet near the sink is GFCI protected.
Damp air and the kitchen's openings
On a lot within reach of ocean air, the metal at the kitchen's openings is picked to resist corrosion. The hood duct ends in a stainless or coated aluminum wall cap with a backdraft damper and an ember-resistant screen. The window over the sink is tempered in a fiberglass frame, and the flashing around both openings is lapped so water cannot run behind the cladding. A moisture-resistant backer goes behind the backsplash inside. Across the rest of the unit, exterior fasteners and connectors are stainless or hot-dip galvanized for the same reason.
ADU Construction in Santa Monica: common questions
Code requires it only where the state's fire map covers the parcel, which Santa Monica's building department can check for a given lot. We recommend the same assemblies on every Santa Monica lot: fiber cement or plaster walls, enclosed eaves, tempered glass and vents that stop embers. Outside the map they are a choice we put forward, and inside it they are the rule.
Santa Monica plan check reads the site plan first, which sets the footprint against the setbacks and notes whether the lot may fall inside the coastal zone, a point the city confirms address by address. The floor plan then shows the galley, bath and bedroom at scale. The package is meant for a qualifying single-story unit.
Planning both at once lets the two kitchens share decisions about gas or all-electric service, panel size and the route of the sewer line. Santa Monica reviews them as separate structures, and if the parcel sits in the coastal zone, that review may add a step for each one. We set the order of work once the lot has been checked.
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Tell us about the house and the adu construction work. We reply about a walk-through and a written scope.